Greater London Enterprise Awards 2021

41 | Greater London Enterprise Awards 2021 bonafide hr is built on passion. It’s founder, Shaheen Sayed Kadri, started his career in human resources, in 2000, in Philadelphia, USA, working for Elsevier, a global publishing company. Following a move to London in 2007 to start a successful HR career in financial services, Shaheen founded bonafide hr in 2018. We spoke with Shaheen following the company’s well-deserved success in this year’s programme. Ultimately, it was Shaheen’s HR experience in London that shaped bonafide hr from the outset, as he begins. “I used my two decades of HR experience to carefully craft using a blank piece of paper, what became my blueprint for bonafide hr. A vision of my passion of what I thought a good HR company, targeted at the creative industry, could look like.” The company’s vision in the beginning was very much aspirational. “It was who we wanted to become. Not who we were. Thinking about who we want to become was important, because it allowed us to work effectively as a team from the start”, says Shaheen. On a day-to-day practical basis, bonafide hr created values that guided them in everything they did. They established the bonafide personality, which is based on openness and freedom of expression - important tools in helping identify and frame the context of all exchanges. Further, as Shaheen goes on to explain, one of the key appointments made by bonafide hr was to set up an advisory board made up of senior professionals. Their purpose was to hold bonafide hr accountable and help shape their ideas into reality. From here, you can start to see the stable foundations that the leadership team put in place to help secure the company’s enduring success. Another key decision that was made by the founders, was living their values, one of which is Community. They partnered with the Global Fund for Children, as its official CSR partner. “We wanted to use the power of business for the greater good of giving back and changing lives”, says Zarina Mahmood, Executive Director of bonafide hr and Co-founder. But it wasn’t all plain sailing in the beginning. They realised – as all companies must do – that they could not be everything to everyone. So very early on, they established strategic partnerships with companies like hireful, who provide recruitment services and they partnered with bonafide hr Hans Schumann Coaching to provide leadership development coaching. And one final piece: an understanding that client centricity is a crucial cornerstone: “bonafide hr’s approach to HR is very bespoke, because every client we work with has different requirements. So, listening to them is very important because they know there business better than we do. And they have some great ideas.” Covid-19 has changed the way we work and how SMEs are viewing HR as a function. Throughout the pandemic, HR has been one of those departments that have been stretched, working around the clock, furloughing, un-furloughing, restructuring, redesigning organisations, redundancies, mental health advise, dealing with grief, resourcing issues and so much more while still having to look after their own families. Shaheen says “I know what covid-19 did to us all. I had a front-line seat in the first wave as I watched, in horror, as my father struggled to fight for his life supported by a ventilator. The experience changed me forever. But while this was all unfolding in my personal life, the demands on HR had multiplied. I knew we had to carry on for my father, without whom bonafide hr would not have been possible. Every day I am thankful to my team, who worked hard to help support our clients and keep bonafide hr going.” The pandemic had seen an increased demand and activity for first time HR support in the SME space. This has been great for business and an indicator that companies are seeing the value of HR. This has allowed us to position bonafide hr as an alternative solution to a full time HR headcount. Shaheen says, “If you’re a small company, under 30 employees, you don’t need a full time HR headcount and outsourcing might be a more cost-effective option. In addition, we provide you with support and advise on scaling up your business. AND with bonafide hr, you get an entire HR department.” bonafide hr remains optimistic for the future and the role that they will play in supporting the creative industry. Shaheen says, “In 2019, we launched bonafide hr leadership academy and last year during the height of the pandemic, we launched bonafide hr Scotland. But we remain cautious. We need to see positive recovery in the creative industry, and this will take time and require patience as consumer confidence crawls out of this period of uncertainty. It’s almost as though the world is starting a new beginning. Bonafide hr is here to provide the right guidance for this new beginning.” The focus for bonafide hr for the remainder of the year is to support clients during this period of continuous change. They will focus on their core HR, because that is what is important to clients in the SME space, and of course change programmes. 2022 is another year and a new beginning. Let bonafide hr ensure your success. Company: bonafide hr Web Address: https://bonafidehr.co.uk Aug21507 “We say to our clients, we are an extension of your business not just something to have on the side.” Best Nationwide Creative Industry Boutique HR Company 2021