Tag: career development

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3 non-obvious ways to advance your HR career

Astronaut winning a gold medal

Summary

  • Work in human resources on a small team at a small company. – More

  • Focus on strategy by automating administrative work. – More

  • Understand how HR impacts your company’s bottom line. – More

When it comes to most HR career advice, the conversation is often dominated by talks of SHRM vs. HRCI accreditation, postgraduate study opportunities, or job hopping to get ahead.

While these are all legitimate pathways to career growth, you’re probably already aware of them. They also lean further towards how to get a pay raise rather than how to become better at HR. So here are three ways you may not have thought about that can boost your HR expertise and advance your career.

1. Do HR at a smaller company

Running HR at a small company gives you the ability to take more ownership, see how every part of HR operates, and take part in more strategic initiatives.

This is often discouraged because many processes aren’t built out at smaller companies, but this is precisely why it’s a great opportunity. You get to be the one that builds out HR from the ground up.

What constitutes a small company is hard to define, but an excellent place to start is somewhere smaller than where you currently are. Other good rules of thumb are fewer than five people in the HR department or less than 1,000 total employees.

 

2. Give yourself time to work on strategic HR

Probably the biggest complaint about career advancement is that there isn’t time to work on strategic HR initiatives because HR is bogged down in busy work. This is a fair assessment. Some of the biggest culprits are collecting onboarding documentation, updating employee details, and fielding payroll queries.

Don’t accept this reactive approach to HR. 

Get rid of the paper onboarding, let staff add their own availability and PTO, and allow them to access payroll details like their direct deposit information and electronic pay stubs.

By automating these processes, HR is no longer the middleman between front-line staff and an outdated HRIS. Instead, HR actually has time to pursue valuable strategic initiatives like employee retention and talent development.

3. Understand the commercials of your company

For most people, advancing their careers often involves promotions to more senior positions. While your technical HR skills help you on this journey, a firm understanding of how your company operates financially becomes probably the most essential tool in your toolbox as you develop seniority. 

The most crucial part for HR is understanding budgets. Both overall and team budgets, as well as HR budget metrics, like labor spend, cost of employee turnover, etc. This will help you justify the value of HR initiatives and show their impact on the bottom line.

Secondly, you need to understand the business you’re in. Learn who your customers are, how your service or product solves their problems, and what role each team plays in that process. Doing so will help you make better decisions in HR, but it will also help to make other teams respect you. 

Both of these are essential if you ever want to become a CHRO.

Next steps

You’re probably not going to be able to do everything listed. Moving to a smaller company is a big step, but eliminating busy work to free up time for strategic HR and understanding your company’s commercials are two steps you can begin immediately. 

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Don’t be afraid to try new things: Jay Fortuna’s journey through HR

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Jay Fortuna, a 2017 winner of Workforce’s Game Changer Award, is now the head of learning & development at FinTech company Rewards Network. As someone who’s been recognized for his achievements in human resources, Fortuna answered some questions for Workforce.com about his career path in L&D, the latest trends and innovations in HR and advice he would give his younger self. 

Also read: How technology fits into an HR manager’s job description

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

Jay Fortuna, The Horton Group

Jay Fortuna: I have been incredibly fortunate in a career where I have often been given the chance to raise my hand to take on more. Because of this, I have had the opportunity to take on the  philosophy of being a life-long learner as it needed to yield results quickly. 

I graduated college with a marketing degree and knew that it wasn’t the exact niche inside the business world where my passion truly was. I spent the early part of my career working hard to make chances and opportunities present themselves around learning and development.

WF: How has your career changed?

Fortuna: I was provided with an opportunity early in my career to move from sales into L&D, and  I have not looked back since. I entered the L&D world as a facilitator and continued in that role in some capacity for years while I worked hard to master instructional design and transform into the leader I am today. Because of my willingness to learn more and make myself better I have been afforded the opportunity of becoming a well-rounded learning professional and because of my success while doing so I have been able to elevate in my career at an accelerated pace.

WF: What are some of the trends you’ve seen in HR over the past few years?

Fortuna: Over the past decade or so the biggest transformation —  [other than] the continued growth of the use of technology, which will always be a constant — is recognition [of] that true and deep impact proper learning and development can have on the business. L&D has earned a seat at the table.

WF: What advice would you tell yourself five years ago? 

Fortuna: In 2017 when I received the Game Changers award I was leading a small but mighty team, and we were attempting to change the landscape of an industry that had been struggling with organic growth for over a decade. At that point I didn’t think about anything else except accomplishing the goal in front of me and thinking about how I was going to attack the next five beyond it. 

I wish I would have told myself then enjoy the moment and spend more time with the people that were there supporting me. I have always had a “Superman mentality” and because of it I missed out on some chances to enjoy the successes.

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Fortuna: The most valuable lessons I have learned over my career in HR are  to be willing to raise your hand and never underestimate your ability to make an impact. Being willing to raise your hand for a project, even though you may have never done it before, will allow you to live the concept of being a life-long learner. When you are forced to learn a new skill on your accord, you often look at the task differently. It becomes a growth opportunity versus a task which was demanded of you. 

