Introducing Diane Abrahams

01 Jul 2020

Continuing with our new series, with the aim of introducing you to some of our key colleagues at Space Engineering Services, we would like to introduce you to Diane Abrahams, our Head of Humans Resources.

How long have you been with the business?

I’ve been here since the start of the year.  I joined as it was a great opportunity to take the next step in my career, to develop and implement my own ideas with the employee experience being paramount to our HR delivery.

I started my working life in administration but was always interested in understanding both people and business more, so HR seemed like the next step to pursue this.  I’ve been working in HR now for 16 years and undertaken roles across the breadth of the HR spectrum.

How would your friends describe you?

Easy going, independent and optimistic.  That sums me up well.

What would you do differently if you had the chance?

I don’t think I would do anything differently, as everything is a learning opportunity, whether that’s something I would or wouldn’t do again, it’s always good to reflect and grow.

What’s the biggest challenge facing you personally?

Having a full-time job and 2 toddlers.  Getting the life/work balance can be tricky, but we’re getting there!

What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the industry?

From my perspective, there’s a real challenge around diversity.  It’s a very male-dominated industry and part of my team’s future work will be to consider how we attract and retain talent differently to enable greater diversity within our business.

What does a typical day look like?

Being fairly new to the company, I’ve had a great opportunity to meet people across our business and spend time learning about different roles and priorities, using the feedback to develop a realistic people strategy. The focus now is on building that strategy and dovetailing the activities to create an improved employee experience.

What are you most proud of accomplishing?

At school, I wasn’t particularly committed to learning, and so didn’t undertake any further education, so I completed a post-graduate diploma, working full-time and studying in the evenings and weekends.

Is there anything about yourself that you want to improve?

Being a naturally laid back person, I sometimes don’t demonstrate how passionate I feel about certain things – definitely an area to keep working on.

What do you think the future of the business looks like?

I’m working towards delivering projects that have a real impact on employee experience, with engagement, development, retention, diversity and well-being is fundamental.  In my ideal world, once these initiatives are implemented and embedded, I’d hope to have supported the business to have a highly engaged workforce, being the employer of choice in the industry, and a genuinely great place to work.

Outside of work, what do you enjoy?

I genuinely just enjoy spending time with family and friends and, having 2 toddlers, we take all the opportunities to get outside and explore the local area, weather permitting!