Hi Liz and welcome to the Community.

Just in passing... on the school governorship question... there's a truly excellent thread worth reading if you haven't done so already.

"School Governorship: is it worth it?"

Hi Liz. I too work in Employee Relations, with former experience in L&D and HR Generalist roles. It seems we share the same career interest as well. My aim is to become an HRBP and have a more direct access to the business, including its needs and opportunities, inspire, coach, lead and shape the business on multiple levels.

I therefore did a little reseach on the market to understand what the role of HRBP currently stands for. I've learnt more often times it is focused on areas such as attracting and hiring talent, succession planning, and dealing very complex business realities, that would require me to gain new skills and be exposed to a more diverse range of experiences.

I then assessed myself against these learnings and identified areas where I could do more in order to close the gap.

In order to do so, I would suggest (and this is what I also did) to have a meaningful conversation with your company's GP, direct manager and any other potential influencers. Are there projects or assignments you could take on, to increase your visibility, exposure, and therefore chances to a future lateral movement or promotion?

If there is nothing you can add to your development plan at your current company (due to context or other reasons you are aware of), what roles could you apply to externally? Would you be willing to take a step back, so you move your career forward?