Barbara Cox Awards 2023
nominees: Kate Howdon
Head of HR for eStar Truck & Van
Brief biography of you and your career
Kate started her career at just 16-years-old, at Sainsburys PLC, where after starting on the checkouts, she joined the in-store HR team. By 17, she was representing HR on the Colleague Council and heading up store fundraising projects.
A move out of the area nearly three years later saw Kate move sectors to an estate agent, Bairstow Eves Countrywide, as Branch Administrator, which included HR admin. After two years, Kate progressed to an HR Advisor position at Cambria Automobiles, which was her first role in the motor trade and where she really got her HR stripes.
While this industry is considered tough in many ways, especially for a 20-year-old female, Kate spent nearly seven years helping to build the brand from scratch and supporting with TUPE, as well as leading tribunals. By 25, Kate was asked to cover a management position, and was responsible for the entire HR function of Cambria, which was a Company of 1,200 employees spread across 28 locations in the UK.
Kate then moved, to the North West from Kent, and as such had to move roles. This time, as a HR Advisor into a third sector organisation, Manchester Growth Company, where she spent eight months leading challenging restructures of the organisation.
Kate then moved into an HR Advisor role at Premex Services Ltd, where she really built her understanding of colleague wellbeing and implementing new policies that supported them. Here, she set up the company’s first mental health policy and delivered management workshops on supporting colleagues that suffered with their mental health. In addition, Kate was responsible for internal events to support the overall culture, reward, and engagement strategy.
Keen to grow in her career, Kate moved into a Regional HR Manager role for Ford Retail Ltd (TrustFord) some three years later. This was heavy on the employee relations side of HR as Kate was responsible for 800 employees within the North West and Yorkshire region. It was also the time of furlough, which meant juggling the challenges of keeping workshops open to support the front line, while operating with heavily reduced staff.
Nearly four years later, Kate joined eStar, keen to take on a completely new challenge – eStar took over from a failed business that didn’t even have some of the basic policies in place. From digitalising the department and building new reward and benefit strategies, to ensuring equal pay across the Group, and developing bespoke leadership training for the Senior Management Team, Kate has made a huge difference to both the company and the colleagues who work here.
Tell us what this nomination means to you
Having always worked in the HR environment, looking after others is always high on the priority list and comes second nature. Making the working environment better for colleagues, so they enjoy coming to work, feel supported and have the correct training, is my responsibility and one that I have always taken great pride in.
Therefore, to be shortlisted amongst such inspiring women, for doing, what I feel is just my duty, is completely overwhelming.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in automotive?
Having worked at different levels within HR, in the automotive industry, women do unfortunately face challenges in a male dominated environment, however, there are a lot of amazing women that have worked extremely hard to break down those barriers, and have paved the way for the younger generation, or anyone who wants to change their career, to come into a more level playing field.
The opportunity is there now for these women, to build on these foundations and continue to drive the industry forward.
What advice would you give your younger self on having a successful career?
Throughout my career, I have always made it my mission to get under the skin of the business I’m in, and look at a business holistically, to ultimately make it a better place for the people. Equally not being afraid to move on, in order to progress my career, yet in every case, leaving the business in a better place than when I found it.
The advice to my younger self would be;
- Ask questions. No question is a stupid one, the more you ask, the more you learn.
- Define your career goals. Don’t worry if you have to deviate temporarily, but keep the ultimate goal in mind and keep striving to achieve it, even if it means leaving and going elsewhere.
- Ensure you understand the business you work for. It’s easy to stay within the HR bubble, but make sure you can really make a different by being a business partner and aligning your strategy with that of the organisation.
About the Barbara Cox Award 2023 Nominees:
