Wake Smith has appointed a new HR manager to further develop its workplace culture and drive forward employee engagement.
Kelly Pashley-Handford, who lives in Bolsover, has worked within professional legal services for more than 22 years, having previously been employed at a Chesterfield law firm providing in-house Human Resources (HR) and external HR support services to other local businesses.
Her role will be to undertake all aspects of HR at Wake Smith including managing recruitment and selection processes; facilitating training and development; coordinating provision of benefits and continuously reviewing and improving HR practices.
In addition, Kelly’s role includes assisting on operational compliance issues including maintaining Lexcel standards and facilitating the firm’s CQS accreditation scheme.
Kelly, who qualified in 2015 and attained chartered membership status (Chartered MCIPD) in 2016, said: “This is a very exciting move for me. Wake Smith is a law firm which has employee engagement rooted into its culture and brand values, which is something I am very passionate about.
“If you focus on getting the experience right for your own employees then engagement, growth and success should follow.
“Wake Smith has already made great strides in the development of staff offering rewarding, long term careers with regular training and a happy, progressive work environment with a realistic and strong set of goals and values.
“Everyone has been incredibly welcoming and it speaks volumes that the firm has been shortlisted for an Employer of the Year award for two years running.
“There are lots of amazing things already going on here and I very much look forward to continuing all the great work, building on our culture and continuing to support our employees.”
Nick Lambert, chairman at Wake Smith, said: “We are a people business so recruiting and developing the right people is very important to us.
“We already have a fantastic workplace culture, but we are committed to continued improvement. It is this which will allow us to maximise the effectiveness of our people, our work and our impact on our clients and our community.
“Kelly, who has worked within fee earning and management roles, has more than 10 years’ experience heading up HR within a busy legal environment and brings with her a wealth of ideas and considerable expertise that will help us take our workplace culture to the next level.”
Wake Smith, which has serviced the legal requirements of individuals and companies across the Sheffield City Region for more than 200 years, has a long history of sector and business accreditations including Lexcel, CQS and Investors in People and has twice been shortlisted in the Employer of the Year category at the Sheffield Business Awards.
