Meet Our New Senior People & Culture Guru Rachel Stride
I started my working life in a Gold Coast Boutique as a Junior Sales Assistant. After school, weekends and school holidays you could find me at one of 10 of Change Alley’s stores spread across the Gold Coast. I had grand plans of becoming a fashion buyer until my dear old dad decided it was time to move to Hobart. Kicking and screaming I came to Tassie and I’m still here almost 30 years later! Slightly colder, wiser (hopefully!), and with some solid HR experience under my belt.
Before joining government, I was working in office and sales administration in the Pay TV Industry. First with East Coast TV and then with AUSTAR until they centralised everything back to the Gold Coast. Hmmmm, warmer weather again would’ve been nice, but I decided to venture into the big wide world of Tassie State Government. Fortunately, I fell on my feet and worked in various State Government HR teams. These included the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of State Growth and lastly Department of Premier and Cabinet. That absorbed the better part of 20 years! After various amalgamations, department rebuilds and some election projects, I decided it was time to go back to the fold of Private Enterprise. I felt I’d learnt a lot in Government and fortunately didn’t have golden handcuffs to keep me in the government system. New adventures awaited!
I then joined the University of Tasmania as an HR Business Partner. Having not worked in the tertiary education system before it was quite eye opening and a very steep learning curve!! The one thing that resonated with me though, was the amazing people they have working there in what can often be quite a challenging sector. I worked with some true professionals and although my time there was relatively short, I had some fabulous experiences. I’ll always be grateful for them showing me there is a big wide world outside of government.
During my time in Government, I met a wonderful lady, Belinda Beltz. Up there with the best manager I’ve ever had. This awesome lady provided me with so much growth opportunity and confidence in my ability and for that I’ll always be grateful. Luckily for me, the opportunity of People and Culture Guru came up with The BelRose Group! I’ve never looked back. From the diversity of clients, the amazing team, the challenging and rewarding work and the flexibility offered for a working mum, I honestly can’t imagine a better workplace than this.
Think I’ll leave my boots under the desk for a long time with The Belrose Group. In today’s forever changing world I feel extremely lucky to have such an awesome workplace.
Over my career I have honed my skills in Job Evaluation and Remuneration, Workforce Planning, Recruitment, Performance Management, Grievance Management and Workers Compensation and Rehabilitation. I see myself as a people person and if I can ensure an employee’s experience is a respectful one through whatever HR process they may be a part of, I feel like I have made a difference and provided people with an often-neglected people-centric approach.
I’m a firm believer in communication, hands-om engagement, and creating a trusting, respectful and fun workplace. When nothing is certain in life, you can still have a laugh with your colleagues and support each other through good times and bad. That to me is what working life is all about.
