I’m a senior HR adviser with a blue-chip telecommunications company and considering my next career move. I can either stay with a blue-chip and take a role as an HR business partner, or take a risk and join a smaller business as the head of HR and set up an HR department from scratch. The latter appeals to me, but how will it affect my career in the future?
Q. I’m a senior HR adviser with a blue-chip telecommunications company and considering my next career move. I can either stay with a blue-chip and take a role as an HR business partner, or take a risk and join a smaller business as the head of HR and set up an HR department from scratch. The latter appeals to me, but how will it affect my career in the future?
A. Defining your career path in HR can often be either limited or enhanced by the organisation you work for, its HR model, how much value is placed on the HR function beyond fundamental HR and your own ability to challenge the business beyond the traditional. When considering your next step, bear these factors in mind.
Typically, as a business partner, the HR practitioner reports to a senior HR leader and is responsible for approximately 200 to 400 employees in a particular business unit or division. The role is supported by specialists in a central area and often a shared transactional centre which takes on responsibility for day-to-day HR enquiries. Taking on an HR business partner role will give you an opportunity to work alongside senior managers, adding value beyond the day-to-day, most often with exposure to and involvement in business change. The business partner role will give you a chance to prove your ability to impact the business beyond the confines of HR policies and procedures.
Only move into this role with a strong understanding of business drivers, the ability and conviction to provide solutions to broader business issues and a strong coaching, consulting and troubleshooting ability. It is a key ‘relationship’ and ‘thinking’ role. To be successful, you will need to be prepared to proactively seek opportunities within your business unit to support strategy whilst also being prepared to work with change and complexity, thinking ahead to likely obstacles before they impact your client group.
Alternatively, a start up role will provide an opportunity to build the credibility and growth of a new HR function, including the recruitment and leadership of your own team, the management of an HR budget and a seat on the executive panel. In order to be successful you will need to be prepared to immerse yourself in the business, becoming very familiar with its commercial operations bottom to top and top to bottom.
It is most likely that as a result you will develop excellent depth across a wide range of HR and business situations, depending on where the organisation is in terms of its own lifecycle. Start up roles can be an exciting prospect and can challenge an HR professional right out of their comfort zone. Before making your decision, extreme caution and care must be taken during the recruitment process to understand what the business expects of the HR function. Do your due diligence, speak to as many people within the organisation as possible. This would be a great opportunity to hone your leadership skills, test your technical depth and contribute to the success of a business. You will be many things to many people in this role so be ready to adapt and be ready to push back. Know your role and more importantly seek opportunities to work beyond it.
How the move into a start up role will affect your longer term career all hangs on your ability to demonstrate how you have built the function, what you have done and why you have done it, the tough decisions you have had to make and complexity you have faced. Your setup of a relevant HR strategy and structure that has assisted the business reach key milestones or objectives will set you apart from the competition. The start up experience can be a career enriching one and can position you well. Choose wisely, but most importantly when you make your choice, make sure you can deliver. This is the ultimate measure of how rewarding your career will be long-term.
