What makes a great HR leader?
A lot of what good HR directors do doesn’t get seen – HR doesn’t celebrate its achievements as much as it should, despite the fact that we tend to be good at delivering for our business without causing fuss. This is because we understand that protecting organisations’ and employees’ reputations is a major part of our role.
The common traits I’d use to describe successful HR directors are: capable of coping with complexity, personally and professionally resilient, agile and business-savvy. The best HR directors have an amazing level of integrity and strong values at their core.
Does HR do enough to prioritise its own development?
We’re modest to the point that we are ‘cobbler’s children’ – always putting ourselves last when it comes to professional development. We seem to worry about the prospect of spending money on our teams and not putting the rest of the organisation first. I don’t agree with that assumption. One of the issues that I never see finance, communications, digital/IT or medical directors worrying about is investing in the development of their function.
What have been the most rewarding and frustrating elements of your career?
The parts of my career I’ve enjoyed most are when I’ve been strongly involved with improving organisations to really make a difference for workforces and customers. One of the most challenging aspects, however, is the political side of businesses. On occasion, getting things done is more difficult than you may think because of other agendas or even egos.
One of the regrets I have with my director roles is that I spend more time in meetings than I do getting work done and being visible to the teams I lead – it’s a fact of working life, but one that can be a little frustrating.