“Creative, thoughtful and caring person who you can rely on to get the job done”.“You will do almost anything in your power to help clients, friends and family with the utmost integrity and diligence”.“Exceptional ability to maintain focus on goals and the ability to rise above turmoil and face whatever is in front of you head on”.‘Suggests pragmatic and down-to-earth solutions that really work”Oh and apparently, I have the most wonderful smile, which I like to share much as I can each and everyday.

Outsourcing your HR activities couldn't be easier. We offer a range of flexible HR service packages to meet the needs and aspirations of your business; so you will always have expert HR support perfectly matched to your needs.

Straight Talk (Coaching and HR Services) is headed by Diane and provides professional HR support, advice and coaching to a broad range of businesses and individuals. In whatever guises people or coaching challenges present themselves, her 38 years of HR and business expertise is drawn upon to provide pragmatic, unpretentious and down-to-earth solutions. Diane firmly believes that HR should never exist in its own bubble, so sensitivity to commercial reality and ‘fit for purpose’ are the cornerstones of her approach.

Frontline is a charity with a mission to transform the lives of vulnerable children by recruiting and developing outstanding individuals to be leaders in social work and broader society. We are working towards this through the Frontline and Firstline programmes, and by building a movement of leaders in and outside of social work as part of our Fellowship. As a Frontline Leadership Coach, I play a vital role in supporting participants during their second year as newly qualified social workers. The coaching offers a safe space to reflect on their practice; build their personal resilience and grow into their professional identities. By using the Frontline leadership capabilities to deepen their self-awareness, they gradually recognise how they are already demonstrating acts of leadership and can be powerful agents for change within the system. By the end of the year, the degree to which the participants have consolidated their learning to enhance their professional practice and personal effectiveness is evidenced by numerous inspiring stories of their impact on vulnerable children and families and the difference that coaching has made; I feel privileged to be a part of their journey.

Operating at Executive level and leading the creation and deployment of people strategies with both UK and Global reach, Diane was the lead HR professional and a member of the Executive team. The long-term people objectives were simply to optimise organisation design, improve organisation capacity & capability and increase employee engagement measures, thus supporting the ghd growth strategy designed to increase shareholder value.

Commissioned by the then C.E.O Terry Leahy, the project brief was to review the ‘Tesco Values’. The project had a wide remit across the UK and throughout the then 14 international businesses.

Providing leadership and direction in all people related issues for circa 20 stores, latterly in the Hypermarket format, however Diane also worked in the superstores and metro formats. The principle purpose of the role was to lead the HR function within the group, providing support and coaching for the Retail Director and Store Management Teams in delivering their KPI’s and the balanced scorecard.

The role held significant responsibility for the implementation of organisational change, by introducing and embedding interventions like competency based development, 360 feedback and personal development plans. Diane provided an internal consultancy service to 8 District Managers with around 280 shops across the Northern area.

Diane was responsible for delivering management development activities across the trust. Projects deployed included the accreditation of an in-house NVQ level 5 Diploma in Management; design and delivery of a wide range of management/leadership courses; investors in people accreditation, writing CBT programs and the creation of numerous distance learning materials