WF: What do you foresee in the future of HR? 

Fortuna:  With the changes in learning happening so fast, I foresee the future of learning to continue [its] rapid shift to just-in-time learning. This type of learning mixed with programs designed with hyper job focus could make it possible to get learners to a point of proficiency at an unprecedented accelerated rate. When you take these two approaches and properly mix them with blended learning, the sky’s the limit. 

 

 

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Always be curious: Khalid Raza’s journey through human resources

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Khalid Raza, a 2016 winner of Workforce’s Game Changer Award, is now a talent acquisition leader at EY. As someone who’s been recognized for his achievements in human resources, Raza answered some questions for Workforce.com about his career in HR, the rise of data analytics and the importance of constant curiosity for a well-rounded talent professional. 

Also read: How technology fits into an HR manager’s job description

Workforce: How have you grown professionally over the course of your career?

khalid razaKhalid Raza: Career is not a destination but a journey where evolution happens with each experience. The growth of a professional is a story of continuous transformation stemming from experiences, interactions, reactions and self-reflection. Success and failures contribute to the depth of learning.

I had the luxury of being surrounded by visionary and compassionate leaders, talented team members who always set the bar higher, and my family which stood by me at all times. My professional growth has been fueled by curiosity to learn, do and achieve more.

WF: How has your career changed?

Raza: [As] someone who gets bored of [the] mundane, I moved roles within HR frequently, allowing me to appreciate and inculcate an understanding of every function and role. The organic accumulation of knowledge has helped me be more effective at all times. I am fortunate to not have a unidimensional career. 

 WF: What are some of the trends you’ve seen in HR over the past few years?

Raza: Equipped with data and analytics, HR now takes more informed decisions and provides measurable business solutions.

WF: What advice would you tell yourself five years ago? 

Raza: The only advice I have is to be more curious about the business we work for. HR exists to support the organization. Isolated efforts yield amputated outcomes.

WF: What have you learned over the course of your career in HR?

Raza: People are the key to success. Organizations that understand this theme continue to grow through tough times, too. Humans are not resources. The most successful teams are [successful] because of the people driving the transformation.

WF: What do you foresee in the future of HR?

Raza: I see more real-time analytics impacting outcomes [and] more open organizations, allowing leadership to tap and leverage mutual knowledge of all the employees. Those days are gone where a bunch of suit-clad executives decide in a boardroom what the strategy of the company should use, oblivious of the fact that the next big idea may come from a desktop engineer.

  • Impact of changes need to be understood in real-time through sentiment analysis.
  • Tailored bouquet of compensation structures.
  • Skills and value-driven compensation and growth.
  • More focus on inclusion than diversity.

WF: What are some things that you value most about your career field/position?

Raza: Talent or HR as a function deals with people, and as I alluded earlier, people drive companies to success or failure. I value the impact HR makes to the organization’s growth.

WF: Do you have any advice for HR professionals? 

Raza: Yes, I’d [like to share this] guidance to HR professionals:

  • Be Curious.
  • Strive to learn more at all times — people, experiences, struggles, success, and failures — there is always a lesson to be learned.
  • Don’t network. Build relationships. Adding random people on a social network is of no use unless you have built relationships with them.
  • Always find a mentor who can guide you — be it a career mentor or a skill mentor.

Also read: HR 101 for new human resources managers

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2016 Game Changer: Kathryn Minshew

Children are often told that they can be anything they want to be when they grow up. It’s a lovely idea that is meant to encourage kids to dream big and try new things. But when the time comes to realize those dreams, the tools to discover and realize a satisfying career aren’t always available.

At least that was Kathryn Minshew’s experience.

WF_0815_GameChangerLogoAfter receiving her bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Duke University, Minshew began working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. But when she began contemplating the next steps in her career path, she struggled to find a resource to guide her.

“I began having these conversations among small groups of close friends, and we came to the realization that there needed to be a resource that addressed millennial needs in particular,” Minshew said. “This group wants and needs something different from the career experience than in years past.”

That frustration led to inspiration and the eventual creation of The Muse, an online career resource that offers a behind-the-scenes look at job opportunities with hundreds of companies, expert career advice and access to personalized career help. Unlike traditional career sites, The Muse creates photo and video profiles of companies that provide in-depth insight into a company’s culture and mission.

WF_0816_GC_Kathryn Minshew Group Selfie“Job hunting is like dating,” Minshew said. “I’m not romantically compatible with every person in the world. In the same way, a single applicant is not compatible with every company. These photos and videos are meant to provide insight into how an applicant will fit in at a company. It’s about more than the ability to perform a job task.”

This focus on culture has made the site wildly popular with millennials, who value culture highly when making career decisions. The company has helped over 50 million people in their job searches and career planning. While that number and the company’s subsequent success is impressive, Minshew, 30, said she is more concerned with the individual lives her efforts are changing.

“Being satisfied with your career path is such a huge part of a person’s life,” Minshew said. “Career is paramount to how people see themselves. I see the job search as a human problem, so it’s exciting to build tools to help people find satisfaction in their lives.”

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