• Replies 10 replies
  • Subscribers 7 subscribers
  • Views 12163 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related

Moving to a senior HR role

Kate

I am keen to make the move from HR Manager to the next level - Head of HR or similar. I am interested in perspectives on what makes the difference between the 2 levels, and specifically, what behaviours and aptitudes Boards and senior leadership teams look for from a strategic HR partner, as opposed to an operational one? Any views would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kate

Parents

  • Most HR folk ( whatever they call themselves) are advisers. The ones that make it to the top are influencers.

    Most are administrators the best are dynamic problem solvers ( I have met HR Directors who are administrators. Some HRDs should be rebadged Chief Administration Officers - sort your car out, sort the Christmas party etc)  

    Most HR folk struggle to balance empathy and the desire to do the “right thing” with a true commercial mindset. Those who get it know how and when to balance.

    Most HR folk limit their knowledge and understanding to HR and are dilettantes with regards to other areas of business. Good HR people have probably worked in other areas and specialisms . .  

    Many HR people are specialist advisers.    The best HR people act as true business coaches to their senior colleagues, helping to clarify thinking and share the burden.

    Many HR people lack real confidence in the true value they can add and how they and they knowledge and judgement can make a difference. The ones who make it to the top know they make a difference.

    Ask a HR Director how big an organisation his/hers is. Do they say it’s a £100 m revenue / £15 m profit or do they say they employ 1000 people. The answer goes a long way to tell you the answer to your question.

    ( all just my views of course and deliberately extreme. )

  • in reply to Keith
    You make a good point Keith. The challenge can often be the unconscious bias that incumbent HR leaders make when appointing to their teams - if the leader is actually an Administrator, then their tendency will be towards recruiting other Administrators who mirror their own approach and ideas. Ironic really given HR's championing of diversity and talent-based recruitment models.
  • in reply to Kate
    But Kate - if the senior HR bod is really an administrator then it makes entire sense for them to recruit other administrators to fill their function as that's obviously what the business wants. A true business partner maybe wouldn't really be comfortable in a department that administers not challenges.
Reply
  • in reply to Kate
    But Kate - if the senior HR bod is really an administrator then it makes entire sense for them to recruit other administrators to fill their function as that's obviously what the business wants. A true business partner maybe wouldn't really be comfortable in a department that administers not challenges.
Children
No Data