1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself and what lead you into the world of Learning & Development/HR?

My educational journey started on a course in industrial computing.  It was all about circuit boards, C++ a lot of physics and mathematics and I genuinely had zero interest in it. I was interested in the applications of computing. So, I left college without my qualification, and I said okay, I have to figure out: what is the path for me?

Through working and learning, I ended up doing a teaching diploma for adults. Then my focus was on learning and training for people who were returning to education or upskilling in practical IT skills. It would have been a lot of ECDL, ECDL advanced and a number of bespoke programmes for either professionals in industry or those looking to enter industry.

How I got into HR started with an opportunity with a recruitment agency and learning and development consultancy in Waterford. That was in 2006 - Celtic Tiger times - so there were many opportunities in learning and development

To help me understand a little bit more about HR, I took a position in GSK in Waterford in their HR department. I wanted to understand training and development and what it entails in a large organisation. I went in on an 8-week temporary contact and stayed for almost three years. I realised there’s a lot more going on in HR than learning and development, such as how all the other disciplines within HR feed in to upskilling, career development, and the value and the care that an organisation can give to an individual.

So that’s where my passion comes from in Learning & Development and HR. I attained my CIPD qualification and Honours degree while working full-time. That was what ignited the fire and the passion that has always been there. I quickly realised that in order to progress and have a level of fulfilment, I needed to progress and pursue learning. There’s always a learning curve and there’s always something new coming up.

I want to help people realise their potential and not plateau.

2. If you had to pick one initiative you’ve worked on since joining your organisation that you are proudest of, what would that be, and what impact did that initiative have on your people?

When we did our CPD audit, we spoke about our EPIC competency assessment and how we rolled that out on a phased basis.  This will go out organisation-wide from May-June 2022.

EPIC came about through an analysis by senior leadership into what Ethos do, and how they bring that about. It was about being Excellent, it was about our People, about being Innovative and about our Clients. Looking under those headings, we thought about what competences would be relevant under each. We ended up with 7-8 different competences under those headings and we reuse those headings in our Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and our job descriptions. It’s something we really live by – you are awesome, but are you EPIC? That’s our barometer in terms of how we’re performing, what is needed, and can we evolve from that space as well.

The nature of Ethos is highly innovative and highly entrepreneurial. It’s always thinking about what’s coming down the line, and how we support people, both in internal teams and in their interactions with clients.

I’m a strong believer that if our people are happy, they’ll look after our clients as well.

EPIC also enables our people to understand the difference between traditional appraisal methods and what competency assessment does, in tandem with looking at the talent management piece where we look at our organisational capabilities and how we can stretch and develop our individuals to grow into leadership positions.

In terms of a reflective exercise organisation-wide it’s been a success, but it’s not fully realised yet. I'm very excited that later this year people will really understand how this is going to shape their development within the organization.

Particularly from an engineering perspective, we’re dealing with certain personality types – it can be process driven, and it can be very black and white. There’s also an element of conceptual skills and behaviours and how that can improve your progress, either within the team or with clients. With EPIC, we can bring them on a leadership journey, or potentially on a technical expert journey as well. 

3. You recently had your Engineers Ireland CPD reaccreditation audit. Can you tell me a bit about how you found the process of preparing the submission and going to audit?

It happened at a time when I was about three months into the organisation. It definitely gave me a better understanding of the incredible amount of work that has already been done and how hard it can be to showcase it all. It also gave me a better sense of the importance of recording CPD and understanding the courses people are doing: are they all technical, or can we look at something more conceptual for them as well?

It gave me a sense of how to get to that transformational level.

4. In your experience, what are the competences or behaviours that distinguish a good engineer from a great engineer?

I think this is two-fold. Firstly, in terms of technical expertise, it’s not just about someone’s technical skills, but about how those skills apply across different functions – that they can see those interdependencies.

I think to grow from being a good engineer to a great engineer, they have to understand the value that they create in their role, and not only how that contributes to the project but how it relates to the business strategy and how that can be used to grow the business.

Secondly, it’s about encouraging engineers to develop the skills to mentor and coach others, and to grow your people, grow your teams, and recognise people’s aptitudes to encourage and accelerate the growth of those individuals. People are like popcorn kernels: they’ll all turn into popcorn, but not necessarily at the same time.

So, while it’s two-fold, it’s all overarchingly about the contributions to the organisation’s strategy and the impact that an individual can have on the organisation. If the individual understands how they can contribute and feels that they can speak up and they will be heard (good, bad, or indifferent) – it's that element of courage we would look for. For engineers to feel empowered and, critically, to feel that they can go the technical route or into a leadership route as well.

5. What do you do in your spare time?

As I look above my desk here, I have a gorgeous picture of a dog that I had, a lot of my time would be spent out in nature, walking with the dog in the woods or by the beach. I find walking is something that resets me, and that’s great, but you also need something that gets the heart pumping as well, so I also play tennis. I’m a recent enough convert to it and I've been playing for two years, but I love getting out onto the court winter or summer. It’s great fun, it’s highly sociable and even quite competitive – it’s great craic.

As well as that, I spend a lot of time with family and friends. Most of my family are based in the southeast and I'm in Dublin, but I get down as often as I can. It’s lovely just having that family time.

I’m a massive football fan and sports fan in general, so myself and my husband watch a good bit of sport together. We try to balance work with a busy social life, and sometimes it’s just about taking it easy as well.

To bring it back to my role in Ethos, I like helping people find the joy in what we do every day. Whether it’s the water cooler conversations, celebrating a job well done on a task, or expanding your capacities in your role, that’s something I love and that I want people to feel in their day-to-day work.

Alison Heffernan, Head of People

Alison is a leader and Senior HR Professional with global experience from multinational companies in the construction, engineering, and pharmaceutical industries. This variety of industries in multiple geographies has widened her expertise across HR and in M&A, encouraging agility and collaboration in her work approach.

Alison is responsible for building and executing a People and Talent strategy at Ethos focused on attracting, motivating, developing, and retaining top talent while delivering a high-performance culture in the business. In addition to providing leadership and guidance to people and leaders in the business, she will also leverage her proven ability to drive organisation success by implementing optimised HR programs that add value across the organisation and achieve business goals. She holds a Masters Degree in Business Practice and BA (Hons) in Human Resource Management.