Cosworth

Jonathan Parsons

As a company grows, so too does its team. Finding, motivating and retaining the right staff is key to delivering strategy. 

Jonathan Parsons joined Cosworth in 2007 as the company's Human Resources Director and was tasked with building the best possible team for Cosworth. With a degree in HR from Plymouth University, Parsons worked for investment banking firms, management consultants and then with General Electric. Having spent his career working with large organisations and conglomerates, he was attracted to the smaller size of Cosworth Group, where he could make a real difference and help contribute to the company's growth. Parsons said he was conscious he'd previously he felt 'like a small cog in a big machine'.  He said he joinged Cosworth to support its leadership and impact the direction of the company.

Parsons, who heads up Cosworth's HR department, said his key role was recruiting the staff who will take Cosworth Group forward through its growth phase. He said the hiring policy at Cosworth Group had changed dramatically over the past five years. Just five years ago there was a tendency for Cosworth Group to hire people predominantly from other motorsport companies. Now the company is much more focused on hiring from a wider talent pool including mainstream engineering companies. Parsons said this is vital to support Cosworth Group's diversification strategy.

"At the moment our focus is on recruitment, expanding the team with more people who have the right skills and commitment to deliver high tech engineering to our clients.  We're also setting up apprentice schemes so we can help develop the talent we need across all levels.  Cosworth's appoints between five and ten apprentices per year."

Parsons said working for a smaller company didn't come without its challenges, one of them being that there are not big armies of support staff and administration.  He said people have to be more self sufficient and resourceful but that fits well with the type of people who excel at the engineering and manufacturing company. Parsons said people often underestimate the differences between a large organisation and a SME. He said that when interviewing potential new employees he always makes a point of asking candidates about what they perceive the differences to be.  Team work and pragmatism are skills that are key for a business of the size and culture of Cosworth.

Going forward, Parsons said the focus for HR would move from recruitment to training and development. Cosworth employees will have continuous training development in three key areas - technical training, developmental training including time management and industry training, which involves staff members attending industry specific conferences and events. 

"We need to keep at the forefront of the industry across all the new sectors.  Our clients expect it."