So, you manage a team.

You make well-intended people-related HR decisions, however, -

Instructions are delivered well → but output is still poor

Compassion is your greatest quality → but you suspect sickness malingering 
 
People leave and you have no idea why → attraction is getting expense and you're not sure you're even doing it right.

What's worse, is that you've been accused of bias and/or discrimination!

It's clear it was unintentional bias.

Nonetheless, you now sit fearfully expecting an invite to Tribunal any moment now.

You realise now that there's more to making people decisions than just 'good intentions'. 

You see-
this is an age-old topic that nobody has really 'solved'.
Until, you found HR Habitat.

After 10+ years of analysing tribunal data, dissecting studies, learning psychology theories etc....

We found a connection to all people management issues that nobody else has.

And is that -

Leadership starts with PERCEPTION.

Our HR consultancy and global leadership program is built with human psychology in mind - powered by our PERCEPT6™ x BIASSx™ framework.

https://calendly.com/hr-habitat/30min?back=1

HR Habitat is a leading consultancy and a thought leader in the space with features in BBC publications and BBC radio, Telegraph, Startups.co.uk, People Management, HR Grapevine and more. 

www.hrhabitat.co.uk
Info@hrhabitat.co.uk 
0330 133 5088


​

Tina S. Rahman

Kate McCarthy-Booth (FIRP)

Founder and Coach

Are you hiring? Talk to me, I promise to surprise you | Committed to giving a 🤫 about people and adding value everyday!

I’m Kate, and I’m Managing Director of two businesses built around people, purpose and performance.

Most recently, I joined The Booth Group as Managing Director, following a period working closely with the business as a Consultant and Non-Executive Director. What began as a partnership grew into something much bigger - built on trust, shared values, and a long-term view of people, performance and impact.

The environmental and waste sector has been close to my heart since 2014, when I first began working in the space as a management consultant, advising organisations through periods of growth and transformation. What stood out then still does now. This is work that matters. An industry full of innovation, responsibility and brilliant people driving real change.

Alongside this, I continue to proudly lead McCarthy Recruitment, the people-first recruitment consultancy I founded in 2005 after selling my house, sofa-surfing, and putting my life in storage to build something better.

McCarthy exists because I was done with environments where people came last. We do recruitment differently. We’re culture-obsessed, behaviour-led and relationship-driven. We work across Retail, Environmental, Manufacturing, Hospitality & Leisure, and Professional Services - but basically, we understand *people*. So we can do whatever you throw at us. 

I’ve never played by the rules particularly well. I was told to be quieter, smaller, easier. Instead, I became a resilient, straight-talking leader who leads with empathy, calls it as it is, and backs people properly.

Whether I’m in the boardroom, shaping leadership teams, supporting hiring strategies, or raising two wild and wonderful boys, my focus is always the same: helping people thrive and building businesses that are better because of it.

If you’re looking for honest insight on leadership, culture, recruitment or building teams that actually work, I’m always up for a chat.

Founder and Board Member

McCarthy Recruitment 
Passionate about delivering talent solutions  

McCarthy is an award winning, industry leading recruitment business delivering talent solutions across the UK. 

We partner clients to find the best talent and we enable our candidates to enhance their careers. 
Working with a range of organisations from small to medium size businesses to large global businesses, we use our 18 years of trading experience to deliver talent solutions that transform the way our clients engage with candidates and resource their people.

We stand out as different. 

Through…

-	our approach
-	our knowledge 
-	our commercial and strategic approach 
-	our products and solutions 
-	our flexibility and innovation
-	our delivery 
-	our pace


Our methods are effective, we understand our client’s commercial strategy and we offer an approach to talent acquisition which ensures that we work with the overall business objectives of our client developing a unique talent solution bringing together the people and commercial agendas as one. 

Our experience is vast, from outsourced volume projects, research and benchmarking, working alongside internal teams to assist with screening and interviewing, new site and store openings, tech stacks to executive search and developing recruitment strategies we have delivered it to our brand partners.  

