Reflections on my Career as a People and Culture Professional

A few people have recently suggested that I share some of my “wisdom” and learnings from my career as a People & Culture (P & C) Professional. Well, this lockdown has certainly given me a chance to reflect and get going on writing up some of my lessons. As my career as a People and Culture professional spans close to 40 years, I am going to need to share my story and my learnings in instalments!

My Instalments:

-????????My philosophy & approach as a people and culture professional

-????????Learnings from my career journey

-????????My preferences & passions

-????????My challenges and learnings along the way

-????????Key competencies to really make a difference

My Philosophy & Approach as a People & Culture Professional

My “Philosophy & Approach” is something that fully emerged over time but interestingly the core of what has guided me in the work I do has not changed much over the years. These are the things that have been my “true north” over the years. I think it is really important to understand what it is you want to hold true to in this extremely complex (and sometimes turbulent) profession.

I always knew that I put People first in my approach and work, but I once found myself in a role where my team, and the broader business, seemed to think that my role was to tell them what the policy was, how to do things, and that I had the answers to ALL questions relating to people! What developed was the mantra “People before policy, paper, processes, politics, power”. I shared it, put it up in my office and reminded my team & the business as often as I needed to.

Everyone soon got to know that I would help them, coach & guide them and that I would always put people first. I knew that if you did that the teams would look after the customers and ultimately the business would reap the benefits. As Richard Branson said “If you look after your staff, they’ll look after your customers, it’s that simple.”

The other philosophy linked to this is “doing the right thing” (by your people, for the customers, with your suppliers & for your shareholders). This has sometimes led to challenging conversations and even some difficult situations. It has sometimes been difficult but has always been worthwhile. It takes courage to do the right thing and tackle things that you know are fundamentally wrong but that’s part of our role.

I have been asked why I have an adverse reaction to been called HR. It’s actually only since I came to Australia that I felt such a strong reaction to the term “HR” and it links to my “people first” philosophy. Often people saw HR (and some still do) as the “policy police” and the people who looked after “Industrial Relations”. The people you took your team to when they did something wrong! More than once I saw people’s reactions on visiting HR, fear. This was so far from how I saw the role for myself and the value that I could bring to people and the business. It was actually a CEO I worked for who first changed my title to “GM, People” and I LOVED it.

I believe that being in People and Culture needs to link to your purpose and passion. My personal leadership purpose is “helping others be more”. I am so fortunate that I have been able to live my purpose through the various roles I have held in P & C. I also believe that you should do work that gives you joy & feeds your energy. Aligning your work to your Purpose is a sure way of making that happen.

A big watch out for me has always been to remember that Line Managers manage their people not P & C. We are there to support, guide, coach, give counsel, give specialist advise & enable. We are there to serve. I have seen many P & C professionals fall into this trap, including myself.

I have often been told that I really push back on people when they come to me for “the answers”. This is because I genuinely believe that people often know the answer. If we take the example of a Manager wanting to know how to deal with a troublesome team member. If one asks good questions and uses the situation as an opportunity to coach vs tell the manager, they will work it out with you and will also own the answer.

Another key philosophy for me is that Business Strategy comes first, not ours. The Business Strategy needs to include a clear People and Culture Strategy, just as it should include a marketing one, one on growth etc. The P & C strategy isn’t ours, but we play a key role in helping to deliver it with passion.

I believe that we absolutely “have a seat at the table”. We are one of the key players in a leadership team and someone that a CEO / head of business relies on in many ways. It is up to us to build that credibly (more on this in future installments).

I also believe that we are there to serve both Line Managers and employees. This sometimes becomes tricky, and you may feel a bit like a “ham in the sandwich” but it is possible. If employees know you are there for them, can really help them and most importantly that they can trust you it will go along way in your really adding value to the business.

A good reminder for us all is that in our People & Culture roles we have no “positional power”. We have influence. People in the business, at all levels, often think we do but I strongly believe that we do not. We do of course have “knowledge power” and need to ensure that we are always knowledgeable and relevant (more to follow on this in future installments).

When I left one role my team gave me a sign “Tell me why and carry on”. It was a little dig at me always asking “Why”, of everything and everybody. You have to know “why” before you can know what to do it or how. This is especially important in our P & C role. Asking “why” enables you to truly understand, challenge and ensure relevance for the work you do.

I think we have a responsibility to be innovative, push the boundaries and challenge the status quo on how we do things in organizations. This requires curiosity, innovation / creativity and sometimes courage.

I hope you enjoyed my first installment of my reflections as a People and Culture Professional. If you have any questions or anything you would like me to focus on in my next installments, I would love to hear from you. At this stage my next instalment will focus on sharing my career journey and some of the lessons I gained along the way.

If you, or your People & Culture team, would like any coaching or development please reach out and let me know.