Ashley Round is an HR specialist with defense workforce supplier M&E Global and lives in Stourbridge in Dudley in the West Midlands with his wife and two young children. After being promoted to senior positions in previous jobs, Ashley found that HR was something that “really resonated with me” and decided to focus on this area, eventually landing a position with M&E where he helps to recruit British and European candidates for overseas military operations.
I wake up between 6 and 7:30am, depending on how generous my children are with allowing me a lie-in. The first thing I do is ensure everyone is happy and doesn’t need anything. Then I take a morning shower to kick-start my day. For breakfast, I have my usual four Weetabix and a banana. I also make sure everyone else gets their breakfast — or milk — before I head out for the day.
Fortunately, I now have a work-branded uniform, which makes the clothing selection process much simpler. I usually spend about five minutes browsing my phone to catch up on any overnight developments from around the world, primarily focusing on news from the States, which supports our US military contracts, to ease myself into the day.
My commute to work is a 25–30-minute journey that fortunately allows me to either squeeze in a bit more family time or have a lie-in on occasion. For my drive into the office, I usually select one of my music playlists — typically modern rap or metalcore rock — or listen to a podcast — usually gaming or film-related. I try to enjoy the journey to work as much as possible, despite the traffic, to start the day off right.
When I start work, I usually greet the team and jump straight into my emails to see if there’s anything that needs my immediate attention. Because of the time difference between our UK office and many of our work sites, which range from Poland to the US, they may have already been working for several hours on any given day, providing plenty of time to discover something that requires a quick response. If all is quiet, I grab a hot drink to give myself the little boost that only a cup of tea can provide.
Ashley Round believes that HR is complex and that it’s OK not to know everything.
I break down my morning tasks into two categories: recurring tasks and as-and-when tasks. Recurring tasks, such as daily absence reports, regular meetings and collating and generating reports, can all be anticipated ahead of time, so I know part of what any given morning will consist of. Besides that, I evaluate any information or requests that have come in over the previous day, determine whether they need action and try to fit them into an appropriate timeline for completion.
My day-to-day sees me in contact with the HR and admin teams for each of the individual contracts we’re working on. The inbound requests can be almost anything, from workforce compliance, such as A1 certificates, to implementing new processes for candidates applying from a nation we’ve not previously recruited from.
There’s also the core tasks, such as producing new contracts in line with client requirements and applicable labour laws.
I believe discussions about four-day work weeks and the renewed focus on mental health and work-life balance will continue to be significant factors in HR.
As a business, we work across such a wide scope of projects, so despite careful planning, I can end up handling various tasks only once they land on my desk. It’s also worth mentioning the day-to-day of our UK office, which keeps us prepared to cope with the ebb-and-flow nature of the industry.
I’m notorious for forgetting my lunch, even when I have it in hand at my front door. Once a week, I walk to the town shop, grab a meal deal and take it back to the office to eat at my desk or the breakfast bar in our lobby. I try to mentally detox from work by checking my son’s nursery diary — if he has been in that day — or by browsing my phone, even if only for a short while.
Sometimes, if I’m deeply engrossed in a task or committed to improving or implementing something new, I work through my lunch break and only realise much later that I’ve done so, which is a habit I don’t recommend.
AI has rapidly advanced in HR, but AI aside, I believe discussions about four-day work weeks and the renewed focus on mental health and work-life balance will continue to be significant factors for many markets moving forward.
These changes have the potential to impact typical HR KPIs, such as productivity, absenteeism, employee satisfaction and attrition. It’ll be interesting to see more data on the larger-scale effects if these changes are widely adopted.
It’s OK not to know all the answers in HR, and there’s nothing wrong with being honest about that. It’s better to take the time to evaluate a situation and potentially ask for help than to give bad advice in haste. As time goes on, your knowledge base will increase accordingly. HR is such a diverse field, and often, only experience truly prepares you for the future.
By 3-4pm, I try to wrap up any tasks that can be completed that day, make notes of anything that needs to be carried over, and spend some time evaluating the tools and information we use as a business.
I usually review any targets set at the start of the year, both individually and as an organisation, and determine how they can be achieved in the most sustainable and maintainable way possible. Even if it means reevaluating solutions we have agreed upon in the past, I’m always looking to improve the infrastructure to make everyone’s lives easier and information more useful.
One example that comes to mind is the process of obtaining visas for our British workers. Previously, the data that was stored in a spreadsheet with very little formatting or use, outside of keeping information logged. To navigate the challenges presented by this, I took it upon myself to improve the usability of the document, with the counsel of those who used it most.
The changes helped give a top-down view of our whole visa process, for all of our tracked workers — around 300 at present — which in turn helps me generate easily digestible reports for the directors.
Whether it’s conscious or subconscious, sometimes just being associated with the Human Resources Department is enough to put people on edge.
Popping down to the kitchen and making cups of tea regularly is a nice break from the screen, and there’s almost always someone with the same idea to strike up a conversation with. It’s easy to get buried in work, so it’s important to make time to interact with the team to rejuvenate your social battery. This also helps create the cohesive and understanding environment that you find at M&E Global.
HR often ends up with the reputation of being the proverbial “bad guy”, which can be disheartening at times. Whether it’s conscious or subconscious, sometimes just being associated with the Human Resources department is enough to put people on edge.
As soon as I get home, it’s time for tea, so we all sit down together for a family meal, which is something I love. We try to home-cook most days, and while we don’t all agree on a favorite, hidden vegetable soup is surprisingly always a hit.
Once everyone’s plate is cleared, we see how much time we have to play or learn before starting the bedtime routines. My eldest loves stories and reading, so it’s a great way to squeeze in a little more family time before he nods off. After he’s down for the count, we watch a film and have some fun with the little one. We usually have a few more hours of him being awake before he clocks off since he’s a night owl — just like me.
I like to spend time with my family, whether it’s playing with my boys before they go to bed or watching something with my partner to relax. She often goes to sleep much earlier than I do, so when left to my own devices, I turn to the reliable: YouTube and video games. I don’t get as much time to enjoy them anymore as a father of two, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I’m the type of person who feels like I’m missing out on valuable time if I go to sleep while the clock still says PM. I usually stay up to do one final bottle feed at around midnight, and then head straight to sleep. I typically don’t need much preparation for sleep, as I like to get it done and dusted before the night ends. That way, I can let sleep take me whenever it feels like it.
