Feb 2021
New Director of People joins OSJCT
“What I love about this sector is that our key ‘product’ is the care we deliver, and it is the skill, compassion and creativity of our colleagues that directly influence the quality of the care that our residents receive."
“I am so pleased to have joined an organisation with such a big heart, big ambition and real professional rigour,” is how new Director of People Jacqui Roynon describes her first impressions of working at OSJCT.
Jacqui joined the organisation in early February having worked for almost 17 years at Hft, a national charity providing services for people with learning disabilities.
“What I love about this sector is that our key ‘product’ is the care we deliver, and it is the skill, compassion and creativity of our colleagues that directly influence the quality of the care that our residents receive. I believe that the HR/People team are here to ensure that whole “people system” is completely aligned to our front-line carers so they feel supported and enabled to provide the very best care, every day”.
Jacqui’s early career had not been in the not-for-profit or care sectors as she began as a graduate trainee at Tesco HQ. Before taking up her first role the workforce planning department her training included secondments in each of the HR departments as well a 3 month long grounding working in very department in one of the larger superstores and in a distribution centre.
Later moves took her to Cable and Wireless and Galileo International, a computerised reservations system for Airlines. In the latter job one of her challenges was recruiting people to work in Swindon where the organisation’s competitor offices were in Denver, Chicago and Sydney. “Not an easy task” she reports.
Unfortunately, as a young child Jacqui’s eldest daughter had some health issues, so she stepped back from corporate life and focussed on her daughter while working part time for Scope in 1997 where she was first bitten by the social care and not-for-profit bug.
Jacqui’s daughter made a full recovery and from Scope she moved to Hft in 2003 and progressed from Head of HR to Director of People and Communications and then interim chief executive for the last nine months.
She said: “I’m definitely most at home working in ‘the people space’ of HR and I was highly attracted to work for such a values-based and ambitious organisation. I am very much looking forward to being able to visit the homes and to get opportunity to meet both colleagues and residents.”
Outside of work Jacqui is very keen on sport, primarily playing and watching netball as well as running.