This series highlights amazing employees who exemplify the 'Collabie' way. Each month, a new hire who hit the ground running or a tenured high-performing employee will be featured to share about their experience working for Collaborative Solutions. From career paths to culture, get the inside scoop directly from those who bring the talent and fun every day, making us an award-winning workplace!
August Spotlight: David Powell
Title: Organisational Change & Training Principal Consultant
Location: United Kingdom
Been with Collaborative for: 2 years, 1 month
Why did you choose Collaborative?
Collaborative chose me! I was part of the acquisition of OneSource Virtual at the beginning of 2023. I joined OneSource Virtual in a career change after 20+ years in operational HR and haven’t looked back since. I honestly never thought I’d have the opportunity to make such a significant change at this stage in my career and it’s been a fantastic experience.
What does your day-to-day look like in your role?
I work with our clients to help them understand how their Workday solution isn’t just a change of system, but a change of behaviours and approaches to how they manage their business and workforce. I can usually be found running workshop sessions to prepare the client for their implementation project, or to help them optimize the project success. I also help them with their change strategies and help them embed their Workday solution into their business through creating user guides and reference material. I also interact with the client and our functional consultants within Collaborative so that I can understand how the project is tracking and flag any risks.
What do you love about your job?
First, the people I’m working with, both internally and externally. I’ve learned so much from them all and keep learning every day. Also, that no two days are the same. From a change perspective, each client has a distinct set of requirements, and as a partner organisation, we need to be able to help them identify these and be able to communicate them back to our functional consultant teams, so the client gets the end solution they were wishing for all along. My job has allowed me to take a whole bunch of skills from my past life in HR and training and use them to help our clients achieve a successful implementation.
What does it take to be successful in your role?
My role is based on building and maintaining relationships, so honesty, empathy, and understanding are key—if we don’t know what’s not working, we can’t fix it. It helps to have a professional level of nosiness and to keep asking what and why as often as possible. It really helps to have been on the client side to be able to understand their concerns and questions because I’ve been there myself. At the end of the day, at Collaborative, we’re a partner organisation to the client, and every project must be a success for everyone involved.
How does Collaborative help you grow as a person and in your career?
I’d developed a pretty consistent career path and wasn’t sure what to do next. I took the opportunity to make a change, and like I said, I haven’t looked back. Identifying opportunities to learn new skills and to use existing skills in new situations has been amazing, and I’ve been able to get involved in projects (both internal and external) that I never thought I’d have anything to do with. I’ve also been supported to get and maintain my Workday certification. All of this has really boosted my confidence—I wasn’t sure I could make the leap, but it’s been the best decision I’ve made.
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Teleportation. No question. Even though I’m not sure it’s a superpower, imagine being able to go to Thailand for dinner just because. Or go take a walk on a beach somewhere hot first thing in the morning. Or go see friends I’ve made in other countries just to say hi…. and all of this without having to get on a plane.
What’s your favorite TV show at the moment?
This is a tough one. I’m big on sci-fi binges and also on cake, so either The Peripheral (from a book that blew my mind) or anything Bake Off related.
David is a great example of the Collabie way! If you're interested in joining Team Collabie, check out our openings and apply by clicking the button below.
