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Value of previous management experience when transferring into HR

Karen

Hello,

Apologies that this is a somewhat lengthy post, but I need to provide you with some context...

I have 25 years' experience working in professional services businesses (ones where we sell individual's time and skills - where without good/motivated people, we were nothing).  The last 15 years I have held Senior Management responsibility - everything from business strategy, talent management, business development, etc, but none of this has been in a formal HR capacity.  In essence I was responsible for $14 million turnover and a team of 65+ people.  From a quasi HR perspective, I was involved in succession planning, recruitment, training & development, retention, employee engagement, line managing and coaching, internal communications and supporting the business through large organisational change.  However, I do not have any formal HR training and have never held a HR role.

I have a business degree (but it was some time ago now!) with a specialisation in Marketing. 

I want to transition into HR - I'm less interested in the areas of employment law, remuneration/benefits, grievances, etc and more interested in Recruitment & talent planning, Employee engagement, Learning/Training/Development, Organisational development/change.  In essence, the parts of HR that support people in reaching strategic business objectives and support the business in encouraging people to reach their potential.

So...after having a year off work I now need to plan my next steps.  I am considering the Level 5 Diploma in HR Management - My thoughts are that this would give me good grounding in all the areas of HR.  I understand that I can do this online and can apply myself pretty much full time to complete the programme in 7-9 months.  

The plan would then be to secure a HR Manager role (I expect this would be a decrease in salary and a lower level of responsibility than I am used to) in an organisation that would hopefully fund my level 7 and set me on a path for growth into a more strategic HR capacity.  Am I dreaming?

I need insight from senior HR leaders...would the combination of my business experience and a level 5 diploma be attractive to an employer who is looking for a HR Manager with ambition to develop?  I don't want to undertake the training to find that without previous formal HR experience, I am not attractive to employers.

Any guidance is gratefully received.  Two related questions:

- I have discounted the Level 7 course because I don't have formal HR experience.  Would you agree?

- For those who have taken the level 5 diploma - am i at a disadvantage given that I'm not currently working and unable to put theory into practice whilst studying?

If you've made it this far...Thank You.  All advice gratefully received.

Karen

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  • Hi Karen

    Welcome to the communities and good luck in your career transition. HR is a great career and certainly has a wealth of challenges and opportunities.

    If you use the search facilities on this forum you will find quite a number of threads around people trying to get into HR for the first time, or people like yourself trying to transition into HR from other careers. Well worth a read to get insight from many others.

    To directly answer your questions - how valuable is other managerial experience - far less than it should be. Too few HR recruiters will see the relevance (sadly) of your other high level roles and some that do will be a little intimidated by them. You may well be seen as too highly qualified at one end and too little experience at the other. I have known some great HRDs who have had successful careers in other fields but these have tended to transition within the same firm or for a CEO they have worked with before. Its going to be challenging for you to get the break you need.

    I think you also need to consider the narrative you tell people. You have taken a year off , you are now planning on studying for almost a year so that will be the best part of a career gap of two years. You will need a very strong narrative to help recruiters understand that and see the person and the journey behind it,

    I know this shouldn't be a factor but I need to mention your age. While 25+ years plus experience in other fields gives you a great breath of knowledge to draw upon it also leaves you in a position that employers tend to find difficult to deal with (even though HR people should be far better at it than most).

    Sorry I know all this is blunt but I think its important if you are going to invest your time and resources in a HR career you go into it with your eyes open. You will need to find that 1 in 10 or 1 in 100 HRD who believes in you as a person and is willing to give you a chance.

    Personally I would at least try and find that opportunity now before studying rather than put a year into a L5 and then look (and yes it will be harder to do a L5 with no practical experience). I think in reality you will also likely have to set your sights far lower in terms of grade/level than that which you exited your last role.

    Do you have a network you can exploit? Are there HRDs you have worked with in the past who will give you some work experience? Are there other avenues you can use to gain some experience?

    It can be done, it has been done. But its not going to be easy and you need to factor that into your planning.

    Good luck!

    keith
  • in reply to Keith
    I have known some great HRDs who have had successful careers in other fields but these have tended to transition within the same firm or for a CEO they have worked with before.


    And, I'm guessing, took up the helm of a team that already possessed the necessary technical knowledge?

    I'm less interested in the areas of employment law, remuneration/benefits, grievances, etc and more interested in Recruitment & talent planning, Employee engagement, Learning/Training/Development, Organisational development/change.


    And therein lies the rub. The kind of roles you are talking about *require* not only an interest in but an intimiate familiarity with the processes of "employment law, remuneration/benefits, grievances, etc". An organization can't move forward in the more interesting areas of "Recruitment & talent planning, Employee engagement, Learning/Training/Development, Organisational development/change" without the firm foundation of the former.

    However, that doesn't stop someone from outside HR from moving into it at a manager level, but you will normally be expected to have handled disciplinary investigations, perhaps chaired some grievance resolution hearings, or been through some tricky settlement agreements from which you took the time to learn the employment law fundamentals rather than relying upon your HR expert to do that part of the thinking for you. That's because, now, you want to *become* the HR expert and few organizations will take a risk on you in a leadership role if you can't walk that particular walk when called upon to do so.
  • in reply to Robey
    Hi Robey...thanks for taking the time to respond. I do appreciate that a foundation in the areas I have said I am less interested in is necessary. I wouldn't expect to skip this knowledge or dismiss it as unnecessary. It is just that I feel I would be better suited to the other areas in time. Hence why I'm considering the Level 5 Diploma as I believe it provides coverage of all areas as a foundation.

    Unfortunately I have been part of disciplinary hearings and gross misconduct dismissals. I have also had the pleasure of being part of Performance Improvement planning and supporting people to see positive outcomes too. I don't expect to be the expert anytime soon and am willing to spend a few years gaining and consolidating knowledge and experience before I would hope to regain a leadership position. I'm assuming the best way is to look for an organisation that has a sizeable HR department whereby I would have other colleagues to learn from/rely on for some of the more technical knowledge in the short-term.

    So the general message is, 'it can be done, but it won't be easy'. That's good enough for me!

    Thanks again,
    Karen
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  • in reply to Robey
    Hi Robey...thanks for taking the time to respond. I do appreciate that a foundation in the areas I have said I am less interested in is necessary. I wouldn't expect to skip this knowledge or dismiss it as unnecessary. It is just that I feel I would be better suited to the other areas in time. Hence why I'm considering the Level 5 Diploma as I believe it provides coverage of all areas as a foundation.

    Unfortunately I have been part of disciplinary hearings and gross misconduct dismissals. I have also had the pleasure of being part of Performance Improvement planning and supporting people to see positive outcomes too. I don't expect to be the expert anytime soon and am willing to spend a few years gaining and consolidating knowledge and experience before I would hope to regain a leadership position. I'm assuming the best way is to look for an organisation that has a sizeable HR department whereby I would have other colleagues to learn from/rely on for some of the more technical knowledge in the short-term.

    So the general message is, 'it can be done, but it won't be easy'. That's good enough for me!

    Thanks again,
    Karen
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