Together, ordinary people can achieve extraordinary results

Posted onJuly 28, 2022
Author: Nicki Bond

It's Team Spotlight time again, and this month we spoke to Kevin Hume, our Solutions Lead at Tugela People. Kevin is well entrenched in the business and the HR industry and has recently joined the management team.

What does your role involve?

As Solution lead, I put together solutions that will work for our new and existing customers across our wide range of product offerings. Beyond that, I also work with our partners to try to grow those offerings as well as identifying new avenues for us to explore as a business.

What is your background?

I've pretty much always worked within HR tech, barring about six months of my time at Sage. My first proper job was as an 18-year-old working in the HR team at Reg Vardy, where I landed in the niche of HR systems and reporting. After that, I went on to implement a new HRIS in my next role as an HRIS analyst before doing so again as a Project Manager. From there, I landed a role at Sage as a Project Manager in their HR&P team, which led to a meandering journey through Project Management and Product Management with a few different products before I arrived at Tugela People.

What Inspired you to join Tugela People?

I was actually listed as a reference for a colleague who'd applied here. He didn't join in the end, but I had a really good chat with Thomas Schilling, MD and founder of Tugela People, and ended up joining a couple of months later. I think there were only 6 or 7 in the team before me, and I loved the idea of joining a small business and helping it grow. To this day, I still appreciate that individual performance can make a massive difference in a small business. I also love that we can be flexible with our roles and that we get the chance to snap up opportunities that we take a shine to!

How has your journey with the company been so far?

Interesting. I've had several roles here and have been afforded opportunities to take on new and exciting positions. I've also had a significant amount of flexibility. Previously, I condensed my hours so I could use Mondays for volunteering, and I now work part-time, allowing me a much healthier work-life balance than I've previously had. That is a huge help when you've got a young family. In the time I've been at Tugela People, I've moved 220 miles from Sunderland to Milton Keynes, got married and had two kids. Tugela People has been a massive part of my life during this time!

How do you envision your future with the company?

Who knows?! I want to see us expand our offerings, grow as a business and excel in all our endeavours. I'll happily play any part I can to help with that. I've at least 20 years left till I retire, so in the meantime, I'll keep trying to make a difference where I can!

Aside from work, what else do you do, and what inspires you?

I've got a young family, and when my wife returned to work after our eldest came along, I went part-time, so I could spend my Fridays with Sonny, which tends to involve many trips to Whipsnade Zoo - our youngest Rosie will be joining us soon enough. My dog is also a big old part of our family life. I got her from a rehoming charity where I volunteered for a few years, and I'd love to do that again in Milton Keynes sometime in the future. Aside from that, I run quite a bit, and I'm currently looking to move from half marathons to full marathons. I have a race in September which will be my first at that distance in about 11 years. I plan to keep adding to that with the aim of completing the Comrades ultra marathon in 2024. Outside of running, I enjoy swimming and being on top of the water. I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a kayak recently after years of saying I wanted to!