What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone starting their first HR Director role?

Over the last few months, this is something my colleagues and I have been discussing with our LinkedIn network, as well as our candidates and our clients.

We are asked this a lot by candidates, something we challenge our candidates on when they want to make the move to ensure the step up is the right for them and that they have the skills to be successful as well adding value to the company.

Our clients also focus on this, people who recruit these roles are often not HR professionals, therefore when managing the process for them, in addition to offering salary guidance, we offer suggestions on what they should be looking for; personality traits as well as experience, as well what questions they should ask at interview stage.

A summary of the advice our network have offered is below:

• Take time to understand the business
• Don’t let the HR Director title go to your head
• This is your opportunity to show the business how important HR is
• Be visible
• Don’t sit on the fence when asked for your opinion
• Go to the beating heart of your business, be that shop floor, factory floor, telesales desk – go look, see, feel what it takes to make your business work, speak to and get to know your people, use the ‘newbie’ time wisely, you’ll find it hard to unlock later
• Respect isn’t given because of rank, it’s given because you’ve earnt it. Lead up, lead across and lead down
• Learn the business, as deeply and thoroughly as you can, people strategy is a business strategy
• Get to know your managers and leaders, implement a development program for them and get them to replicate it for their teams
• Listen before acting and be yourself
• Take everything step by step, avoid embarrassing yourself with overconfidence
• Audit your recruiters, should you have them. Look to secure a mutually and truly beneficial agreement with just one recruitment partner (for each discipline). Go for exclusivity with them… make sure they’re adding as much value to your operation as you are to theirs
• Get to know the people and team around you fast! They will be your supporters, blockers, good eggs, and pain in the backside in your first months, they are all key to you being successful!

Remember, you aced the interview and are sat in the seat, so you can do the job!

Have confidence in yourself but don’t let that become arrogance.