Our perfect Package brochure showcases some of our solutions and products, however our approach is to treat every client’s needs individually. 

If you want a different approach call us on    or for more information visit our website 

View our testimonials here…


Our partnership approach is supported by our sister company McCarthy Consultancy which supports us to advise and shape our client’s approach, strategically reviewing their Employee Value Proposition (EVP), resourcing strategy  approach to managing bias and assessment processes ensuring that they are set up for success and they gain a competitive advantage in their marketplace.

Kate McCarthy (FIRP)

Here's something that might surprise you coming from a career coach with 25 years of experience:

Your character matters more than your career.

Don't get me wrong - your career matters. I've spent decades helping people climb ladders, land promotions, and negotiate salaries.

But here's what I've learned: Get your character right, and it feeds everything else.

You're killing yourself trying to be perfect. Exhausting yourself trying to be liked by everyone. Chasing achievements that feel empty the moment you reach them.

Stop.

You know what I've seen actually matter after 25 years?

Being present when someone needs you. Choosing kindness when it costs you something. Who you are when the meeting ends. How you treat people who can't help your career.

That promotion you didn't get? Doesn't matter. The person who doesn't like your approach? Doesn't matter.

Stop being so hard on yourself for not being perfect. Stop chasing approval from people whose opinion shouldn't count.

Your career will end someday. Your character follows you everywhere.

And the people who get their character right? Their careers tend to take care of themselves. Better relationships. Deeper trust. Opportunities that come from being the kind of person people want to work with.

The people who focus on who they're becoming instead of what they're achieving? They're the ones who actually win at both.

Share to your network ♻️ and follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for daily advice from a career coach.

MD of McCarthy Recruitment and The Booth Group | Leading businesses with people at the centre | Committed to giving a 🤫 about people AND impact.

Job seekers: Beware of leaders who wear burnout like a trophy.

When they brag "I haven't taken vacation in 3 years," "We answer emails at midnight," or "Sleep is for the weak" - run.

That's not dedication. That's dysfunction disguised as leadership.

Hustle culture has brainwashed managers into believing exhaustion equals excellence. They sacrifice their health, then demand you sacrifice yours.

Real leaders protect their team's well-being. They model boundaries, not burnout.

Leaders who actually care about balance: repost this. Job seekers need to know you exist. 

Follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for daily reminders of what people-first leadership can look like.

In 2022, I helped found the Ukrainian Family Hub Warrington in response to a clear and urgent need. 

Ukrainian families arriving in the UK needed somewhere safe, warm and human. 

So we built it.

Since then, the Hub has supported over 200 families. 

What began as strangers coming together has grown into a genuine community, marked by shared meals, celebrations and moments of support when they mattered most.

I am incredibly proud to see the Hub nominated for The King’s Award for Voluntary Service. It is the highest honour for volunteer groups in the UK and one that is awarded for life.

It speaks to the strength of the community that has formed, and to the volunteers and families whose consistency, compassion and care continue to shape what the Hub stands for.

On Sunday 1st February, assessors will visit the Hub to speak with volunteers and families. Whatever the outcome, the impact of this community is already lasting.

You can create a culture of care in sales.

They told me you couldn't. So I started my own business and proved them wrong. 

21 years later, we've built something that shouldn't be radical: you can make money AND make people feel appreciated, supported, valued.

Success is important but not at the cost of how I treat my team.

That's been our operating principle for over two decades.

Here's what I've learned: your team remembers how you made them feel long after they forget the numbers you hit.

They remember if you had their back when a client was unreasonable. If you celebrated their small wins, not just the big ones. If you saw them as people.

The leaders who understand this? They don't just build successful teams. They build teams that choose to be successful.

You don't have to pick between results and relationships. The best sales cultures demand both.

Your team's trust isn't optional. It's your foundation.

What kind of culture are you building? Share to your network and follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for more real talk about leadership that works.

They call it luck when you land the promotion.

They call it luck when your business takes off.

