Deborah Dorman has been appointed chief people officer (CPO), Hays, a specialist recruitment and workforce solutions company. She was earlier with Sainsbury’s for over 16 years.
Dorman’s professional journey began with Keene Communications as account director in 1996. Four years into this role, she moved to Hypa Creative as client services director, in 2000. In February 2004, she took up a similar role at Serac Communications, where her stint lasted a little less than four years.
Her next stop was Sainsbury’s in September 2007. She joined as head of internal communications and engagement. Over three years later, she was elevated to the role of head of great place to work. In this capacity, she was accountable for HR policy, skills and apprenticeships, colleague engagement, colleague voice, insight and involvement and inclusion.
By August 2013, she was head of HR, playing business partner to the commercial functions including trading, supply chain, product development, marketing, and NBD. From 2014 to 2017, she was head of talent and performance, reporting to the group director. She was responsible for multiple centres of excellence including talent management and succession planning, performance management, recruitment and diversity & inclusion.
Her next promotion made her director of corporate HR, responsible for a team of 250 people. Since June 2020, she has been director of group HR, Sainsbury’s.
Deborah Dorman is also a part-time board of trustee at Shaw Trust.