A major UK retailer embarked on an ambitious project to first replace its legacy HR and payroll systems and then integrate them into one centralised solution. Whilst the payroll re-engineering impacted all 75,000 company employees, the project was also to act as the catalyst for significant organisational change for company-wide HR.

Kent Magill was tasked with finding an experienced Interim Programme Director to lead this complex and critical work.

The broad aim of the role was to pull together the disparate elements of the business involved in the project. This entailed finding a candidate who could not only show significant understanding of the process, people and systems issues within a payroll/HR environment but who could also navigate around some entrenched, historic attitudes and the sensitive, internal ‘political’ issues that arise in any organisation of this size.

We were able to source a candidate who had the experience, not only to deliver the project on time and within budget in the testing conditions set out above, but who brought a broader understanding within the client of the skills and approach required for future projects. As a result the business now has greater confidence about embarking on work of a similarly critical nature and as such is increasingly self-sufficient and less reliant on outside resource.