They call it luck when opportunities keep finding you.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁: the 5 AM planning sessions. The weekends you spent learning instead of relaxing. The conversations you had when nobody was watching.

They don't see you failing forward. Making mistakes when the stakes were low. Building relationships before you needed them.

They see the moment you succeed.

They miss the months you prepared.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. "She got lucky" is easier to digest than "She outworked everyone while they were sleeping."

It's more comfortable to believe in accidents than acknowledge the intentional choices that compound over time.

After 25 years of watching careers unfold, I've learned this: luck isn't random. It's preparation meeting persistence when nobody's keeping score.

Success looks sudden from the outside. It feels inevitable from the inside.

What "lucky break" in your career was actually years in the making?

Hate explaining things you think you already know? It's probably because, half the time, you realise you don't actually know them that well.

I see leaders dodge teaching moments with junior team members all the time. Too busy. Too senior. They should figure it out themselves, right?

Then they get cornered into explaining a process they've been running for years.

And stumble through it. 

That person asking "but why?" isn't interrupting your important work. They're exposing your blind spots. And it's so necessary.

When you try to teach something, you're forced to examine what you actually know versus what you think you know. 

You discover assumptions you've never questioned. Logic you've forgotten behind decisions that became habit.

Every question they ask challenges something you took for granted.

Senior leaders who think they're too important to teach are missing serious ROI.

This isn't charity work for junior people. It's strategic maintenance for your own expertise.

Your knowledge gaps exist whether you acknowledge them or not. Better to discover them while helping someone grow than when the stakes are high.

What "obvious" process did someone ask you to explain that made you realise you'd been running on autopilot?

Follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for daily leadership insights from a consultant of 25 years.

They call successful entrepreneurs "natural risk-takers." "Fearless."

That's not how it was for me.

At the start I stumbled through pitches. Confidently promoted launches I was terrified would flop. Posted content wondering if anyone cared.

What made the difference? I showed up again the next day.

Most people treat embarrassment like a disease. 

They wait until they feel ready. 

Practice until perfect. 

Overthink every opportunity into the ground.

While they're waiting, someone else is taking action.

You know what's more embarrassing than failing? Explaining why you never tried. 

Watching others succeed at things you dreamed about. 

Living with "what if" instead of "at least I tried."

That business you want to start? Someone's already selling imperfectly. 

The offer you're perfecting? Your competitor launched theirs yesterday. 

Embarrassment isn't the barrier to success. It's the entrance fee.

And the people you admire? They paid the toll. They felt the same fear, the same self-consciousness, the same urge to wait.

They did it anyway.

What are you too self-conscious to start? Follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for daily advice on how to fake it till you make it.

They say kindness is like a boomerang.

But do you really want that boomerang to come back? Because it doesn't return empty - it brings everything you threw out there.

Karma is a mirror. What you put into the universe comes back to you. All of it.

That dismissive tone you used with the new hire? It's coming back. 

The meeting you dominated without letting others speak? Someone's taking notes. 

The credit you grabbed when the project succeeded? People remember.

We love talking about putting good energy into the universe. But we're selective about what energy we claim as our own.

You want loyalty? Show loyalty. You want respect? Give respect. You want people to have your back? Have theirs first.

If I say to you that I hope karma brings you everything you deserve, does that fill you with excitement? Or dread?

Follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for more posts that make you examine how you show up in the world.

You're waiting for someone to notice your good work and promote you.

That's your first mistake.

Promotions don't happen to you. They happen because of you.

I've watched talented people stay stuck for years because they treated career advancement like a lottery ticket. Keep your head down, work hard, and eventually someone will tap you on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, less qualified people move up around them.

Here's the truth nobody wants to hear: waiting is a choice. And that choice is creating your own ceiling.

The people who get promoted? They don't wait to be discovered. They make themselves impossible to ignore.

Follow Kate McCarthy (FIRP) for career advice that actually works.

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The Battle

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Kate McCarthy (FIRP)

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