I am looking for some solid, practical, realistic & down to earth advice here.

Andre, i think you asked a very similar question recently and received a lot of advice at the time.

I didn't contribute at the time as you were getting some very good advice, but it is clear that you are very frustrated at your lack of progression.

If i recall correctly you have a neurodiverse condition which means that you sometimes have difficulty in picking up on social cues when communicating. As you progress up the HR ladder, the ability to pick up on social cues and small clues about people's emotions becomes more important. This can be when dealing with employee relations issues, such as disciplinary or grievance issues, interviewing, negotiating with Trade Unions, or coaching and mentoring managers through difficult situations.

It may therefore be that it is this that is holding you back from progressing up the 'traditional' HR route. People may have been unwilling to give you feedback along these lines, due to a fear of being seen as discriminating (I mean Andre's employers or potential employers rather than anyone on here by the way), however that is not helpful to you and there are a number of areas of HR where neurodiversity would be a considerable strength.

I have previously worked in a research institute and a large proportion of scientists are neurodiverse. Within scientific research, you are often working on your own and need to be able to adopt a highly focused and methodical approach to the research you are carrying out- often repeating small actions continually, making only tiny changes each time. . People who are not neurodiverse can often find that quite difficult in the same way that you find reading social cues difficult. It is all about playing to our individual strengths

If you want to stay in HR practice, the growing area of HR Data and Analytics is an area where your strengths would be highly useful. Reward and benefits is another area that involves a considerable amount of research and methodical thinking to develop solutions.

However, as I remember from your previous post, you are also very academically gifted so you could consider moving into academia -- for example, carrying out research into people/organisational psychology. As an idea of the types of HR related research jobs this route could lead to, my local University is currently advertising for a Senior Research Associate to carry out a research project that " seeks to identify which combinations of workplace health and wellbeing practices reliably improve worker health, wellbeing, engagement and performance"

I hope this is useful and you are able to find a route that you find fulfilling

Andre, i think you asked a very similar question recently and received a lot of advice at the time.

I didn't contribute at the time as you were getting some very good advice, but it is clear that you are very frustrated at your lack of progression.

If i recall correctly you have a neurodiverse condition which means that you sometimes have difficulty in picking up on social cues when communicating. As you progress up the HR ladder, the ability to pick up on social cues and small clues about people's emotions becomes more important. This can be when dealing with employee relations issues, such as disciplinary or grievance issues, interviewing, negotiating with Trade Unions, or coaching and mentoring managers through difficult situations.

It may therefore be that it is this that is holding you back from progressing up the 'traditional' HR route. People may have been unwilling to give you feedback along these lines, due to a fear of being seen as discriminating (I mean Andre's employers or potential employers rather than anyone on here by the way), however that is not helpful to you and there are a number of areas of HR where neurodiversity would be a considerable strength.

I have previously worked in a research institute and a large proportion of scientists are neurodiverse. Within scientific research, you are often working on your own and need to be able to adopt a highly focused and methodical approach to the research you are carrying out- often repeating small actions continually, making only tiny changes each time. . People who are not neurodiverse can often find that quite difficult in the same way that you find reading social cues difficult. It is all about playing to our individual strengths

If you want to stay in HR practice, the growing area of HR Data and Analytics is an area where your strengths would be highly useful. Reward and benefits is another area that involves a considerable amount of research and methodical thinking to develop solutions.

However, as I remember from your previous post, you are also very academically gifted so you could consider moving into academia -- for example, carrying out research into people/organisational psychology. As an idea of the types of HR related research jobs this route could lead to, my local University is currently advertising for a Senior Research Associate to carry out a research project that " seeks to identify which combinations of workplace health and wellbeing practices reliably improve worker health, wellbeing, engagement and performance"

I hope this is useful and you are able to find a route that you find fulfilling