Ad van der Rest

Current

Interim HR Director & Consultant at Visible Goal Limited

Past

(Short assignment) Interim HR Director at Arrow Communications
(Ad hoc) HR Consultant at Orange Business Services
(Ad hoc) HR Consultant at Solarsoft Business Systems

Interim Senior HR Business Partner at SAP
Interim UK Human Resources Director at Affinion International
European HR Manager at SunGard
UK HR Manager at Misys
Intranet Web Designer (Contract) at Nortel Networks
Training Manager at Sitel
Training and Safety Manager at Micro Warehouse
Regional HR Manager at Ladbrokes
Personnel & Training Officer at Signet
Personnel & Training Officer at Woolworths

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Education

Datrix Training / APMG-UK
Centre NLP
Thames Valley University

The University of Sheffield
Ponteland High School

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2 more...

Recommended

11 people have recommended Ad

Connections

238 connections

Industry

Human Resources

Websites

Ad van der Rest’s Summary

Immediately available for small projects and longer assignments in Maidenhead, Berkshire, the Thames Valley and West & Central London.

A seasoned Interim Human Resources generalist, typically fulfilling assignments as Interim HR Director, Interim Senior HR Business Partner or HR Consultant.

Typically fulfilling Inteim assignments as:

Senior HR Generalist (Interim HR Director/Senior HRBP)

Addressing HR crises, HR stewardship and HR gap assignments. A commercially focused and practical HR ‘fixer’ stabilising HR functions and issues, designing & implementing good HR practice and planning & hiring a long-term ‘permanent HR solution.

Employee Relations specialist

Resolving redundancy, tribunal claims, grievances, works council and sickness/absence issues. Strong interpersonal skills allow for meaningful and respectful negotiation and resolution with all parties. Service offered Interim and by ad-hoc Consultancy.

Specialist in restructure, mergers and acquisition

Supporting transition, acquisition, merger, restructure, upsizing and downsizing projects. Handling acquisitions / restructures & TUPE between 500 and a handful in size, from due diligence stage through to implementation & mop up.

Specialist in performance and talent management

From performance management vendor selection and implementation to succession planning, employee engagement and talent management. Focused on elegant, straight-forward and commercially effective processes.

Sector Expertise:

IT, Telecoms, Financial Services and Retail & Leisure

Approach and style:

Commercial

Focused on competent & elegant delivery of the practical objectives in hand.

Straight-forward

Clear and honest communicator to clarify goals and engage performance.

Confident

Enthusiastic and motivating style, persistent and energetic in approach.

Collaborative

Works with managers & teams to add value which remains post-assignment.

Ad van der Rest’s Specialties:

HR Expertise:

Generalist HR, HR crises, HR stewardship, commercial focus, designing & implementing good HR practice, Employee Relations, redundancy, tribunal claims, grievances, works council, sickness & absence, restructure, mergers and acquisition, upsizing and downsizing, TUPE, due diligence, performancemanagement, talent management, succession planning, employee engagement.

Ad van der Rest’s Experience

Interim HR Director & Consultant

Visible Goal Limited

(Privately Held; Human Resources industry)

March 2007 — Present (2 years 11 months)

Available for Interim Assignment and ad hoc work.

Career HR Interim at Director level specialising in assignments as:

Senior HR Generalist, addressing HR crises, HR stewardship and HR gap assignments. A commercially focused and practical HR ‘fixer’ stabilising HR functions and issues, designing & implementing good HR practice and planning & hiring a long-term ‘permanent HR solution. Recent generalist successes at SAP, Affinion International, SunGard and Misys.

Employee Relations specialist, resolving redundancy, tribunal claims, grievances, works council and sickness/absence issues. Strong interpersonal skills allow for meaningful and respectful negotiation and resolution with all parties. Service offered Interim and by ad-hoc Consultancy. Recent ER successes at Orange Business Services, SAP, Affinion International and SunGard.

Specialist in restructure, mergers and acquisition, supporting transition, acquisition, merger, restructure, upsizing and downsizing projects. Handling acquisitions / restructures & TUPE between 500 and a handful in size, from due diligence stage through to implementation & mop up. Recent restructure successes at SAP/Business Objects and particularly SunGard.

Specialist in performance and talent management, from performance management vendor selection and implementation to succession planning, employee engagement and talent management. Focused on elegant, straight-forward and commercially effective processes.
Recent performance & talent successes at Arrow Communications, SAP and SunGard.
(Short assignment) Interim HR Director

Arrow Communications

(Privately Held; Telecommunications industry)

October 2009 — November 2009 (2 months)

Telecoms reseller (50 UK employees): supporting the CEO
Conducted Performance Management (360) Appraisal software vendor selection process.
Successfully planned implantation & training of 360 Performance Management process.
(Phase II planned for 2010)
(Ad hoc) HR Consultant

Orange Business Services

(Public Company; FTE; Information Technology and Services industry)

April 2008 — November 2009 (1 year 8 months)

Business communications business, part of France Telecom: remote support to HR & the MD
Ad hoc employee relations case management, dispute resolution and employment law.
100% successful case resolution and HR Consultancy to HR, Senior Managers and the MD.
(Ad hoc) HR Consultant

Solarsoft Business Systems

(Privately Held; Computer Software industry)

March 2009 — October 2009 (8 months)

Enterprise Solutions IT business (500 UK employees): remote support to the FD
Ad hoc employee relations case management & support, (redundancy & tribunal support)
Interim Senior HR Business Partner

SAP

(Public Company; SAP; Computer Software industry)

June 2008 — July 2009 (1 year 2 months)

