ABOUT US
Welcome inside The HR House; here’s a little bit about what makes us, us.
An organisation is defined by its people, and people are our thing.
Before establishing The HR House, Tanya and Gemma had spent their careers climbing the corporate HR ladder. Both starting out as HR administrators, they quickly fell in love with the profession.
Between them, they have over 30 years of experience working in HR at a senior level. Having always worked for large organisations (and the notorious red tape that comes with it) they decided it was time for change.
As people who care about people, they wanted to create a service that provides SME’s with HR expertise in the way they believe it should be done – uncomplicated, friendly and effective.
Thus, the HR House was born.
Our Team
CO-FOUNDER
Tanya Smith
I have been an HR Manager for the past 20 years and have worked across a number of different industries. I started my career at one of the UK’s leading supermarkets whom I shall be forever grateful to for taking a chance on someone who at the time had zero experience but was as keen as mustard.
After developing into the role of Personnel Manager and gaining my HR qualifications I moved into a Global HR Manager role for an engineering company which provided me with the opportunity to travel around the world for 3 years and gain a wealth of experience. For the next 13 years my feet were firmly back on UK soil where I was the Head of HR for a very popular UK holiday resort.
This is where Gemma and I first met and the start of a very special working relationship began. Being part of the big corporate teams as I learnt my craft was a blessing but after 18.5 years of it I felt the time was right to try out my skill set somewhere new and really test my metal.
Over the last 1.5 years I have been the HR Support for an SME who previously had no HR function. They have embraced people plans and HR policies and we have seen employee engagement improve, employee turnover decrease and productivity increase.
I relish the opportunity to help more SME’s turn employee engagement and productivity around through helping them to implement some great people practices.
Outside of work I am Mum to 2 beautiful girls and one very energetic dog.
CO-FOUNDER
Gemma Guiney
Whilst studying for a degree in Business Administration at Portsmouth University, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in HR. After I graduated, I enrolled onto my CIPD Level 5 and started working as a HR Administrator. It’s safe to say that’s when I fell in love with the profession. I spent the next 10 years experiencing all the different facets that HR has to offer, learning lots along the way. In that time, I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to cover a variety of different roles.
My first leadership role was that of HR Assistant Manager – a great generalist role which allowed me to work with leaders all across the business. I then specialised in recruitment for a short time, heading up the resorts in house recruitment function; a role that allowed me to work with other local organisations within the community which I loved. I was then promoted to HR Operations Manager, supporting a fantastic HR team as well as leaders across the resort.
After having my two gorgeous girls, I wanted a role that offered me more flexibility around my family life. I now get to work with some amazing small businesses, helping them with all things HR.