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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.

  • Hi Maria

    I work as stand alone and my title is HR Coordinator. My previous role was HR advisor on a lot less salary.

    Does a job title really mean that much as I would have thought experience. and a CV that reflects would count.
  • Hi Maria this is such a common situation in HR and I'm feeling aggrieved on your behalf! I've certainly been there, and in retrospect I wish I'd have stood up for myself at the time. I urge you to do that, in a cool and calculated way. I cared so much about my job, my emotions got in the way. I think this situation is much more likely to arise in HR than in other functions and, dare I say, for women. The job title of manager does command more respect with your colleagues, and the line managers that you undoubtedly have to influence and advise. You, and your function, deserve it. Of course, in a larger organisation it would be HR who would be evaluating the upgrade to manager objectively and making the case to senior management. So, what would I say to my younger self? Manage my emotions and get politically intelligent. Set a timeframe, say 6 months, to gather evidence of the impact I was adding to the business. There's lots more info about the ROI of HR available now, helping you to make the link between your daily actions and the bottom line. Even more important, to get the evidence for the higher level, strategic impact of your role, take a step back and look at your organisation's business planning process. Get your actions linked into that, proactively. Plan a presentation for, say, six months' time, and start building the slides for it, quietly, building up the numbers as well as your solid arguments. Get the finance guys to help you understand the realities. Get yourself into the business conversation. I just wrote a blog about this in fact enable-hr.com/.../ . Continue believing in yourself and the impact HR has on the business! Good luck!
  • Hi Maria,

    The majority of my roles have been head of HR in SMEs. My current job title is HR Officer, and I have a large input into the strategy of the company.

    I don't pay too much attention to people's job titles; personally I've known people who have failed in roles simply because they were recruited based on their previous titles, which included the word 'manager'.

    When I'm recruiting I look at what candidates duties have been, rather than their job titles.

    And if I want to make sure recruiters know how 'high up' my job is, despite the title, I make sure my covering letter or CV highlights this!
  • I was in the same situation as yourself. I started as an HR Officer being the only person in the HR department. After I have proved my worth and I have managed the HR department to a level that the director expected of me I raised in my appraisal the possibility of becoming a Manager and what would be required of me to become one, or if there is any scope for it in the company. If they don’t want to lose you they will definitely look into it and they will give you the title. However, you may get the job title you want but your day to day responsibilities, tasks may not change.
  • Hi Maria,

    While I understand that title may be important and that we are all motivated by different things, I can only echo some of the previous comments. Your role and responsibilities are not just defined by your title. They are defined so much more by the type of conversations you have within an organisation. I recently moved from a Head of HR role, where I had people reporting into me, into a HR Manager role with nobody reporting into me. Do I feel it is a step back? Categorically no. And the reasons for that are the level of conversations I have with managers/directors across the company. We are talking strategy, planning and these conversations are making them think deeper and better and they recognize the value of these conversations.
    So in your current role you need to identify what is the unique value proposition you can offer to the business. What does make a real difference? Because, regardless of the title and the current role you have, this is going to be what will make you credible when you network within the HR Community and when you interview for other roles.
  • Im in exactly the same position Maria. 2 previous employees in the HR Department, HR Manager and Assistant , now one sole encumbent doing all the low level and higher level duties plus payroll, without any assistance and with the title HR Advisor.