Life as a Mum, Executive, People Leader and a wife! Tell me more Jacqui...

I interviewed Jacqui, our wonderful Chief People Officer and Executive Leader at Class Ltd. Jacqui has three small beautiful girls under the age of 6, works 4 days per week and has found her own way to blend work and life and make it work, for her. How on earth is this possible? I’m keen to hear more… 

They say, “People are your greatest asset”. Do you agree? Tell me more!

Absolutely! It’s something here at Class we are very passionate about, our people are our priority. At every stand up, our CEO Andrew Russell always gives a shout out to our people first. They are our point of differentiation; without them we would not have the competitive edge. Our people transform our technology to what it is today and continue to make it better and stronger. Class has gone through a huge transformation piece in the last 18 months and our people are driving this by making things simpler for our customers, creating automated workflows, and connecting them to a technology which is hugely timesaving. We as a business look for talent who align with our values and our ways of working which gives us our WOW factor for internal and external talent and we embed this into everything we do.

This month is the 1 year anniversary of Covid… How did you get through 2020, what coping strategies helped you along the way? 

What an interesting 2020 was for everyone. What could have ended up a really difficult year for our people ended up being the most transformative, innovative and ground-breaking year for Class. We embraced 100% remote work then designed our own Hybrid Work playbook. We found, hired and onboarded amazing new talent into our business. We launched new products and acquired new businesses. All this in the context of a global pandemic and financial crisis. I’m so proud of everything our people did every day to make 2020 one of our best years yet.

Personally, last year was challenging for me. I had three little kids at home, working alongside my husband every day and working at incredible pace as most in People & Culture did last year. There were many overwhelming moments. I quickly learnt that to be the best I can be for my family and my team, I needed to look after myself. Self-care was critical, and I embraced our Wellbeing@Class support programs to keep me mentally and physically fit (and have a bit of fun with our team along the way!). I am lucky to work for a company that takes wellbeing seriously and where mental health is so openly discussed and shared by our leaders.

We hired 88 people last year, honestly how on earth did that happen during Covid?

We have extraordinary leaders, supported by an incredible People Team. And we are always reimagining! If at the start of 2020 someone would have told me we had hired and onboarded 88 talented people into Class – completely remotely - I would have said it was impossible. COVID gave us a unique opportunity to help us reimagine how we bring people into our business, and many of these changes will continue beyond COVID. We allocated our Newbies a social and professional buddy, we implemented coffee-catch ups in their local area, we had technology set up, sent home and ready to go for Day 1, our Newbies received a self-care welcome pack with merchandise for their home office. And most importantly, we organised thoughtful and meaningful meetings with key stakeholders in their first 2 weeks to build their sense of connection and belonging with the Class community. The feedback we received from our Newbies was fantastic – many of them said it was the best onboarding experience they had ever had!

Jacqui, how do you manage work, life balance? 

I don’t believe in the term “work life balance”. It implies a sense of harmony, equilibrium and stability. My life, like every working parent, is far from balanced, it’s chaotic, fun and beautiful. I prefer the term work-life blend – where you find your own way to blend what’s important to you, and make it work. 

For my husband & I, we share the load. We both work and we both parent. We work hard to communicate with each other. It’s not easy, it’s an incredible juggle but I’ve learned to be gentle on myself and know I’m not going to have everything is under control all the time. I love my children and I love my work, both fulfill me in different ways. Being a mum has made me a better leader, and my time at Class has made me a better mum.

On a final note, how do you differentiate yourself as a leader?

 You might want to ask the team that! Being the leader of the People team at Class has been an absolute career highlight for me. I am fortunate to work with a team of hugely talented, passionate and fun people. As a leader, I stretch my team to reimagine and empower them to bring their bright ideas to life. The team they have delivered all that and more in the past 12 months. COVID really brought our team together. We have a lot of pride over the amazing initiatives we launched last year and the way in which we supported our people in 2020. We also like to have a bit of fun in and out of work. I can’t wait to see what we deliver together this year, with a bit of heart!

Thank you Jacqui for such an insightful interview.

"We are Reimagineers. Transforming Technology. Delivering with Heart"