Meet Arna
This month we spoke to Arna, Canterbury’s General Manager of Human Resources.
Fun fact, Arna has a background in law and used to be a lawyer before she made the career change to Canterbury’s Human Resources (HR) team 9 years ago.
What are the responsibilities of your role and the role of HR within Canterbury?
I look after the HR team here at Canterbury – we are responsible for attracting new staff and looking after the teams at each of our venues.
HR’s responsibilities range from answering daily employment related queries, to learning and development, reward and recognition, as well as performance management and reviews.
Your original background was in legal for a law firm; how does it compare working there versus working in hospitality now?
They are such different industries! The first thing that I noticed when I joined here was that no two days are ever the same, and I am always kept on my toes. But the people here are so down to earth and supportive, and I can see why people stay so long.
What led you to choosing to work at Canterbury?
I was helping the previous HR team at Canterbury in my old role at the law firm and got to know a bit about the staff at Canterbury. When I heard a role became available within the HR team, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get involved and provide frontline advice and support.
What hobbies or sports are you involved with outside of work, and why do you enjoy them?
I have three small children so they take up most of my time outside of work however I do use the gym at Canterbury when I can. The facilities are great, and it is so handy having a gym onsite at work.
If you could go back in time to meet your 12 year old self, what would you tell her?
Not to worry about life going according to “plan”. Everything always works out the way it’s supposed to, so enjoy being a kid and relax!
Now that borders are mostly open again, where would you go on a family holiday and why?
Having two very passionate surfers in my family, I find most of my family holidays revolve around the beach and surfing, so we are off to Fiji next month for a bit of sun (which I haven’t seen at home for a while).
