The inspiration for our new company name came during a conversation with Den, my husband. We were avoiding talking about which of the job-offers I had received (following my departure from my last job) I should take. I’d been struggling with the prospect of working for someone else after being at the same company for nearly the last fifteen years. Now, Den was outlining the pros and cons of each offer such as the locality of each office; the level of autonomy I might have; salary and benefits I was being offered etc; and as he talked, I found myself focusing on the word ‘Liberty’ written at the bottom of a piece of art hanging on the wall behind him.
Did I want to work for someone else after all these years, no matter how nice they were?
So we started talking about having our own specialist HR recruitment company. If we were ever going to “scratch that itch” shouldn’t we do it now, before it was too late? And if we did, maybe we should call it ‘Liberty’?
Well firstly, the word “Liberty” means being free from oppressive restrictions imposed on one’s way of life or behaviour. It really is the power to act as one pleases, as long as no-one suffers as a result of course. I thought this was as sound a basis for a name as any.
John Stuart Mill said there are three types of liberty (and my apologies for any students of political theory reading this, I know I’m paraphrasing him!);
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<li>Freedom of thought and emotion (and therefore freedom of expression too).</li>
<li>Freedom to pursue one’s own tastes or choices (come on, you’ve seen how I sometimes choose to dress!).</li>
<li>Freedom to unite with other, like-minded people (I love to spend time with people who have similar values as my own – not that we all need to think the same, naturally).</li>
</ol>
From these musings my mind wandered to thinking of symbols of liberty, and there’s perhaps none greater than the colossal sculpture in New York harbour – The Statue of Liberty. The statue acts like a beacon, lighting the way to freedom for those entering the harbour and with the broken chains at her feet, ‘Liberty’ is a most powerful symbol. From a personal perspective I would also argue that ‘Liberty’, my favourite shop in London, is also pretty important to me! And so Liberty HR Recruitment was born.
So we plan to get to know our clients and our candidates as well as we can. We all come from a customer service background, it really is in our DNA and we know that every little thing we do well can make a huge difference to those we collaborate with. So, I guess the shackles are off, the time has come and here we go, Liberty HR Recruitment Ltd is officially open for business. There’s much to do and we have plenty to live up to…wish us luck!
Jane Barry – September 2019
