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What is your job title if you work in a standalone role and *are* the HR function?

Maria

Hi all,

I have been trying to justify a few things myself, but it would be helpful to get an idea of other people's perspectives and organisational set-ups.

If you ever worked in a standalone position (e.g. SME) - where you ARE the HR function - what was your job title?

I am currently working as HR Advisor in a standalone role, reporting to a Director who handles multiple operations (finance, etc) supporting 100+ staff in a multi site organisation. Previously there were 2 HR People (HR Business Partner and HR Administrator), the 2 were merged and here I am, an HR Advisor doing the two jobs.

When comparing with the other departments, they all normally have a Head of or a Manager who reports to a Director. I cannot think of a singe non-"manager" who reports to a Director. If you are a non-manager (e.g. Executive) you report to a Manager.

I feel that I manage the entire function, even though it is a support function (not a strategic, represented on the board, etc).

I am wondering if it is fair to have a sole HR person within the organisation, but to call them an HR Coordinator/Advisor/Officer (and pay accordingly, of course) and whether it is common practice. Just to mention as well, there is no external help, no consultancy, no office administrator etc. available as resource.

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  • Hi Maria,

    I'm going to be quite brutally honest - simply applying for HR Manager jobs with the title 'HR Manager' on your CV, will not get you the job. As Keith rightly points out, you have no 'right' to take that title without the relevant and proper experience with which to 'own it'.

    It sounds to me like your employer has done what most do, and been lazy with the creation of your job description - i.e. 'we'll just use this one so we have something to send the recruiters/candidate'. It's a common misconception when HR roles are merged, that the individual taking up the new position is 'entitled' to the same role/benefits/remuneration. I can understand that you are frustrated but it may be useful to consider other factors such as how long the HRBP had been in post, what their background was prior to that role, how long they had been in HR, etc.

    Certainly if you feel the HRBP was directly comparable to yourself (same years, same experience, same qualifications) then your case will be strengthened but it isn't as simple as just matching up the job title.

    I feel like a broken record bashing on about this all the time but; you have to earn your stripes in HR and everyone's journey is different. You will benefit far more from giving your current role 110% and excelling at it, than you will from being frustrated each day about your job title - a good HR recruiter (or the recruiting manager at a new organisation) is likely to see straight through the title!
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  • Hi Maria,

    I'm going to be quite brutally honest - simply applying for HR Manager jobs with the title 'HR Manager' on your CV, will not get you the job. As Keith rightly points out, you have no 'right' to take that title without the relevant and proper experience with which to 'own it'.

    It sounds to me like your employer has done what most do, and been lazy with the creation of your job description - i.e. 'we'll just use this one so we have something to send the recruiters/candidate'. It's a common misconception when HR roles are merged, that the individual taking up the new position is 'entitled' to the same role/benefits/remuneration. I can understand that you are frustrated but it may be useful to consider other factors such as how long the HRBP had been in post, what their background was prior to that role, how long they had been in HR, etc.

    Certainly if you feel the HRBP was directly comparable to yourself (same years, same experience, same qualifications) then your case will be strengthened but it isn't as simple as just matching up the job title.

    I feel like a broken record bashing on about this all the time but; you have to earn your stripes in HR and everyone's journey is different. You will benefit far more from giving your current role 110% and excelling at it, than you will from being frustrated each day about your job title - a good HR recruiter (or the recruiting manager at a new organisation) is likely to see straight through the title!
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  • in reply to Catherine
    Thanks, Catherine. That's the thing, though! I AM giving it 110%, and I do have the experience and the quals. Sometimes it feels like this only means to senior management that they were right to have merged the two jobs and lower the level: "see how well the HR Advisor is managing all this! We were right! Why on earth would we want an HRBP as well!". Besides, to be honest, everyone else doesn't know any better when it comes to HR job titles and certainly nobody is interested in justifying them (too high - too low, where does an Advisor become a Manager in a standalone job?) - all too intricate for the non-HR peeps. If I stayed in this job for 20 years perhaps the only thing that would change (eventually) would be the job title, the job itself remains the same.