Gaia Paparella

In a hands-on, standalone role as Head of HR, I lead the HR function for a growing hospitality and serviced apartments group, working in close partnership with the Managing Director and leadership team.

• Developed and implemented a comprehensive Total Reward framework (pay, benefits, recognition, wellbeing, career progression), supporting employee retention and talent attraction.
• Designed and introduced Job Families and Grading structures to ensure transparent and equitable pay and career pathways.
• Built a high-performance culture through structured performance management, KPI alignment, and ongoing manager coaching.
• Designed and delivered a manager capability programme, combining CPD-accredited training and tailored coaching to strengthen leadership effectiveness.
• Established robust HR analytics and insight dashboards (turnover, retention, absence), driving evidence-based decision making and strategic workforce planning.
• Implemented structured absence management and early intervention practices, supporting proactive wellbeing and positive attendance culture.
• Led and managed payroll operations, holiday and absence processes, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Developed and championed a business-wide wellbeing strategy, including EAP, welfare checks and open-door culture.
• Manage complex employee relations (disciplinary, grievance, absence, welfare), maintaining a highly positive ER climate.
• Designed and led talent acquisition strategies for key roles across the business, aligned to organisational needs and growth plans.
• Own the full employee lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding, ensuring a consistent and positive employee experience.
• Promote a strong sense of belonging and positive culture through staff engagement initiatives and company events.

Key Achievements:

• Built the HR function from the ground up, supporting business scaling from 15 to 40+ employees.
• Maintained monthly retention rates consistently above 80%, exceeding internal KPI targets.
• Sustained a consistently low absence rate of 0.49% YTD (vs sector benchmark 3/4%, CIPD 2024).
• Maintained a highly positive ER climate, with only one formal grievance recorded in the past year.
• Partnered at Board level on key people topics, influencing decisions on culture, reward and organisational growth.
• Strengthened HR governance and risk management through comprehensive policy review and early intervention practices.
• Increased manager capability and confidence in handling day-to-day HR matters through targeted development and coaching.
• Successfully built an HR operations platform covering payroll, holiday/absence management, and employee lifecycle processes.