It was a mild evening in Auckland on March 9, but inside Shed 10, on Queen’s Wharf, New Zealand’s best and brightest HR professionals were gathering in their finery. It was, says Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Hawke’s Bay associate Kerry Tattersall, perhaps the closest she’ll get to The Oscars.

By the end of the night she’d be a winner, scooping the prestigious HR Professional of the Year award. She hadn’t prepared a speech “because there were four really good finalists” yet her thrilled reaction and impromptu gratitude spoke volumes. 

It was a culmination of 22 years of hard work in the field and the ultimate confirmation of the difference Kerry makes in the lives of her clients and those she supports.  

Attitude led to a career in HR 

For the tale of how it began, we need to wind back the clock to when she was about 18 and Kerry’s intended medical studies hadn't gone as planned in her then homeland England. She gave herself a breather before deciding her next career move, instead working for an international pharmaceutical organisation, where she became PA to the HR manager for manufacturing while completing a Degree in Business.

She watched on, fascinated at the way her boss Jan deftly navigated the “grey areas” of HR. “You've got guiding principles – the legislation – but how you apply them can be quite different depending on the situation,” says Kerry.

When Jan left, Kerry was offered her role. “Barry – the pharmaceutical manufacturing director – said to me, ‘I like the way you work… and people like being around you so I'm giving you this opportunity. You can't go from being the PA to being the HR manager overnight, but here's the plan...’. So we talked about that and he offered to pay for me to do my postgraduate qualification.”

Kerry chose employment law and industrial relations as her specialist study areas and never looked back. “Love” is a word she regularly uses when describing her career – and naturally, she’s now an advocate on hiring for attitude.

Barry later offered a GM of People position, but the operations were shifting to a distant city and Kerry was pregnant. She decided against relocation and instead worked as an HR manager with another company until the family moved to New Zealand.     

New beginnings at Baker Tilly Staples Rodway

These days Kerry is a Senior Employment Relations/HR consultant and Licensed Private Investigator for our Hawke’s Bay office. She is also the regional HRNZ branch president and a chartered membership assessor.

“Baker Tilly Staple’s Rodway’s strong set of values mirrors my own and I love working as a consultant because no two days are the same. I get to work with a diverse range of clients and some inspirational leaders in neat businesses.”

While specialising in employment relations and employment law, she describes herself as a generalist, offering everything within the HR portfolio including leadership coaching and organisation development. She describes the latter as the heartbeat of businesses, with a strong, healthy rhythm when staff are happy and engaged.