Matthews draws on old skills to remain leader of the pack

Former Irish international Philip Matthews has dropped the rugby ball for the crystal ball of divining and supplying solutions to progressive Irish companies.

Mr Matthews has opened a specialist human resources business in Dublin's Docklands having researched the idea for a year with the British parent company. Penna HR Consulting is in the holistic healing business for each of the stages of the human-life cycle of an organisation. Mr Matthews is leading a team to solve the whole gamut of human resource requirements in the modern business environment. Sitting back in his chair in Penna's second floor offices Matthews looks much like he did on television in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His agile flanker's physique intact, his short and fair curly hair lends the 39-year-old father-of-three a younger and friendly demeanour than some of his erstwhile colleagues, who did not adapt so well to commercial life once they left the hurly burly of the rugby world. The short facial hair that once would have made the opposition think twice about him is now smartly groomed and apart from an index finger injury on his left hand Mr Matthews shows no other signs of his former incarnation as the leader of the pack.

He had his first taste of leadership on the pitch when he was appointed captain of the Irish team in 1989. He learned skills that would translate well into business later when he worked in sales, marketing and management, in Schering-Plough - a pharmaceutical company in Bray - between 1987 and 1997, and now human resources.

"The kind of captain I was, is very similar to how people perceive me here. That is, somebody who is there to make the decisions, call the shots; where there is doubt arbitrate between issues and to provide strong leadership; but they also want their leader to communicate with them and to value their opinions."

It is that balance which a business leader requires, says Matthews. Ironically, he was to use these skills off the pitch when the team ran foul of the IRFU. Forming a triumvirate with Brendan Mullin and Des Fitzgerald, they were elected to represent the team in a row over commercial rights with the IRFU before the Rugby World Cup in 1991. The IRFU threatened to stop the players taking the pitch in the competition when they refused to sign their commercial rights away in a pre-World Cup commercial deal arranged by the "conservative" rugby union. At the time players from other countries were making money from commercial sponsorship and the IRFU wanted to prevent the Irish squad from doing anything like that, explains Matthews.

"The only reason we could run the risk of refusing to sign was because we had 100 per cent support of the players. And you only get that when you involve them in the decisions. They appointed us because they respected and trusted us," he says. The night before the inaugural dinner we came to an agreement with the IRFU and subsequently played in the competition, says Matthews.

It should come as no surprise that Mr Matthews, having steered his team through this amorphous period of professionalism in rugby union, is now heading up a human resources company which supplies organisations like Telecom Eireann, Andersen Consulting and IBM with a range of specialist human resources products.

"What we offer in HR is probably a broader service than any other consultancy that describes itself as supplying human resources," says Matthews. It offers resourcing, management development, executive coaching, HR consulting change, management career management and outplacing.

The unfamiliar sounding outplacing refers to the re-orientation of retired personnel which is more common now with acquisitions and mergers.

Penna is a niche company working in the top end of the recruiting market where the annual pay packet starts at around £35,000 to £40,000 for middle management, and "anything" for higher management positions, he says in his Northern accent which has softened from his upbringing in Britain and from his years living in Dublin.

Philip Matthews was born to an English father and Irish mother in Gloucester, England, before moving to the small fishing village of Ballywalter, on the Ards peninsula.

In a tranquil area of Co Down his youth was relatively unaffected by the Troubles. He did not really know what Protestants and Catholics were when he arrived, because of his upbringing in England. When he became aware of sectarianism, he tried to avoid the polarisation that sectarianism brings with it. After attending Regent Grammer School in Newtownards he went to Queen's University for seven years, completing a BA in biology and then a PhD, researching marine birds. He moved to Dublin in 1987 when he finished to be with his wife, Lisa. His three children, Hanna, Ben and David are all under 10 years, and the youngest has the making of a flanker, he says. "There is no rugby ball in the house, yet, and I'm not pushing it on the boys either," he says.

While recruitment is a rapidly growing business Mr Matthews believes Penna HR Consultancy is filling a niche in the market.

It has headhunters across Europe who can provide the skills to find the right people which companies have failed to get through agencies and advertising.

"Penna HR only recruit in telecommunications, information technology, business consultancy and financial services. It might take four to five months to find what an organisation is looking for but we can provide real value to companies by finding the right person, says Mr Matthews.

"Our approach is action-led which means we deal with real problems that an organisation faces, and the solutions are open-ended so we can keep working from where the problem brings us. We do not use off-the-shelf solutions, but diagnose, design, deliver and evaluate a problem facing an organisation."

Penna HR staff are qualified in both psychology and business.

For Mr Matthews moving to HR is part of a philosophy he has followed all his life. "It's all a part of a learning process. When I look back on how I would have managed as a general manager, I can see that I was always interested in people and their careers and how they were doing; wanting them to take charge of their own careers and not just say to the company, "you're responsible for promoting me and giving me new opportunities".

"Well, turn that on its head and say you're responsible for where you want to go and we will facilitate you. That was always my style and now I'm finding myself in that kind of environment."