Global Software business (1,200 UK, 48,500 Global employees).
Provided Senior HRBP stability and HR project implementation at a time when the SAP HR team was almost entirely replaced. Directly supported half of SAP Business Objects.
Coached Senior and Line Managers in a range of HR and management disciplines. Maintained a close commercial relationship with Business Unit leaders as a trusted advisor.
Performance management ‘concern’ cases were 100% resolved in supported Business Units.
Successfully supported the UK acquisition of Business Objects into SAP (450 people).
Project-managed the successful acquisition of one small software business and a TUPE out.
Primary appeal facilitator for cases & ET claims arising from significant redundancy activities.
Facilitated the Business Objects Employee Consultative Forum for SAP Business Objects.
Successfully project managed ‘benefits re-brokering’ to identify joint providers for SAP.
Broad HR expertise applied ranging from Talent Management to Employee Relations cases.
Successfully retained beyond official ‘end-point’ to finesse to a close ‘open' Tribunal claims.
Initial 3 month assignment extended to 12 months.
Interim UK Human Resources Director

Affinion International

(Privately Held; Financial Services industry)

March 2007 — January 2008 (11 months)

Affinity Marketing organisation (US based) (550 UK, 1000 EU employees).
Stabilised the UK HR function, previously without a lead UK HR role. Addressed ‘politically charged’ recent HR history. Prepared the way to merge the HR structure from 2 separate HR sites to 1 UK function.
Re-hired entire HR team in Head Office including a permanent HR Director.
Reduced unbudgeted ‘exit costs’ from £200k p.a. to zero. Worked with management to promptly address performance issues. Handled issues professionally within a US culture.
Hired critical gaps in Client Management (9/16 to 2/25 vacancies). Halved open headcount.
Initiated management development programmes (zero in the prior year).
Tutored Managers in HR good practice and was a trusted coach to the UK MD & UK Board.
Initial 3 month assignment extended to 10 months.
European HR Manager

SunGard

(Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

October 2001 — January 2007 (5 years 4 months)

Successfully managed HR provision to 22 EMEA Business Units, at SunGard Europe for 5 years, managing HR Advisors, Payroll Specialists & Administrators (team of 8), and servicing 1,000 EMEA-based IT staff. Countries supported were Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and UK. Remote support given to Asia/Pacific, South Africa and US.
Maintained close business relationships with Business Unit Presidents and senior managers. Acted as a trusted advisor to these individuals, supporting their commercial and HR decisions.
Integrated acquisitions from due diligence stage, to employee and benefit harmonisation. Successfully managed 6 acquisitions (both TUPE and Stock deals) from 300 to 20 employees.
Terminated many dozens of people up to Director level. Carried out professional termination processes including sickness, redundancy, poor performance, probation & gross misconduct.
Handled and responded to legal action, including unfair dismissal, sex and disability discrimination, and pay & bonus claims, including appeal processes up to tribunal.
Successfully managed emergency implementation (3 months from scratch) of a new HRIS System at SunGard when Payroll System provider gave notice of software failure.
Analytical skills exemplified by the provision of HR reporting, metrics, compensation and benefits data to the business, both self-generated and sourced via HR team members. HRIS familiar.
Successfully implemented new Online Performance Management process for 2005 and 2006 Performance Reviews in SunGard Europe to 2,000 employees.
Managed and implemented training & development portfolio of management skills.
UK HR Manager

Misys

(Public Company; MUSJF; Computer Software industry)

May 1999 — September 2001 (2 years 5 months)
Intranet Web Designer (Contract)

Nortel Networks

(Public Company; NRTLQ; Telecommunications industry)

February 1999 — April 1999 (3 months)
Training Manager

Sitel

(Privately Held; Outsourcing/Offshoring industry)

September 1997 — January 1999 (1 year 5 months)
Training and Safety Manager

Micro Warehouse

(Public Company; Computer Hardware industry)

January 1996 — August 1997 (1 year 8 months)
Regional HR Manager

Ladbrokes

(Public Company; LAD; Information Services industry)

November 1994 — October 1995 (1 year )
Personnel & Training Officer

Signet

(Public Company; SIG; Retail industry)

May 1990 — October 1994 (4 years 6 months)
Personnel & Training Officer

Woolworths

(Public Company; WOW; Retail industry)

October 1986 — February 1990 (3 years 5 months)

Ad van der Rest’s Education

Datrix Training / APMG-UK

Prince 2 Certified Practitioner 2009 — 2009

Certificated on the new 2009 Standards
Centre NLP

NLP Practitioner 1999 — 1999

Centre NLP is affiliated with the Society of NLP
Thames Valley University

CIPD , Human Resource Management (CIPD) Degree , 1995 — 1997

Distinction (70%+ average marks)
Leading to Graduate CIPD (GradCIPD) 1997
Leading to Member CIPD (MCIPD) 1997
Leading to Fellow CIPD (FCIPD) 2008
The University of Sheffield

BA , Philosophy , 1982 — 1986

Activities and Societies:

Film Society (Film Unit) Chair 1983-1984, Student committees member and 'Student Union hack' 1983-1985, Student Union Secretary sabbatical contender (close 2nd !) 1985
Ponteland High School

1977 — 1982

Additional Information

Ad van der Rest’s Websites:

Ad van der Rest’s Interests:

When I have time, I enjoy watching and re-watching the finest films from the Silent era to the present day.

Ad van der Rest’s Groups:

Chartered Fellow (FCIPD) Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, Member and Board Director (MIIM) Institute of Interim Management, Member (MIMA) Interim Management Association - institute