"Head of People? But you’ve only got five people?!"
Well we will be seven people by the end of the summer and I'm confident of a couple more as we close out the year. BUT I do still think it is valid and something I have been asked a couple of times since taking my new role.
The question is really asking: "Why does a business that size need a Head of People and what will you?be doing?"
In answering I’ll give some insight into the mindset here at San Digital and also consider the challenges and opportunities in a scale-up.
Having spent my career in organisations of 1,000-4,000 people it did seem a big change to consider joining such a different business. Working closely with one of the owners in a previous role gave me confidence in the health and prospects of the business, as well as understanding why they wanted to make this hire now.
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Setting out to build a healthy, sustainable business with people at its heart we are investing early. Investing in setting the right structure, processes and fostering the right culture. I recently saw this summarised simply by a People VP:
Think of your business as a house plant and your company as the pot it’s in. As the plant grows, you may need to replant it into a larger pot. If you don’t, the plant will outgrow it and die.
With the evolution of “People” functions, especially in technology, it is interesting that things have moved more away from traditional HR backgrounds to a wider set of general skills and leading people in a differently. The role fits well with my breadth of experience; I come from a Talent Acquisition background but have also been in a people leadership role for several years both in my discipline and leading technologists. I’ll be doing my fair share of “marketing” too, mostly to attract candidates, but this can play a vital role in bringing in new business too.
All this puts us in a great position for me, not only to hire the right people, but to establish a relationship from that point through onboarding and their time with San Digital. This foundation is essential and much more challenging to retrofit people things if you grow without a dedicated people role.?