HR, Inclusion and Heart-Led Leadership | Lisa Ironside of The HR Dept Aberdeenshire

In this episode of Scale HER Up, I’m joined by Lisa Ironside, owner of The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire and Bagamoyo Consulting Limited.

Lisa shares how Bagamoyo Consulting began as her first business after leaving the corporate world, creating a space for her passion around inclusion, culture, diversity and belonging. She then added The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire as a natural extension, bringing practical HR consultancy and employment law support to small and medium-sized businesses who need trusted advice but do not have in-house HR.

We talk about what small business owners really need when they start hiring, why getting proper contracts and advice in place matters, and how strong communication, clear business values and honest conversations can prevent people problems from escalating. Lisa also explains why the Employment Rights Bill does not need to be something business owners fear, as long as they lead fairly and communicate well.

Lisa is also very open about her own journey into business. She talks honestly about redundancy, illness, recovery, burnout, rebuilding at her own pace, and finding the courage to create a business that reflects her values. It is a thoughtful conversation about leadership, purpose, resilience and the freedom that comes from building something your own way.

In this episode, we cover:

• What Bagamoyo Consulting and The HR Dept Aberdeen Shire each do
• Why small businesses need proper HR and employment law support from the start
• The risks of copying contracts and policies from the internet
• What business owners should be clear about before they hire
• Why company purpose, values and story matter when attracting people
• The importance of honest conversations and tackling issues early
• Lisa’s transition from corporate life into entrepreneurship
• Building a business while managing illness, change and personal challenges
• Hiring her first team member and what that made possible
• Why heart-led leadership can still be commercially strong
• The role of music, inclusion and human connection in Lisa’s wider work
• Her advice to women in business about trusting themselves and taking space