At just 26, Ruby Kitt has already risen from apprentice to head of HR at Arc Group, a rapidly expanding recruitment and workforce solutions company based in Basildon, Essex. With eight years of HR experience and a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Level 5 qualification, she brings a mix of legal knowledge, practical experience and curiosity to her work — qualities that have helped her navigate fast-changing sectors from media and healthcare to technology.
Living in Sevenoaks, Kent, and commuting over the Dartford Bridge each morning, Ruby begins her day with a Starbucks and a brisk drive accompanied by her favourite playlists or podcasts. Her approach to life and leadership is straightforward and energetic: she believes in staying grounded through routine, fitness and laughter, while tackling the unpredictability of HR with adaptability and optimism.
When she isn’t aligning policies and managing projects across Arc’s growing network, she’s likely at a reformer Pilates class, experimenting in the kitchen or watching a crime drama with her mum. For Ruby, HR is not just about paperwork and policies but also people, and the satisfaction of knowing she’s helped someone’s working day go a little better.
My day starts at 7am. As soon as my alarm goes off, I tend to hop straight in the shower and splash cold water on my face to wake me up. I’m a lover of my sleep and need my full eight hours so I must ensure I’m fully awake before stepping out that door. Commute for me is roughly 45 minutes and a coffee is the most important thing about my morning ritual: an Iced White Mocha from Starbucks goes down a treat.
I’d love to say I’m one of these ladies who lay out their work attire the night before, but that’s not the case. I tend to chuck whatever I have together and pray for the best. As long as I look smart/casual, I’m good to go. Before I leave, I tend to get my mum’s opinion on every outfit, although I’ve never once got changed if she didn’t like it.
I drive into work, which is roughly 45 minutes. I tend to plug in my phone and listen to my own music or occasionally a podcast. I often get stuck in a lot of traffic on the M25 heading over the Dartford Bridge, so podcasts tend to make that time go quicker.
I arrive in the office at 8:30am, sit down and open my laptop. I plan my day around my calendar and use my inbox as my to do list. This allows me to plan for the day ahead. In HR, I’m not sure there is any thing as a typical morning. I feel that you can plan your whole day ahead of you in advance and something will crop up that wipes all the plans away.
My mornings do end up being my admin hours, though: checking my inbox and the HR mailbox, looking at the recruitment pipelines, completing any documentation that’s on my list, checking my project plans and ensuring they’re all up to date and, depending on the day of the week, I have one-on-ones with employees too.
I like to go out for a walk on my lunch break. It breaks the day up nicely and I’m also a sucker for making sure I hit my 10k steps a day. My lunch favourite at the moment tends to be a prawn salad, which I eat at my desk after my walk.
Although AI is covered in a lot of things that HR professionals do, I feel there will be significant innovation in how companies truly (use it to) blend neurodiversity, wellbeing and mental health support. This won’t be a separate initiative but rather a fundamental shift in how organisations understand and support their entire workforce.
For those looking to advance their career in HR, I’d say go to every seminar, every webinar, every networking event, learn outside of work, invest in your continuous development and ensure you start with the fundamentals. The HR world is constantly evolving, employment law is constantly changing and you can’t possibly know everything. You must be ready to invest in learning new things and want to keep up to date with HR.
Afternoon tends to be about project work, looking at the overall strategy and what’s the priority currently. Arc is growing so quickly, so I’m currently working on aligning and harmonising everything across the whole group; it currently includes integration of a recent acquisition and reviewing and amending company policies and processes. I’m also doing a lot of work behind the scenes on employee benefits, performance management and working with our head of business efficiency around our company core values.
At 3pm, it’s tea and snack time. I do have a snack draw, something I look forward to at that time of the day where the working day is in sight but not quite.
My pet peeve about HR is when someone mentions HR and instantly people think they’re in trouble or that something bad has happened. I think sometimes people forget we’re trying to do what is right for the business and by the employees, and that we can deliver some great, exciting news too. Not everything in HR is bad. I started in HR when I was 17, as an apprentice, and became a head of HR at 26, which was a hugely proud moment.
I don’t think there’s any time to wind down at the end of the working day. I’m sure any HR professional can vouch when I say you’re doing something right to the very end of your working day and, even then, you’ll leave the office remembering something that needs to be done when you get home.
When times are busy, like any job, there are hours I work outside of my usual working hours. In HR, sometimes things happen unexpectedly, which means the rest of your day gets wiped out and you end up catching up out of hours. Even with project work, timelines can be tight, which may require extra hours. It isn’t all the time that I will work more hours than needed. I’m thankful that Arc is very flexible, and working from home on Fridays helps me crack on with tasks I may not have got done during the rest of the week, so I feel this helps.
My evenings are pretty chill. I usually head to reformer Pilates or the gym to get my body moving. Reformer pilates is so calming and relaxing but hard work at the same time. Then I’ll whip up a big batch of my crispy potato and chicken salad; it’s a lifesaver for easy meals. The best part of the night, though, is settling down with a cup of tea and my mum to binge-watch something. Right now, we’re totally hooked on Mobland.
I tend to head to bed at around 10pm. As I said earlier, a full eight hours is key. I wind down and must have no screen time for at least an hour. I tend to read a book and make sure I take magnesium, which helps me get a much better sleep.
After the gym or reformer pilates, it’s very easy for my mind to run wild after a full on day at work, and sometimes it can affect my sleeping pattern, although falling asleep thinking of my future plans or holidays always seems to help.
