Professional Support
Audrey McKay – Personnel Officer
When first joining Arthur Cox in 1997, I was employed initially as a legal secretary and later as a paralegal, both roles within the Company Secretarial department. Although I really enjoyed the work, I began to develop an interest in Human Resources. I had seen the Personnel department in action and the communication element of the position really appealed to me and in particular the role of meeting people, dealing with issues and handling queries. As a result, I started studying for a Degree in Human Resource Management in the National College of Ireland in the evenings after work.
In late 2002, a vacancy arose in the Personnel department. The fact that I had already completed over four years of a five-year qualification helped me significantly, as did the fact that the Managing Partner and I believed I had both the personality and attitude required for the job. The firm offered to pay for the final year of my degree, which I really appreciated.
I have been the Personnel Officer since January 2003. Ruth D’Alton, the Head of Human Resources, looks after professional staff while I focus on secretarial and support staff. I am directly responsible for the HR needs of almost 200 people. One of my main functions is to look after the recruitment and selection of all support and secretarial staff. I also manage the secretarial group daily, allocating them to various different positions and covering for absences and holidays. My position also involves being available and willing to answer queries and deal with grievances as they arise. I also deal with all related administration - setting up personnel files, maintaining them and keeping track of all leave taken, handling maternity leave, signing off invoices, organising uniforms, flowers, business cards, work permits, replying to letters, etc. I am also responsible for calculating salary and bonus figures for all support and secretarial staff.
There’s an important social aspect to working in Arthur Cox. As a founder member of the Social Committee I feel that the informal nature of events we organise assists in creating a better work environment. We organise three main events per year - the summer barbeque, a golf outing and the Christmas party. In addition, other events such as wine-tasting, paintballing, pub quizzes, casino nights and greyhound racing have been enjoyable and well-attended. In the past year, we have organised a number of family events with particular emphasis on children. These were great fun and we hope to continue to hold these.
I thoroughly enjoy working in Arthur Cox; I am lucky I that I have had the chance to move within the firm and to develop my skills. The culture of the firm is relaxed and team-oriented and I feel that this suits my personality and has led to my enjoyment of my role.
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