I am excited to share with you all that next month, I will be moving into a new job in the Civil Service, as a ‘Senior Cohort Leader’ (Talent Manager) for the Fast Stream graduate programme. I have known for a little while this was coming, but I have finally told my current team and I also got an email from my new manager this week, so it feels a lot more real now.

This change comes at a very busy time in my current job, as the 2016 graduate class have just arrived in London for their training. The last few weeks have been very busy getting ready to deliver this year’s programme and I’m about to head down to London for the next three weeks to be on site. Looking forward to it, as I’ve been planning for this month all year and I really enjoy meeting the graduates, but I am sure it will be pretty exhausting too. It will also be nice to see my Frankfurt colleagues again and have a good opportunity to say goodbye before I leave. I then return to the Birmingham office for two days to say goodbye and hand things over, followed by a few days rest before I start my new job.

I am very much looking forward to the change in role. Less focus upon training and more on coaching and performance management, it should give me lots of opportunity to improve my coaching skills and I’m keen to have that more hands-on management experience again. My recent volunteering experience with Stemettes as a ‘Sherpa’ has reminded me how much I enjoy that one-on-one coaching role and I’m really looking forward to helping the Fast Streamers build their careers within the Civil Service.

My new role is back in the North West (based in Salford), so I am very much looking forward to my easier commute and catching up with the lovely HR folk of Manchester again at CIPD or #ConnectingHRMcr events. After my past week trying to commute in and out of a very hot and sticky Birmingham New Street, I will be glad to not have to rely on trains for a while. Over 2 hours to get home after a 11 hour work day is no fun. 🙁

As with any career move, I am very excited, but it can feel a little bitter-sweet too. I am going to miss working in a global team and will certainly miss my Birmingham HR colleagues. Dare I say it, I may even miss Birmingham a little. Brindleyplace is a lovely place to work, especially when it is sunny and everyone is out in the square at lunchtimes, but I am glad that I will have more time at home with my partner and Nikki dog. It has been a slightly crazy year and I’m looking forward to a little stability for a while.