Matt Anderson - HR Consultant for Product Development
My name is Matt Anderson, I am a graduate HR Consultant, working with Product Development in Gaydon, Warwickshire. I joined Jaguar Land Rover 4 years ago, initially as a Training Consultant at the Solihull plant, I then moved into Employee Relations at Solihull and then working with staff in Product Development at Gaydon. In my role currently, I support a large, complex organisation of engineers, I help them with their performance management, resolving employee relations issues, looking at compensation and benefits. I essentially help them work to become a more effective management organisation. The thing that first attracted me about Jaguar Land Rover was working with a really prestigious brand and something that was involved in production and engineering as opposed to just a service industry.
There is no such thing as a typical day within Human Resources at Jaguar Land Rover, we have certain things that we do across the year, such as our compensation planning and our performance management, but on a day to day basis it’s always difficult to tell what you’ll be working on.
One of the best things about development at Jaguar Land Rover is the fact that we move between roles within HR regularly so we are able to see different aspects of the business and to pick up different skills that are required in each of those roles. I see myself working in a number of other areas of the business but then looking to move into something senior before too long. Much of the training that we receive at Jaguar Land Rover is self motivated, so I am able to identify my own development requirements and pursue my own training courses. When you work in Human Resources, the main training you do initially is the CIPD course which is usually through De Montfort University that forms the main level of academic training.
The most exciting thing I have been involved in since being at Jaguar Land Rover is probably the Earthwatch Project and flying out to Kenya to participate in a scientific expedition studying Grevy’s Zebra in Kenya, which I’m really looking forward to. The preparation for that’s been really interesting, we’ve done off road days, it’s going to be fantastic.
My role fits into the bigger picture at Jaguar Land Rover, in that I provide a conscience for the local management so I help advise them on company policy, provide solutions for difficult management situations that they may encounter and also to help them get the best out of their teams from a human resource perspective.
Working at Jaguar Land Rover has taught me to have confidence in my ability and my ability to make a difference within a large organisation.
Jaguar Land Rover is the ultimate destination because of the wide variety of experiences and challenges you can face within a short period of time, there’re endless opportunities for development and ultimately it’s a great place to work.