Sophie Thornton is the Head of Resourcing with over a decade of experience in recruitment. She is passionate about connecting people with the right opportunities while fostering the growth and success of her own team. Sophie is dedicated to creating psychologically safe spaces and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement, where experimentation and even failure are seen as essential steps toward progress. For her, recruitment is never static, it is about constantly reviewing, adapting, and evolving to achieve the best outcomes for both people and the organisation she works for.
What’s a recent professional achievement of yours that you are proud of?
I recently organised and delivered a service day for my service (People & Change) which totalled an audience of approximately 150 colleagues. The roles, experience and skills span across a multitude of functions and I really wanted to ensure people left the day with tangible skills, feeling positive about an challenging future ahead at the council and feel connected to their colleagues and their purpose. I surveyed after and it resulted in a 4.5/5 score with some fantastic comments. My favourite was a colleague thanking me for talking about my nerves at the start and for being my authentic self as they appreciated a leader presenting as simply human and not trying to mask. I was pleased this was the feeling across the room as that’s all I ever want to do- be myself and make others feel they can be their best selves too.
What is your prediction for the future of the TA industry?
If I had to pick one it would be the requirement for TA & L&D teams to work in a much more collaborative fashion . With skills having an ever decreasing shelf life, especially in the tech space it’ll be critical to ensure knowledge, working practices and partnering with the organisation is from a collaborative place across both functions. This will better support workforce planning, diversity hiring and really crunch down on national skills gaps. EVP and internal mobility will also naturally strengthen as well as general employee experience once language and efforts are more aligned around skills and development.
What projects are you planning on working on in 2026?
LGR and devolution is a huge part of next year for me. Creating a compelling narrative to work for a council that is ending in 2027 and staff disaggregating into new councils will test everything we know about recruiting as a team. Storytelling, data analysis, user experience and proactive resourcing will become critical areas for us to continue to build on so we can best support in recruiting quality hires for our council who will be experiencing a historical change. Wish me luck!