Leadership Stories Unveiled: Nichola-Jayne Thomas
We sat down with Nichola-Jayne Thomas, HR Director at Elis, for the latest instalment of our Leadership Stories Unveiled series.
Nichola-Jayne, we appreciate you joining us. Could you tell us about your inspiration for pursuing a career in HR and the impact of your role at Elis on your leadership style?
I ended up in HR completely by accident. I had intended to pursue a teaching career but started temping at Whitbread Inns whilst waiting for my degree results. An opportunity arose to become a Recruitment & Employee Relations Advisor. I became completely hooked and the rest is history.
During your tenure in HR, what key insights have you gained that are essential for effective leadership?
Build relationships – Trust/Compassion/Stability/Hope.
Develop people, lead change, inspire others, think critically, communicate clearly and create accountability.
In what ways do you align HR strategies with Elis’s broader business goals?
As a member of the UK Executive Team and a direct report to our UK CEO, I am made aware of the business context and strategy. Each year I build an HR Contract of Objectives aligned with our business goals. It has three sections: ‘Employee Journey – A great place to do great work’, ‘Talent & Development’ and ‘HR as an Enabler’. The document is mine and my teams’ commitment to how we will support those business goals over the next 12 months. We track our progress monthly.
What approaches do you take to champion and cultivate a diverse and inclusive workplace?
It’s about creating a culture where employees want and are happy to give feedback, share ideas and ask questions. It’s about providing them with the mechanisms to do so.
The key for me is not to always adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach. We share best practice and some initiatives have been adopted across the UK. But other practices are pertinent to our employees’ local needs.
Balancing global HR standards with local cultural differences is challenging. How do you manage this?
We are a French group, and we have a corporate head office in Paris. However, the Group gives the UK and other countries a lot of autonomy to do what is required for the country. This provides me with a lot of flexibility e.g., running a UK tender for a new payroll system. We have at least two International HR Committees per year where my peers and I discuss key topics with the Corporate HR team. Outside of those meetings we speak regularly and share best practice. We also form part of Group HR projects e.g., this year, I’m on the steering committee for the roll out of a Group training tool.
With training programs aimed at professional growth, could you elaborate on their success in paving the way for careers within the company?
I can give you an example. In 2023 we launched a pilot in our Northern Region of The Laundry Academy – the programme was designed to discover, develop and retain employees at Team Leader / Customer Advisor / Laundry Operative levels. During the communication, application and selection part of the process, we discovered employees whose ambitions, qualifications and experience had previously gone unknown or unnoticed.
We’ve seen 50% of our pilot cohort go on to be promoted. In 2024, The Laundry Academy has two cohorts covering the whole of the UK and we are working on the launch of Laundry Academy level 2 for those already in first level management roles with the idea that these programmes will eventually join up with our Leadership Programme.
For Elis, it’s also about demonstrating genuine opportunities for career progression within our business. For example, we have four Regional Directors who all form part of our UK Executive Committee – three of whom have previously been Elis General Managers.
Elis operates across 28 countries. What strategies are employed to ensure diversity and equality in talent acquisition, and what challenges are encountered?
We believe that we operate with inclusive recruitment practices aimed at eliminating bias and discrimination in the hiring process, ensuring that all candidates (internal or external) have an equal opportunity to compete for positions based on their skills, qualifications, and potential to succeed. It’s about creating a working environment and culture where every individual can feel safe, a sense of belonging and is empowered to achieve their full potential. Our approach to employee engagement is key to this. One of our challenges is that, despite our size, we are not a well-known brand name in the UK. So, we have to work a little bit harder to describe ourselves and our wonderful career opportunities in job adverts.
Given the focus on individual performance and cross-functional roles, what initiatives does the company undertake to boost employee engagement and teamwork?
Employee engagement is important at Elis – between our 2021 and 2023 employee engagement surveys we saw a more than 20% improvement in overall staff engagement. I am delighted to join the Ashley Kate HR Director boardroom session in August. I will focus the session on our Employee Voice Committees and how they have supported our progress in this area.
Elis offers unique career opportunities and is committed to sustainability. How do these factors influence employees and attract new recruits?
I think the ‘unique career opportunities’ is a difficult one because no-one really understands how incredible it is to work within the laundry industry until you’re in the laundry industry. It’s very hard for applicants to imagine what our industry looks like from the inside. We are seeing an increasing number of applicants drawn to our circular business model. By way of example, I’m happy to share we’ve just announced our achievement of the Ecovadis Platinum status. This puts us in the Top 1% of 100,000 companies assessed and is another strong sign of credibility for both employees and customers.
Reflecting on the HR department’s recent accomplishments, which ones stand out to you as particularly significant?
Aside from our Ecovadis Award, we have recently been given a Bronze Award at the Employee Excellence Awards for our employee engagement strategy. We’ve also been shortlisted for the CIPD People Management Awards under the ‘Best employee experience initiative’ category. It’s wonderful to receive external recognition for something we love.
Nichola-Jayne Thomas is a distinguished HR Senior Executive, committed to HR excellence. With a rich background in talent management and development, including internationally, Nichola-Jayne has been instrumental in fostering a culture of service and quality at ELIS, where she currently leads as a key executive. A graduate in English Literature and Performing Arts, Nichola-Jayne’s academic pursuits reflect her passion for communication and the arts. Her professional journey is marked by her ability to integrate and empathise with diverse teams across various countries. In addition to her ability to connect with people at a variety of levels, Nichola-Jayne is an inspiring leader. She is lauded for her strategic solutions that align with business objectives while remaining pragmatic and accessible to all employees. Her efforts in promoting gender diversity and employee appreciation demonstrate her belief that employees are the greatest asset of any organisation. As a forward-thinking leader, Nichola-Jayne continues to advocate for employee engagement and organisational capability improvement. Her contributions to the field have earned her respect from her peers but also the heartfelt recommendations of those who have worked alongside her.
