HR Insights - The Podcast. Series 7: Talent & Succession Planning with Ravello HR

Our Host and CEO, Stuart Elliott, is joined today by Lucinda Reader, Founder of Ravello HR. Ravello HR is an HR consultancy specialising in helping businesses create highly effective and efficient talent teams. 

Throughout the episode, Stuart and Lucinda focus on talent and succession planning; discussing why she started Ravello HR and giving advice to mums to be as they navigate their career journey. Stuart and Lucinda chat through how to get talent and succession planning right, how small businesses can adapt their talent strategy to continue growth, and how skills mapping and skills pathways can help in talent success. The discussion then moves on to hiring, where they cover the difference between internal and external recruitment partners, hiring people known to the business and how this could incorporate unconscious bias. Finally, they spoke about AI in the interview process, examples of good hiring processes and advice for startups going through a recruitment process. 

Get to know our guest:

Lucinda Reader is the founder of Ravello HR, she is also the non-executive HR Director for Shoorah, a wellbeing app currently disrupting the market. Lucinda has worked in HR and Recruitment globally, both in house and agency, for almost 20 years across sectors, for some of the most well known brands. She is extremely passionate about creating an excellent and equitable experience for all candidates is a firm believer of equal opportunities for all; this being said, she is part of the charity No Going Back, which helps to rehabilitate offenders. Lucinda is proudly a mum to two young children; Santino and Lucia as well as her proclaimed first baby, Norman the sausage dog!

Key Timestamps:

• 02:06 – Introduction to Lucinda Reader
• 06:44 – The birth of Ravello HR
• 09:32 – A special mention to Norman the sausage dog
• 10:09 – Career advice for mums to be
• 13:42 – Getting talent and succession planning right
• 16:50 – Small businesses people strategies
• 20:03 – Skills mapping and skills pathways
• 24:50 – What Lucinda believes falls under the word ‘talent’ in the workplace
• 29:05 – Internal vs external recruitment partners
• 33:00 – Hiring people known to the business
• 37:34 – Examples of good hiring processes 
• 39:49 – Advice for startups going through a recruitment process