As a research director at Hall & Partners I gained lots of experience managing and developing staff – so when the opportunity came up to move into the people side of the business, I jumped at the chance. Our global CEO supported this move – the agency prides itself on encouraging internal career moves and developing new skills. Some parts of the transition from research into HR have been relatively easy, as I was already used to dealing with areas such as recruitment, appraisals and training, but getting up to speed with the legal aspects of my job was more of a challenge. Hall & Partners is a brand and communications research agency with offices in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Shanghai, so my job involves overseeing all HR and people initiatives across the globe.