Accessible by design
Dyslexia-friendly fonts, generous spacing, plain English and short sentences. No legal waffle, so your people can actually read the thing you are asking them to follow.
Home / About
Hi, I'm Rachel
The People Choreographer®
An unconventional, non-traditional approach to HR, for leaders who'd rather change things than tick boxes.
The HR unprofessional
Why I do this.
I've spent over 25 years in HR, starting in admin at Barclays and working up to strategic leadership at the RNLI. Along the way I noticed that the documents people reach for at their worst moments, like grievance, sickness absence or bereavement, are often the least human documents in the building.
The People Choreographer® is my answer to that. I work with charities and purpose-led organisations who want their ways of working to match their values: accessible, inclusive and trauma-informed, without losing sight of the legal essentials.
I have an unconventional, non-traditional approach to HR. I help courageous leaders create ways of working that engage, excite and improve the experience for their employees.
How I work
Accessible by design, and trauma-informed.
Trauma-informed
Policies get reached for at the worst moments. Mine are written so the tone does not add to the harm, while still doing the job legally.
Who are my clients?
It's not about size, it's about attitude.
I identify my clients by attitude, not by size. My clients…
Are pragmatic
Less theory, more “right, what do we actually do on Monday morning?”
Have a great sense of humour
Because culture work is serious, but it doesn't have to be joyless.
Want to tackle issues head on
No sweeping the awkward conversation under the nearest rug.
Are people centred
People first, process second. Always in that order.
Want to make the world better
Purpose-led organisations who mean it, not just say it.
Sound like you?
Then I could be the HR unprofessional you've been looking for.
Let's talkThe origin story
Ten weeks to a showdance. Ten years to a culture change. Why?
Why The People Choreographer®?
It started, honestly, with Strictly.
I love Strictly Come Dancing, and it struck me one year how amazing it is that the professional dancers get such incredible results with the celebrities, in such a short space of time. Meanwhile in business, change happens slowly, or frankly not at all, despite everyone's best efforts.
So what's the difference? When people are being taught to dance, they are front and centre. Everything is geared to support them, encourage them, adapt to their learning style and understand the detail of what they're trying to do.
Wouldn't it be great if workplaces placed the same focus on their people?
And so, The People Choreographer® was born, helping organisations build teams that work like a well-choreographed dance routine.
What else…?
25 years in HR: from making the tea to changing the culture.
Before I started my own business I worked for the RNLI, and before that for Barclays. I started in HR administration before working up through the ranks to strategic leadership roles.
My experience across different roles and sectors gives me breadth and depth of experience and skills. With me (and my associates) you get everything from skilled administration to pragmatic, experienced director-level support.
Barclays
Where it started. HR administration, learning the machinery from the inside.
RNLI
Up through the ranks into strategic leadership in a purpose-led organisation.
The People Choreographer®
Doing it my way, with a team of associates, for clients who want the same.
When I'm not working with clients to create awesome and inclusive workplaces, I love to travel with my daughter Sidney and hang out with my brilliant dogs.
What clients say
Our reviews.
Rachel was my HR Business Partner at the RNLI where she tackled some of the most complex and challenging issues. Her integrity shone through, and she was relentlessly solution focused. I trusted her judgement implicitly and her technical knowledge was second to none. I cannot recommend Rachel highly enough and I continue to sing her praises to anyone who will listen.
I have loved working with The People Choreographer. Rachel has really got to know us as an organisation and gone above and beyond to support us at all levels: advising us on strategy, providing sound but practical technical advice and where necessary getting into the detail to improve our processes.
Excellent - couldn't recommend more highly! Rachel is friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, and clearly has kindness at the centre of her work.
Get in touch. Get started.
Fancy a workplace that moves in time?
Tell me what's going on and we'll work out the choreography together.