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Omar Rashid launches The HR Dept North East and South West Birmingham

Omar Rashid of The HR Dept NE and SW

An ambitious young HR professional with over a decade of corporate experience has set up his own business offering outsourced advice and support to SMEs in two parts of Birmingham.

Through his new company The HR Dept North East and South West Birmingham, Omar Rashid will work from premises in Stratford Road to provide HR services to businesses in his territories.

He will be looking for clients in the business communities in a variety of areas including the Harborne, Selly Oak, Bournville, Nechells, Tyseley and Sparkbrook.

Nor does Mr Rashid, aged 34, plan to stop at two parts of the city. His plan is to take on staff within a year to 18 months, before eventually expanding the business further.

For now though, Mr Rashid is excited about the prospects and the challenges of launching his own company, having become disillusioned with the bureaucracy of corporate life.

He said: “I’ve thought long and hard about this and I’m really excited by the prospects. I’ve got a young family, which gives me the drive, energy and ambition to make this company a real success.

“I’ve lived in or near Birmingham all my life and I know there’s a really strong SME community in my territories of operation. For example in Harborne and the Longbridge Technology Park – these are places I’m keen to get to know better and find those businesses who need help to grow.”

Born and bred in Birmingham, Mr Rashid studied a Business Management degree at Coventry University and after taking a HR module in the final year followed up with completing his masters in Human Resource Management.

“I really enjoyed it,” he said, “and it’s been a passion of mine ever since. However, having spent a decade working with corporates and in the public sector I had this impression that small businesses don’t need HR – that they could just get rid of someone if they needed to.

“Since I found out about The HR Dept, though, my eyes have been opened. HR is as important for SMEs as it is for big businesses and part of my mission is to point that out to businesses, help them protect themselves and add value at the same time.

“I’m still as passionate about HR as I was since I did that first module at university. It’s great to be able to bring this new offering to Birmingham’s SME community.”

Mr Rashid said that small businesses are facing all kinds of challenges in the current business climate, with legislation changing all the time and new demands on business owners to manage their people properly.

“Now that employment tribunal fees have been scrapped,” he said, “it gives more power to employees ensure they are treated properly.

“So if companies are making a mess of redundancies or dismissals, they are at a growing risk of being taken to tribunal. I can help make sure these processes are done in a correct legal manner.

“The changes in tribunal fees, new measures like GDPR and shared parental leave, alongside the uncertainty posed by Brexit, makes the role of an HR professionals even more relevant and important.

“The key point about outsourcing is to let the HR expert concentrate on people issues, leaving business owners free to do what they do best, which is running and hopefully growing their business.”

The HR Dept is an international business, with a network of over 68 franchisees providing HR services in 100 territories in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Managing director Gemma Tumelty said: “It’s great to see someone of Omar’s calibre and experience offering HR services to SMEs in North East and South West Birmingham. We wish him all the best operating the licence and are sure he will make it a great success.”

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