Donna Obstfeld (BSc, FCIPD) is the founder, Managing Director and Chief People Officer here at DOHR. She has over 30 years experience in Human Resources (HR) and management. Her HR expertise covers a mixture of in-house, interim and consultancy roles. Past employers include Dixons Stores Group, TK Maxx, Metronet SSL, Securicor, West Herts College and Hewitt Associates (now Aon). Her skills have allowed her to assume a wide variety of roles including Human Resources Management, recruitment, project management, compensation & benefits specialist and consultant.
Key HR projects have included recruitment & selection initiatives, HR systems, pay reviews benefits and bonus reviews, job evaluation frameworks, design and delivery of benefits and communications, the establishment of HR departments and their operational processes, redundancy and TUPE, HR advice for internal changes and strategic policy & procedure development.
Donna’s clients and employers span a variety of sectors including retail, transport, security, education, finance, pharmaceutical / medical, media, technology and professional services.
Donna does not use the term HR Consultant or HR Manager when describing herself; she is a businesswoman first and foremost and her specialisation happens to be Human Resources (HR) – the management of people within a business and for the success of that business. As many of Donna’s clients have discovered, this expertise and approach brings their business significant added value.
Donna: The Business Coach
Donna is also an EC certified business coach. In this capacity she utilises her years of experience in running her own company to offer both group coaching and one to one support for clients tailored to their specific business needs.
Donna: The Author
Practical Solutions to 26 HR dilemmas
In February 2022, Donna released her first book.
Based on the series of blogs she wrote to celebrate DOHR’s 14th birthday in May 2021, Donna was encouraged to take her advice a bit further, to introduce some story-telling and give business owners an insight into the world of People Management by encouraging them to discuss all those topics they would rather avoid… The Elephants in the Room.
To order your copy of The Elephant in the Room: Practical solutions to 26 HR dilemmas, click on the link below.
The book is also available from Foyles, Brownsbfs, Blackwells and Book depository.
Donna has now released a second, more technical book about Annual Leave. Her books area available to order on Amazon.
Donna Obstfeld graduated from the University of Hertfordshire with a joint honours degree in Business and Psychology. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and an accredited mediator.
Donna now writes on Human Resources issues for a number of publications and is a regular subject matter expert on radio.
In 2012, Donna was voted among the top 100 business mums in the ‘Expert in their field’ category.
In July 2014, Donna was interviewed by Viv Oyolu of Dream Corner and you can find out more about Donna by listening in here.
Donna is also the indepenent chair of the Rabbinic and Cantorial Remuneration Committee for Reform Judaism, an Ort Jump mentor, an advisor to the trustees at Norwood and a guest lecturer at The University of Westminster.
Get to Know Donna In her own words
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Length of time in HR: |
30 + Years in HR and Management |
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Favourite part of the job: |
Trouble shooting and finding innovative solutions |
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3 words which your team would use to describe you: | Determined, Highly Organised, Eloquent |
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HR Qualification: |
Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development |
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Favourite Film: |
Harry Potter Films |
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Favourite Meal: |
Friday Night Dinner |
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Favourite Music: |
80’s |
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Perfect Holiday Destination: |
The Maldives |
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If you could spend your weekend doing anything, what would it be: |
Spending time with family |
Pet hate(s): |
Dogs, Arrogance and Incompetence |
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Something no one / very few people know about you: |
As a child I made adverts for Boots and road safety. |
In February 2015 DOHR were named HR Consultancy of the year by the HR community at the HR Distinction awards and in 2017, Donna was recognised by Sage as one of the UK’s top 100 Global Business Influencers.
You can follow Donna on social media by clicking the links below: