vault guide to hr careers

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HUMARESOUCAREE

© 2005 Vault Inc.

VAULT GUIDE TO

HUMAN RESOURCESCAREERS

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SUSAN D. STRAYER AND THE STAFF OF VAULT

HUMARESOUCAREE

VAULT GUIDE TO

HUMAN RESOURCESCAREERS

© 2005 Vault Inc.

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All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims as tothe accuracy and reliability of the information contained within and disclaims all warranties.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of VaultInc.

Vault, the Vault logo, and “the most trusted name in career informationTM” are trademarks ofVault Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, contact Vault Inc.,150 W. 22nd St., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011, (212) 366-4212.

Library of Congress CIP Data is available.

ISBN 1-58131-369-1

Printed in the United States of America

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Susan Strayer's acknowledgements:

An incredible thank you to my many colleagues in the human resourcesprofession who took the time to share their experiences and reflections on humanresources as a profession, including Dave Crisp, Ben Elrod, Mike Grabarak,Sharon Handley, Maxine Kent, Kimo Kippen, Bob McKenzie, Sarah Nowell,M.J. Samman, Vern Schellenger, Phil Skeath, Keith Stemple, Shari Telfer andBetsey Walker.

A special thank you the Corporate Executive Board for their willingness to sharetheir exceptional human resources research included in this Guide, and to CapitalOne for sharing their specific case study.

Thank you also to the George Washington University Graduate School ofEducation and Development. Their graduate program in Human ResourceDevelopment and Organizational Studies not only helped me grow my own HRcareer, but was one of the first programs to recognize and name human andorganization development as a key part of the human resources profession.

A special thank you to Martha Youngblood who gave me my start in the humanresources profession. Martha's commitment to human resources and herunflagging ability to teach the importance of active listening and positivecommunication in the work environment are key lessons that have shaped myexperiences in human resources.

Thank you as well to Marcy Lerner and the team at Vault, for key comments,suggestions and edits, as well as the opportunity to write this Guide.

Finally, thank you to my parents for creating an environment that was supportiveof all professions and callings. Regardless of the profession, it's having goalsand striving to reach them that really matters.

Vault’s acknowledgments:

We are extremely grateful to Vault’s entire staff for all their help in the editorial,production and marketing processes. Vault also would like to acknowledge thesupport of our investors, clients, employees, family, and friends. Thank you!

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ixC A R E E RL I B R A R Y

Visit Vault at www.vault.com for insider company profiles, expert advice,career message boards, expert resume reviews, the Vault Job Board and more.

INTRODUCTION 1

THE SCOOP 3

Chapter 1: What is Human Resources? 5

The History of Human Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Human Resources Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7What Do HR Professionals Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Why HR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Chapter 2: Where Human Resources Fits In 15

The Glue that Holds it Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15How is Human Resources Structured? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Chapter 3: An Overview of Opportunitiesin HR 21

Human Resources Management (HRM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Human Resource Development (HRD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Other HR Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Chapter 4: HR Career Paths 31

Internal Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32External Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37Common Misconceptions About HR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Chapter 5: The Future of HR 45

Finding a Seat at the Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45HR Goes Global . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47Other Trends in HR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Table of Contents

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GETTING HIRED 53

Chapter 6: Beginning Your HR Career 55

Starting from Scratch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55Do You Really Want to Do This? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63Certifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67Professional Training and Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71Career Changers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Chapter 7: Getting the Job 77

Understanding the Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77Creating a Strong Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80Sample HR Resume: Entry Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84Sample HR Resume: Experienced Candidate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86Sample Cover Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87Nailing the Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88Interview Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93Offers and Negotiating Salary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

ON THE JOB 99

Chapter 8: Finding the Right Fit 101

Digging Deeper into the HR Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101HRD versus HRM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102Exploring Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104How Much Will I Make? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Chapter 9: HRM Roles 111

Generalists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111Compensation and Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112Labor and Employee Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115Employment and HR Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

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xiC A R E E RL I B R A R Y


Recruiting and Staffing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122Human Resource Information Technology (HRIT)/e-HR . . . . . . . . . . . . .128HR Metrics and Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129Health, Safety and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Chapter 10: HRD Roles 139

Training and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139Organization Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142Leadership Development and Succession Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144Performance Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145Executive Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Chapter 11: Human ResourceLeadership Roles 153

Director, HR: Single Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153Director/Vice-President, HR: Business Unit/Division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154Chief Administrative Officer/SVP, HR: Organization-Wide . . . . . . . . . .155External Consultant or Outsourced HR Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Chapter 12: Final Analysis 163

APPENDIX 165

Competency Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167Glossary of HR Terms and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .169Online Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175Recommended Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

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Whether it’s manufacturing, retail, government or information technology, anorganization can’t work without its people. It’s the people who makedecisions, invent products or take a company public. Without the people,there’s no organization. So you can imagine just how important managing thepeople in an organization is. That’s the role of Human Resources (HR).From bringing new staff in the door to helping employees stay happy, HR isresponsible for what might be the most important resource a company has –its people.

This guide will introduce you to the human resources profession – one thathas really changed (for the better) over the past fifteen years. Once seen asonly administrative, HR now plays a major role in helping organizations runbetter and employees become more satisfied.

While HR professionals come from many different backgrounds and levels ofeducation, the one thing they have in common is patience for working withpeople. Whether helping to design a new leadership development program ina company, traveling to a college campus to recruit graduating students, orhelping a new employee understand his benefits package, HR professionalsare helping and interacting with others every day.

Are you:

• Energized by helping people?• A good communicator?• Calm under pressure?• Able to think critically?• A good listener?• Interested and savvy in business?• Good at analyzing data and people?

Whether you’re just graduating from college or looking to make a careerchange, if you enjoy helping people and have an interest in helping anorganization succeed, human resources may be the profession for you.

HR is a big profession with roles for both the teacher and the number-cruncher. This book will show you not only what exactly Human Resources(HR) is, but also how to figure where you might fit in the profession and howto get an HR job. As you read through, keep a look out for the “Good toKnow” insights. Scattered throughout the Guide are insider clues to theprofession so you get a heads-up on can’t-miss information.

1C A R E E RL I B R A R Y

Introduction


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Vault Guide to Human Resources Careers

Introduction

Like many careers, HR is no walk in the park. It’s tough work, but alsorewarding. Take the time to understand how HR works and the opportunitiesthat await you. As you go through the Guide, make a list of questions youhave about the profession, and specific positions. Once you’re armed with acomplete understanding of the profession, you’ll not only have a better ideaof where you’d best be suited in HR, but you’ll be better prepared to get a footin the door. There’s nothing like trying to get hired by the professionals thatare, well, in charge of hiring.

© 2005 Vault Inc.2 C A R E E RL I B R A R Y

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HUMARESOUCARE

THE SCOOP

Chapter 1: What is Human Resources?

Chapter 2: Where Human Resources Fits In

Chapter 3: An Overview of Opportunities in HR

Chapter 4: HR Career Paths

Chapter 5: The Future of HR

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Every organization has people, which means every organization needsHuman Resources (HR) professionals. HR helps manage and develop thepeople in an organization. Sometimes called “Personnel” or “TalentManagement,” HR is the function in charge of an organization’s employees,which includes finding and hiring employees, helping them grow and learn inthe organization, and managing the process when an employee leaves.Human Resources takes care of people from the time they’re interested in theorganization to long after they leave.

The History of Human Resources

Now a thriving, growing profession, Human Resources wasn’t always a keypart of most organizations – if at all. Until the early 1900s, all humanresources functions were typically handled by the workers themselves ortheir bosses (often called master craftsmen). As more workers were needed,master craftsmen would just go out and find them (talk about the birth ofrecruiting!)

When the 1900s brought inventions and changes in the workplace, likemachines that automated production, human resources began to take shape.The addition of machines made factories run more quickly and smoothly, butalso meant that the workers had to learn how to use them, and forced factorymanagers to introduce rules and procedures on the factory floor.

Frederick Taylor, a businessman and researcher, first introduced the conceptof scientific management. Taylor’s theory took workplace rules andprocedures one step further, declaring that there was only one best way to doa job. He spent years collecting data on the tasks making up specific jobs andthen researching the workers who performed each small task. Workers whoperformed well, following tasks to the letter, remained employed and werepaid well. Those who didn’t were among the first to hear “you’re fired.”

Taylor’s research was the first to increase worker productivity, but his roboticapproach didn’t prove to be an effective management tool. Still, his workshowed the importance of managing workers to increase a company’ssuccess. While Taylor’s work focused more on company success than thatof the worker, it propelled many companies to begin to personalize the


What is HumanResources?CHAPTER 1


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What is Human Resources?

workplace, anticipating the first appearance of HR. One of the earliest HRroles was that of a welfare secretary whose role was to look out for thewelfare of the workers. An ancestor of what’s now called a BenefitsManager, welfare secretaries created libraries and recreation areas in theworkplace as well as primitive medical and health programs.

But HR really took shape in the 1930s when a company called WesternElectric asked a team of researchers to figure out how to increase workers’productivity at one of their plants in Chicago. The Hawthorne Studies, takingtheir name after the targeted plant, set out to determine whether changing thelighting in the plant could help the employees work faster. What they foundinstead was how important it was for plant managers to pay attention to theworkers, reward them for a good job and make sure they were satisfied. Theidea of happy workers being productive workers took hold and still remainstrue today. If a company wants to perform well, it has to create and managea content workforce. HR plays a critical role in making sure that happens.

The Hawthorne Studies fueled the study of worker behavior in organizations,and what was called behavioral science. The growth of behavioral science asa field studied how jobs and the workplace affect workers and how workersaffect the performance of a company.

The study of behavioral science reinforced the importance of welfaresecretaries. The secretaries’ jobs became more and more complex asgovernments introduced labor laws to keep up with the changing workplace.These laws, restricting the rights of both employers and employees, requiredthe welfare secretaries to keep paper records of employees and their activities.One of the first human resources laws, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)created a minimum wage, set rules for child labor and required employers totreat employees fairly in regards to wage and hours worked.

In many industries, workers also began organizing into unions – groups ofworkers banding together to lobby for rights in the workplace. New lawsaround union activity also required companies and welfare secretaries tounderstand and comply with the laws.

Many companies began hiring multiple welfare secretaries – one responsiblefor hiring employees, another responsible for employee benefits and perhapsanother to train employees on the factory floors. These specialty areasevolved into the specialty areas of the Human Resources profession today.


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Human Resources Today

Today, human resources is essential to the success of business. The level ofimportance HR holds does differ from organization to organization, butbusinesses consistently rely on HR professionals to help them through high-growth times and periods of turmoil. Regardless of how successful (or not)an organization is, there is always a need for HR staff. The welfare secretarytitle may be long gone, but the idea of having Human Resources professionalsfocus on specific areas of managing and developing a company’s workers hasremained. Now, in most organizations, there are HR professionals who focusspecifically on hiring, training, benefits, labor relations, health and safety andmore.

While it’s important to like working with and wanting to help people to besuccessful in HR, that’s definitely not the only skill or attribute you need tobe a successful HR professional. HR is about creating systems, processes andenvironments where employees perform better and are satisfied, and there aremany different career paths and opportunities in the profession. Forexample, HR professionals can take center stage as a recruiter or trainer. Inthese roles, you’re interacting with people all day long, whether conductinginterviews or running a training course. But HR professionals can also servebehind the scenes, administering payroll, tracking HR metrics (statisticsabout company workers) or running an organization’s Human ResourceInformation System (HRIS), technical databases where all employee data isstored and managed.

While HR continues to grow as a function, in many companies it does notcarry the importance or value of its colleagues in finance, sales or marketing.Know that as satisfying as an HR career can be, the profession still strugglesto gain respect in many places.

What Do HR Professionals Do?

Typical HR responsibilities are focused in major areas such as recruiting andstaffing, compensation and benefits, training and learning, labor andemployee relations, and organization development. Most HR professionalshave experience in one or more of these specialty areas. These areas all dealwith helping employees in an organization perform more effectively andsatisfactorily on the job.



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Recruiting and staffing

You’re either in or you’re out. When an employee leaves and a job opens upor new jobs are created, HR is usually in charge of the process. Recruitingand staffing is one of the largest areas of HR. Recruiters start the process –working with specific departments to write job descriptions and understandwhat skills and abilities the new employee should have. Then they’re off andrunning – responsible for finding candidates, determining who might be agood fit, conducting interviews and making job offers. While recruitersinvolve department employees in the process to interview and make thehiring decisions, it’s the recruiters who are usually in charge of finding thetalent, managing interview scheduling, negotiating offers and making suredepartments have all the information they need to make the best hiringdecisions possible.

While recruiters work to find and hire the talent, staffing experts determinewho should go where. They strategize with different departments toanticipate hiring needs and help determine where a new employee might bestfit in an organization. Staffing professionals are heavily relied on in high-growth companies to make sure the company is prepared to hire enough newemployees to grow the company, and that employees are in the rightpositions.

Recruiting and staffing professionals are also called upon to help anorganization market to prospective employees. This can include creating andmanaging recruiting events, designing marketing pieces such as companybrochures and commercials, and staffing career fairs to educate prospectiveemployees about open opportunities. Many organizations also haverecruiting and staffing professionals dedicated to working with universities.These roles are focused on finding talent on undergraduate and graduateschool campuses and can include a great deal of travel and campuspresentations.


Note: Here, you’ll find a broad overview of each of the specialties tointroduce you to the major areas of HR. In the “Getting Hired” section,you’ll get a sense of how these roles break down and how to determinewhich area of HR might be a good fit for you. Finally, the “On the Job”section of the Guide goes into specific detail about different roles in eachspecialty area and what you might find yourself doing in that particularrole.

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Compensation and benefits

Finding talent is important, but employees also have to be paid. HR,specifically compensation and benefits professionals, are in charge of makingsure new employees are given an appropriate salary and benefits, and currentemployees continually receive their salary and benefits.

Compensation experts focus on the money. This includes processing regularpayroll (making sure that the check is in the mail) and payroll changes,including raises and tax changes. Compensation experts also work closelywith an organization’s finance department to ensure salaries stay within eachdepartment’s budget, as well as conducting and researching salary surveys tomake sure they’re paying the going rate.

Benefits professionals also have to make sure employees are taken care of –they specialize in helping employees with medical and other companybenefits. This may include teaching new employees about their medical planchoices, implementing and managing the plans offered by the company, andmanaging the cost of benefits for the company.

Compensation and benefits professionals are also often tasked withcommunicating salary and benefits information to employees. This mayinclude marketing and promoting new benefits offerings to a company ormanaging an company’s Open Enrollment Period – a brief period of timewhere employees can change medical plans and other benefit options.

One-on-one counseling may also be part of the job. If an employee leaves anorganization, the benefits manager may counsel the employee on access tohealth insurance available after departure. Employees also often seekguidance on understanding their compensation packages, making changes toemployment tax forms or managing a difficult medical insurance claim.

Training and learning

Part teacher, part manager, part leader – that’s a training professional.Helping employees become oriented to a new job or company is just one ofthe many responsibilities of training and learning professionals. Sometimescalled training, or learning and development, it’s helping both new andtenured employees develop and grow as professionals both on and off the job.

Training and learning professionals are typically responsible for runningprograms designed to educate and develop employees. This can includeprograms for an entire employee population, such as new hire orientation orethics training, but also includes more specialized programs for different



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groups of workers within a company, like online training courses, in-classinstruction or on-the-job training.

Training managers, for example, are called upon to do everything fromregistering and tracking training courses, to developing new courses andevaluating the effectiveness of training programs after they happen. This mayinclude designing surveys or determining if newly trained employees performbetter than they did before the training. They also may be responsible forproviding information to employees on training classes and programs outsidethe company.

In some organizations, training and learning professionals actually deliver thetraining courses. They might create a presentation skills course and then sendtrainers on the road to teach the new course to employees around the country.Since it’s often cheaper to train current employees rather than hire new ones,training and learning is becoming increasingly important in the businessworld. A company’s strong commitment to training and development is alsoa boost to its workers’ morale.

Labor and employee relations

Just like welfare secretaries responded to new laws in the early 1900s, laborand employee relations professionals ensure that anything dealing withemployee contracts, rights, responsibilities and complaints is taken care ofright quick.

Labor relations is a function typically found in companies whose employeesare members of unions. Labor Relations professionals are called upon to dealdirectly with unions, doing everything from interpreting current unioncontracts to negotiating new ones. They also analyze and monitor unionactivity and work with unions during organizing campaigns – the time whenunions recruit new members.

Employee relations professionals need to be familiar and comfortable withthe law; they are also responsible for equal employment opportunity andaffirmative action programs. For government agencies or companies that dowork for the government, this may include creating reports to demonstrate acompany is complying with the law and making an effort to hire and retainemployees from underrepresented ethnicities. Other key responsibilities mayinclude counseling or conflict resolution within an organization, helpingemployees who are dealing with disagreements in the workplace or haveissues preventing them from doing their jobs.


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Labor and employee relations is not found in every human resourcesdepartment. Organizations that don’t have government contracts orunionized employees may rely on outside attorneys or consultants to dealwith any legal issues or employee conflicts that arise.

Organization development (OD)

While developing employees is important, perhaps just as important isdeveloping an organization. A relatively new field, organization developmentfocuses on evaluating how a company is structured and how employees worktogether to see where improvements can be made. Also referred to asorganization effectiveness, this might include helping to restructure the chainof command in a department to helping employees cope with a major change,such as the introduction of a new company-wide technical system.

OD professionals are experts in understanding behavior and psychology.They often act as internal consultants, helping their fellow employeesunderstand how a new company program might affect the employees’behavior.

They often work closely with Training Professionals to address developmentneeds for the company. OD Professionals may develop company-wide team-building activities or introduce new programs for leadership development.

OD specialists often manage the performance review process, making surethat employees are evaluated and moved within the organization based onhow well they’re working. OD Specialists may also help companies developsuccession plans (determining who is in line to be the next person in aleadership position, such as CEO or CFO) and mentoring programs, makingsure less experienced employees can learn from their more experiencedcomrades. OD professionals may also be called upon to help an employeeaddress individual issues through executive coaching, or a departmentaddress a leadership or performance challenge.

Less common OD work may include coaching or career development.Coaches, common at the executive level, help employees overcome poorteamwork or management skills. Many large firms are hiring externalcoaches, or creating coaching functions in order to help valuable employeesdeal with singular issues that may prevent them from being promoted.



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Health and safety

Factory machines, hazardous chemicals and construction sites are allpotentially dangerous situations for workers. This is where Health and SafetyProfessionals come in. One of the oldest HR specialties, Health and Safetyprofessionals are responsible for ensuring a safe working environment for allworkers – this is more of an issue in industries with risky work settings suchas manufacturing, healthcare and construction. While all organizations mustprotect the safety of their employees while at work, it is more complicated inindustries that have worksites beyond a typical office environment.

One of the major components of the role of a Health and Safety Professionalis to be proactive – assessing a work environment to anticipate where thedangers might be and correcting them before an injury occurs. This mightinclude periodic tours of a work site, or research into the latest workplacesafety options.

Health and Safety Professionals are also responsible for reacting to issues,concerns or problems related to the workplace environment. They mighthandle a complaint from a worker about a dangerous factory machine or anon-site injury. They work closely with compensation and benefitsprofessionals to handle any injuries and determine how to prevent futureinjuries from occurring.

Working with an organization’s legal team and employee law specialists isalso part of the role. Health and Safety Professionals are responsible forfollowing Federal and State rules governing workplace safety including, insome industries, submitting reports that demonstrate a company’s compliancewith the law.

Why HR?

While HR professionals have varying degrees of interaction with anorganization’s employees, all HR people can enjoy the satisfaction ofknowing that the work they do has a direct impact on people every day. HRprofessionals like helping employees navigate through tough problems andget back to normal on the job. Whether it’s helping an employee overcome aperformance problem or fix an expensive and stressful medical claim, thereis an inherent satisfaction in these types of tasks.

They also enjoy the ability to interact with different groups of people; HRprofessionals may be working with employees in many different parts of the


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company. Organization development specialists may act like internalconsultants helping different departments in a company work better together.This means they might be working with a sales team one week and a productdesign team the next. So there is a ton of variety in their day-to-day tasks.

In his role at Bank of America, Phil Skeath likes the diversity of projects.“Each time I am on a new project,” he says, “I find myself identifying generalconcepts I learned in my educational experience, adapting them, and applyingthem to a specific issue in the Bank.”

They also like contributing to the business and bottom line. For example, oneof the most common issues CFOs are facing in 2005 (according to CFOMagazine) is the rising cost of healthcare. HR and benefits professionals whoanalyze how to lower these costs can save a company millions of dollars.Talk about making an impact.

Why not?

For most HR professionals, the positives of working in HR (such as extendinga job offer to a very excited job candidate) are enough to outweigh thedrawbacks (in the opposite category, downsizing or laying off employees).Otherwise, they wouldn’t be there in the first place. But no job is perfect.Even rock stars have to deal with annoying paparazzi and screaming fans.While it’s highly unlikely you’ll be chased by reporters working in HR, youmay be chased by unhappy employees. One of the toughest things aboutworking in HR is providing a service many employees take for granted. Noone says “thanks HR” every time they get a paycheck. But if something goeswrong, if employees don’t get paid, if benefits disappear or new employeesaren’t trained properly, you may end up with a mailbox full of angry callersto contend with.

Like many professions, starting out in HR you may also have your fair shareof administrative work. Many HR careers may begin with processingpaperwork for new employees, or entering and maintaining resumes in anonline database. This might seem like menial work, especially if you’ve justreceived a college degree, but don’t walk away too quickly. These roles,while tedious, provide a great learning opportunity and a chance to proveyou’re ready for more responsibilities.

HR also suffers from some common misconceptions, like being a touchy-feely profession or being female-dominated; we’ll go into some of thesemisconceptions and how to deal with them later in this guide.



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Ready to help your colleagues and organization perform better? Before youdetermine what type of HR role you might best be cast in, it’s important tounderstand that HR as a function isn’t the same in every organization.


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The Glue that Holds it Together

Just like a car won’t run if it’s missing a tire, HR is often the glue that holdspeople and an organization together.

Like other internal functions that support an organization, such as finance ormarketing, HR is typically headed by a Vice-President or Director. This headof HR may report directly to the organization president or CEO, or reportthrough another senior leader such as the CFO. Almost every organization haswhat’s called an organization chart – a map of positions in a company and thereporting structure of those positions.

At Starbucks Corporation (Fig 1), the head of Human Resources reportsdirectly to the CEO as shown in their organization chart. This signals howimportant HR is to the overall organization. If the head of Human Resourcesdoes not report to the CEO, this can sometimes indicate that HR is not a keypriority for the company. According to a Corporate Leadership Council 2003study, HR executives not reporting directly to the CEO most often report to aChief Administrative Officer (CAO) or Chief Operating Officer (COO).


Where HumanResources Fits InCHAPTER 2


Starbucks Corp. Organizational Structure (Fig. 1)

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Where Human Resources Fits In

How is Human Resources Structured?

Unless you work for a very small organization, there is bound to be a HRorganizational chart for the HR function in which you work. Regardless ofwhether HR reports directly to the CEO or to another organization executive,HR as a function can still be structured in many ways. HR professionals canreport up, down, sideways, even diagonally. Each structure has benefits anddrawbacks, but often is designed to best fit in the organization overall.

Functional structures

Organizing human resources by specialty area (Fig. 2) is one common wayHR is structured. These are called functional structures, meaning that thehead of HR oversees a head of multiple functional areas such as recruitingand staffing, compensation and benefits, training etc. Each specialty area hasa Director or Manager that reports to the head of HR. Functional structuresare usually centralized; that is, they are housed at the organization’sheadquarters. Fig. 2 shows an example of a functional HR structure used ata manufacturing company.

One drawback of functional structures is that it may make it hard to specializeHR for different groups or geographies. When all HR staff sits in one largecorporate group, relationship-building across an organization can suffer,making it harder to demonstrate the value of HR. Having all HR staff underone leader isn’t without its benefits – functional structures allow for morecohesion and sharing of information between HR staff, and are typically usedwhen there aren’t huge differences in service needs across different divisionsor offices.


Manufacturing Company’s HR Structure (Fig. 2)

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Divisional or geographical structures

Another common way to structure human resources is by division orgeography (Fig. 3). Many companies do business by division (the productsthey sell). Other companies do business by geography (where they sell theirproducts). Unlike functional structures, where there is one compensation andbenefits department that houses all staff members in this specialty, here theremight be a specialist that sits in each division or geography responsible forthe issues in that assigned area.

Divisional or geographic functional structures work best in retail, large-sizedand other companies that have offices scattered across a number ofgeographic regions. Many locations makes it difficult to serve employeesfrom one central site. A broad geography is not without its limitations,though. Dispersed HR personnel makes it difficult to align polices andprocedures, and to share information and best practices.

Matrix structures

Sometimes HR staff not only report upward to a head of Human Resources,but also report to another function such as finance or legal. This might meantwo or more bosses (if you’re lucky!). Because many HR responsibilitiesinvolve working with other organizational functions, this structure, called a



Financial Services Company’s HR Structure (Fig. 3)

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matrix, makes sense for some organizations. But while matrix structures mayfoster innovation and ensure strategy is consistent, reporting to multiplebosses can also mean mixed messages or an unbalanced workload.

Whether matrix, functional or otherwise, HR’s shape varies widely, so lookfor a copy of a company’s organizational chart. It is always a good idea toask questions about the structure of HR when researching a certain companyor applying for a specific job. Working as a recruiter, for example, may seemlike a straightforward job. But depending on the type of organization, its size,and who you are recruiting, the job can look very different.

Big behemoth or small potatoes?

A small company may have one HR staff member while a large organizationmay have several hundred. Most organizations base the number of HR staffon the number of employees in the organization. The average ratio is one HRprofessional for every 100 employees. While you probably don’t want to bethe lone HR professional in a company of 1000, you do want to ask the ratioof HR staff to employees, and determine whether you’re better suited to asmaller organization or a big company.

Up top or on-site?

Some organizations may house all of their HR staff at their corporateheadquarters, while others have HR staff on hand at every manufacturingplant, retail location or local office (like the geographic structures mentionedearlier).

Those at the corporate center often work on company-wide strategy,programs and policies. They may direct company-wide strategy or help withissues across the country or around the world.

“I am mainly responsible for recruiting managers in certain area of thecountry, but I physically sit in our corporate offices,” says a senior recruiterwith a retail firm. “This allows me to help the other recruiters if their


Every industry and organization can have somewhat of a differentapproach to HR. As you’re reading through the Guide, make a list ofwhat aspects of HR matter to you most such as size of HR function,structure, reputation, and plans for future growth. This way when youare researching organizations and HR positions, you’ll know whatquestions to ask to figure out what HR is really like at that company.

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workload increases, or vice versa. But more importantly, it allows me to helpthe HR leaders in the company with their worldwide recruiting strategy. If Iworked in a local office, I wouldn’t get to sit in on these meetings and sharemy insight about major recruiting decisions such as what interview processesthe company is going to use worldwide.”

On the other hand, HR professionals in the local offices focus more on localissues, such as employee relations or recruiting for an individual location. Alocal HR Director in a consulting firm, for example, has to follow corporatepolicy but is specifically responsible for the employees in her location, theirissues and their HR needs.

Many start their HR careers in local offices before moving to corporateheadquarters, a move that may cause a geographic disruption in your life.Others prefer working at the corporate center and traveling to local offices orlocal sites when needed, which can be fun but also overwhelming.

Inside job or outside help?

When costs rise, organizations look for ways to save money – that’s notrocket science. But in the HR profession, outsourcing (hiring outsidecompanies to take over certain HR responsibilities) is increasingly commonfor activities like background checks for new hires, employee assistance andcounseling and benefits. For example, the Society for Human ResourceManagement (SHRM) reported that 60% of companies outsourced all or partof their health care benefits administration in 2004 and 2005.

Organizations also look to outside help to overhaul things completely. HRconsulting is increasingly popular for companies looking to revamp thingslike performance management or organizational structures. Many successfulcompanies providing these services are hiring HR professionals to help thembetter serve their customers, HR departments. This can be bad news for HRprofessionals, as many have lost their jobs as a result of increasedoutsourcing. At the same time, outsourcing provides another career path forHR professionals.



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CHAPTER 3


Think HR is just processing paychecks, answering benefit questions orwriting offer letters? Think again. Historically, human resources onlyincluded tasks that were typically administrative: making sure employeeswere paid, the law was followed and paperwork was completed andprocessed. But in the past thirty years, that’s all changed. HR professionalsare now called upon to think strategically and make key decisions to helpbusinesses grow and thrive.

HR as a function is essentially divided into two areas, Human ResourceManagement (HRM) and Human Resource Development (HRD). Dependingon where your interests and talents lie, you can work in one or both areas.While many companies don’t break out HRM and HRD as separate functions,it’s important to understand these two major subsets of HR – they’re your twomajor career path options in the profession and the choices you make early oncan well impact the future of your HR career.

Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human Resource Management (HRM) is the set of traditional HR activitiesthat manage or support the people in the organization, and every workingorganization has to have at least one person responsible for HRM. The majorareas of HRM include:

• Recruiting and Staffing• Compensation and Benefits• Labor and Employee Relations• Health and Safety

In HRM roles, professionals need to keep the HR motor humming and wheelsturning. Imagine if you stopped receiving your paycheck or if your companystopped recruiting altogether. HRM functions are key to keepingorganizations running smoothly, and HRM professionals are responsible forpreventing any interruption in services that employees expect.

HRM professionals are also responsible to the organization as a whole.Running all of these processes can cost a lot of money, and it is up to HRMprofessionals to make decisions that help save the company money and make

An Overview ofOpportunities in HR

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An Overview of Opportunities in HR


sure employees are well-served. In each of the major areas of HRM,professionals are continually evaluating processes and implementing newprograms and systems to better serve the organization. Examples include:

• Recruiting and Staffing: recruiting management systems (RMS) orapplicant tracking systems (ATS) are the latest trend in electronicallymanaging the influx of resumes during busy recruiting times. Thesesystems save organizations money by streamlining the recruitingprocess and requiring fewer staff members to manage employee records.

• Labor and Employee Relations: legal training for managers on topicssuch as sexual harassment and workplace law is becoming more andmore common, in order to proactively reduce lawsuits related toworkplace behavior.

• Health and Safety: while injuries at plants and hazardous sites arecommon, HR professionals are also recognizing the increase in officeinjuries; many Health and Safety professionals are introducingergonomically correct office furniture. While these fancy chairs andglare-reducing computer screens may be expensive, such nvestmentscan prevent future injuries and their associated costs.

• Compensation and Benefits: benefits outsourcing is a popular way toreduce costs and responsibility for an organization. SomeCompensation and Benefits professionals work with outside vendors tomanage programs such as an employee stock purchase plan. Since theseoutside vendors already have the expertise and systems in place tomanage these programs, it saves the company the expense of creatingthem from scratch.

Companies such as The Home Depot are well known for their HR practices,and are consistently looking for ways to ease and automate the function inorder to serve customers, and ultimately the organization, better. The HomeDepot has become more recently renowned for creatively recruiting veteranswho have recently finished their military careers. Since advertising on onlinejob boards can be expensive, finding new channels to recruit prospectiveemployees is an important way to save valuable recruiting dollars.

As a Human Resources VP for a consulting firm professes, improving theway employees are served is an important part of the job. “In the last fiveyears, over 75% of our HR transactions have been automated to better serveour customers. We created a company Intranet and put our benefits electionsprocess online as well as all of our employee policies and procedures. Nomore paper!”

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HRM professionals are also often charged with reporting HR’s return oninvestment (ROI) to the company through tracking HR metrics (statistics onhow a company’s employees are performing) and demonstrating the valueHR brings to the company. Compensation and benefits professionals mighttrack how much employees are spending on healthcare costs and seek waysto reduce them. On the other hand, an employee relations professional mighttrack statistics on how many minorities are employed in an organization foran affirmative action report. Measuring such activity is important for HRMprofessionals to show their commitment to an organization’s bottom line.

HR management professionals must continually be thinking about ways tobetter serve and save a company money at the same time.

Human Resource Development (HRD)

Human Resource Development (HRD) is the second part (albeit muchsmaller) of the HR world. If HRM professionals are keeping the wheelsturning smoothly, HRD professionals are helping them turn faster and better.Human Resource Development refers to the activities in an organization thathelp develop and grow employees. Many organizations simply refer to HRDas training or learning and development but in reality, it’s much more thanthat. HRD includes:

• Training and learning• Organization development, which includes:

Succession planning (determining who is next in line for a CEO orother senior job)Coaching (helping employees overcome on-the-job problems)

Common Human Resource Management(HRM) Roles

Common HRM roles include:

• Compensation Manager• Labor Relations Specialist• Senior Recruiter• Benefits Specialist• Health and Safety Manager• HR Generalist • Employment Lawyer

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Performance management (those pesky performance reviews)

HRD is the area of HR that is growing most quickly as organizationsrecognize the need to go way beyond simply managing their workforce.While smaller organizations often have HR Generalists assume theresponsibility for training alongside other HR tasks, large companies such asMedtronic, Bank of America and Texas Instruments have entire functionsdevoted to subsets of HRD such as organization development.

“Organization development is a key part of Human Resources,” says PhilSkeath, a performance improvement consultant at Bank of America. “We arebusiness partners who support our line managers’ needs, but we are also anintegral part in driving the company’s strategy.”

HRD professionals may be responsible for a certain subset of the workforce(such as training the sales force), or may serve as internal consultants workingon projects as they arise, such as helping to restructure a department orworking on the succession plan for an entire division. Other HRDresponsibilities include employee performance evaluations, training newemployees, and helping companies deal with change as the result of a newprogram, technology, merger or acquisition.

HRD careers are growing every year. Training and development is one areain which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts growth in 2005 andbeyond. This is due not only to how complex jobs are becoming, but also theaging of the workforce, and the many changes in technology requiring moreand more training and development programs for workers. What does thismean for HR professionals? HRD might well be an increasingly popularcareer path.

Because HRD is not only growing, but is structured very differently fromorganization to organization, if you see HRD as a viable career path, it’simportant to research where it fits in specific companies. Organizations thatonly have a training and learning function may not see as much value in HRDas a company that has a specific organization development function.

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Leadership development and coaching are also increasingly important asorganizations fight to attract and keep good talent. Rather that just hireexternal consultants ad hoc, many companies are hiring executive coaches towork in the organization to help executives solve performance problems thatmight prevent or prohibit promotion. Capital One, a financial services firmheadquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, relies heavily on executive coaching,and has created an entire subset of HR devoted to this function (see CASE INPOINT, next page), further proof that HRD is gaining momentum andimportance in organizations. Executive coaches may work directly with aChief Financial Officer (CFO) or Senior Vice President, helping those inimportant leadership positions do a better job.

While just one way organizations are giving more credence to HRD activities,the coaching program at Capital One is a great example of how HRD isgaining in importance. Learning about such examples and best practices andhow companies are relying more and more on HRD professionals is a greatway to prepare for an interview, or for your career development. It’s alwaysgood to know who’s on top in the field.

Common Human Resource Development(HRD) Roles

Common HRD roles include:

• Corporate Trainer• Executive Coach• Organization Development Specialist• Instructional Designer• Training Manager

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CASE IN POINT

In many organizations, managers and executives employ professionalcoaches to help with a trick performance problem or a specific area ofdevelopment. Such coaches are used in many parts of an organization andcan cost thousands of dollars. Capital One's Professional Coaching Programis known throughout the HR field for its innovative approach to managingcoaching. Rather than each manager or executive hiring a coach as needed,Capital One has centralized the process, saving money and ensuring thatcoaching is used for the right reasons.




Professional Coaching Program at Capital One

* Capital One has created a two-strong Executive Coaching Program Office that operates within theleadership and executive development function.

Source: Capital One Financial; Corporate Leadership Council research.

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Other HR Opportunities

Not every HR role fits neatly into HRD or HRM; career paths in HR are justas varied as the function itself. Some companies don’t have a HRD functionat all or lump limited HRD responsibilities under an HR generalist or HRmanager. The same goes for some other HR roles that may pique yourinterest. Many of these roles may fall under a broader job description, afunction other than HR, or may not exist at all. But it’s a good idea to learnabout them. Career changers take note: these are often good ways to get yourfoot in the door to an HR career. If you can find a role that falls under thepurview of HR but takes into account your communications, event planningor other skills it’s a great way to get started.

Diversity/Equal opportunity officer

As the face of the workplace changes, businesses are starting to recognize theimportance of a diverse workplace in terms of race, gender, and sexualorientation. While it’s illegal to hire based on these characteristics,companies are working to make sure diverse groups are well-aware of jobopportunities and access to promotions and benefits.

Diversity and equal opportunity officers may have responsibility for diversityawareness and tolerance, training, and/or recruiting in an organization. Theresponsibilities vary greatly and the position may stand alone or fall under aVP or manager role depending on the size of the organization.

The role of diversity officers originated from the growth of affirmative actionlaws, designed to increase minority representation in certain areas. Whileaffirmative action is a hotly debated political issue, for organizations thatcontract with the government or receive government funding (such asconsulting firms and universities), there is typically at least one employee inHR dedicated to affirmative action because these organizations are requiredby the government to submit an Affirmative Action Plan (AAP). An AAPdetails programs or measures taken to increase representation of minoritypopulations in the workplace.

AAP specialists are a subset of this role, and are a small but important factionin HR, since completing an AAP can be a long, laborious task that requiresspecific experience. If you’re interested in gaining this experience, ask theAAP specialist in your organization if you can work alongside him or her andlearn the ins and outs of this extensive report. Keep in mind that manyorganizations that aren’t required to complete AAPs do so anyway . They see

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it as a good way to maintain a diverse workplace through company programs,and report progress made in diversity initiatives to company leaders.

As companies grow in size and expand globally, the role of diversity officeris also sure to expand. HR is taking an increasing role in offshoring – theexporting of jobs to other countries – and diversity officers are seen as key toproviding training on cultural differences.

Event manager

Regardless of whether it is a recruiting event, a service awards program, orcompany social, responsibility for event planning more often than not falls tothe HR team. While rarely a stand-alone position, event planning andmanagement can take shape in many HR roles.

For large organizations, recruiting carries a large event-planning burden. Ifyou’ve already gone through or are currently in the midst of a job search onyour college campus, you know that companies who come on campus holdwell-organized events designed to promote company job openings, helpstudents learn about the organization and socialize with its employees.

This is a significant HR role because as SHRM’s 2004-2005 WorkplaceOutlook reports, over the next thirty years, the amount of people over sixty-five will more than double, leaving a huge hole in the workplace. Know whatthat means? Many, many more recruiting events, and more need for eventmanagers.

Workplace events are also often organized by HR. These may include eventsdesigned to foster team building, networking between departments or eventhe company holiday party. Some large companies may sponsor internalcareer fairs to educate employees about career opportunities across theorganization.

Service director

Just as companies are committing to a more diverse workplace, they are alsobecoming more responsive to the needs of the community, as company-sponsored volunteer activities, allotted time off for volunteer service andcommunity sponsorship activities are increasingly emphasized. Whether acompany’s role in the community is large or small, the responsibility foroverseeing or coordinating these activities often falls to HR.

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In some organizations, HR staff may collectively share the duty of organizinggroups of employees to participate in volunteer events, whether one-offs suchas a book drive or charity ball, or annual events such as holiday foodcollection or a local walk-a-thon.

In other organizations, especially those big enough to coordinate large-scaleservice projects, service coordination may be the main responsibility of aservice director or manager. In these cases, the role is not only designed togive back to local communities, but also fosters team-building amongemployees and generates media attention for the organization. There’s nobetter PR for a company than to see its employees featured on the local 6o’clock news rebuilding a local playground or helping to serve food at ahomeless shelter.

But the role of service director isn’t just PR. It combines policy setting, eventplanning and people management skills in order to determine the parametersfor ongoing company-sponsored volunteer work that benefits the community,the employees and the company.

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Whether you’re thinking about working in HRD or HRM, there are a varietyof career paths to choose from. If you’re just out of school or a careerchanger, you’ll need to learn the ropes, but regardless of your level ofexperience, there is plenty of room (and there are plenty of ways) to grow along-term career in HR.

While HR career paths differ greatly from organization to organization, thereare two very general types of HR career paths: internal and external.

Internal opportunities refer to working in an HR function in an organization.This means that you will be serving and working for the employees in yourown company – the people you call your peers. Some companies have clearinternal HR paths where you move upward as you get more experience, whileothers might require that you work in a number of specialty areas before youcan move up.

External opportunities involve working for a company that provides HRservices to other companies. This might include HR consulting (coming in tohelp a company with an HR-specific project on a one-time basis) or a specificHR service that many companies would rather hire an outside firm to doinstead of doing it themselves (such as background checks, benefitsadministration etc.)

Do you have to work in one area? Many professionals do stay in one area –internal or external – their entire career. Many more start internally and thenmove into an external role after gaining specific experience or expertise. Sohow do you decide which general path to take? Since the roads will vary


HR Career PathsCHAPTER 4


Many fields such as banking, finance and consulting havestraightforward and clear career paths as professionals gain more andmore experience. But in Human Resources, career paths are verydifferent from organization to organization because HR may have adifferent level of responsibility from organization to organization. In largecompanies, such as the Fortune 500, there is usually a good amount ofroom to move up in HR. But in smaller companies, non-profits oreducation, the path may not be so clear (if it even exists at all). Startby determining whether you think you’d rather follow an internal orexternal path as explained here. As you are researching jobopportunities, be sure to ask what the career path options are ahead oftime.

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HR Career Paths

greatly and change as your HR career grows, don’t stress about making thatdecision now. The most important thing is to understand these two generalpaths and your options, so you’re always thinking about where your HRcareer might head. Just be sure you always talk about your next steps andhow your career might progress in each performance review you have.

Internal Opportunities

Generalist

HR generalist roles are a great place to start your budding HR career. As ageneralist, you’ll be responsible for a variety of tasks, from helping new hireschoose benefits to administering HR policies for your fellow colleagues.Because generalists are often called upon to work in many different areas –from employee relations to training to benefits – it is a great way to get yourfeet wet. It also is helpful to learn what area of HR you might be interestedin pursuing. Do you enjoy the challenge of compiling and analyzingcompensation statistics? Are you energized by organizing training anddevelopment opportunities for your colleagues? Sometimes you just don’tknow until you try.

While generalists typically have 0-4 years of experience, some HRprofessionals choose to remain generalists because they like the variety itprovides.

“I like to have my hands in a number of different things,” says one senior HRgeneralist for a Fortune 500 financial services company. “It makes my daymore diverse and challenging since I am never sure what area of HR in mydivision will require my focus on any given day. Depending on what mymanager has deemed important, in one day I might be working on a projectto create a new incentive plan for our sales team, sit in on a vendorpresentation for a new electronic evaluation system or work on mycompany’s affirmative action report for the year.”

Usually reporting to an HR manager, the HR generalist role is a versatilebuilding block for many new HR professionals. Generalists learn if there’s acertain specialty role they prefer and are also in a good position to climb thecorporate ladder to management positions due to their experience handlingmultiple HR tasks. Since generalists gain experience in multiple HRspecialties and work with employees in many different areas across an


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organization, they can easily become subject matter experts in one area ormanagers of several areas.

Specialist

HR specialists focus on one specific area in HR. If, for example, you’vedecided that compensation and benefits is your cup of tea, an HR specialistrole might be in the cards. A compensation and benefits analyst might beresponsible for investigating the compensation budget for a specificdepartment and making recommendations on changes.

All areas of HR have specialists, so it’s a great way to try an area of HR onfor size. There are some entry-level specialty positions, but in many cases,specialists have at least one or two years of experience and report to an HRmanager. Keep in mind, the larger the organization, the more complex thespecialty areas are likely to be and the greater the likelihood there are entry-level specialty positions.

If you find a specialty area isn’t the right fit, you can either move to anotherspecialty area or move into a management or generalist role. If you do wantto move or change specialty areas, try to do it sooner rather than later – onceyou have significant experience in one area of HR, it may be hard (but notimpossible) to jump ship to another.

HR specialty areas include:

• Compensation and benefits: Conducting and analyzing salary surveysor administering benefits plans.

• Employment, recruiting and staffing: Recruiting and staffingspecialists are common in organizations with a steady stream of hiringor a need to place new hires in jobs.

• Labor and employee relations: Usually found in unionized companies,labor and employee relations specialists learn the nitty-gritty of unioncontracts and may specialize in interpreting those contracts or resolvingemployee disputes and grievances.

• Training, learning and organization development: Leading new hireorientation or coordinating employee development activity.



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Manager

Ready, set, go: taking on a management role is a great way to grow an HRcareer by taking on additional responsibility for staff and programs.Managers usually have at least five to six years of HR experience and maymanage multiple HR generalists, specialists and/or administrative teammembers. Most HR managers are area- or specialty-focused.

Taking on a role as a manager usually means taking on broaderresponsibilities. While a benefits specialist may be responsible for onespecialty area such as healthcare benefits administration, a benefits managermay be in charge of several specialists responsible for multiple specialtyareas. Being a manager not only means increased responsibility (such asmanaging an entire function) but it also typically includes staff management.Managers may have multiple staff members reporting to them and areresponsible for the performance and the evaluation of those staff members.

Level of managerial responsibility may vary based on the organization, thesize, the specialty or the industry. Two common types of HR managementroles are area HR managers and specialty HR managers.

Area HR managers lead a broad spectrum of HR activities for a specificsubsection of employees or location. For example, a national chain ofclothing stores may have several area HR managers, each responsible for aspecific geographic region or grouping of stores. These managers areresponsible for all hiring, training, and compensation therein, and they reportto a more senior regional HR director or executive.

Specialty HR managers oversee HR specialties within an organization. Forexample, a training manager may manage several training specialists, eachresponsible for a certain aspect of the training function. The trainingmanager’s job is to make sure all aspects of the training program are takencare of – from training registrations to training evaluation. Specialty HRmanagers are also responsible for assessing their areas of specialty, makingchanges and managing the design and implementation of new programs.


Since the size of HR depends so heavily on the size of the organization,years of experience required for HR roles may vary. If you’re a careerchanger, or want to work in a specific area of HR but don’t quite haveenough experience, check out smaller organizations. While you might bepaid a bit less, they’ll be more likely to take a chance on you or give youmore responsibility than a large company would.

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Director

Continue up the HR career ladder and you’ll find HR directors leading a keypart of any organization. Responsible for the direction of human resourceprograms, plans and growth, HR directors have a great deal of responsibilityand experience. Directors usually have at least eight years of experience andare considered seasoned HR professionals. This means that an HRprofessional at the director level should have broad HR experience fromhaving worked in multiple specialty areas. This expertise is essential, sincedirectors can be called upon to revise or create programs and plans, and directarea or specialty HR managers to carry out such programs. Manyprofessionals at this level also carry the SPHR (Senior Professional in HumanResources) designation, meaning they have passed a rigorous HRcertification exam.

Reporting to the head of HR (an HR Vice President or Executive), HRdirectors are called upon to manage large-scale budgets and direct the HRstrategy on the part of the organization they support. This role also requiresstrong analytical skills, since directors must provide quantitative reports tothe HR executive on their division’s activities, and demonstrate a return oninvestment for all HR programs in their area.

Some daily tasks of an HR director might include regular debriefs with theheads of specialty areas such as recruiting or training, or a meeting with a linemanager about an employee performance problem or termination. HRdirectors usually have autonomy and management authority over all HRmatters in their business unit or division.

Good HR directors are exceptional problem solvers, working with HRmanagers and staff to address and resolve individual employee issues, andinvolving the HR executive and senior management when appropriate. WhileHR policies and rules are often set at the executive or VP level, HR directorsare often called upon for their insight and may be asked to suggest or createpolicies specific to their business unit or division.

Vice president/Human Resources executives

The buck stops here. The HR buck, that is. While HR executives may go onto lead other organization functions or even run a company, the VP positionis the top of the HR ladder.

VPs and HR executives are tasked with leading the HR function for an entireorganization, division or specialty. Depending on the size of the organization,



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this can be a sizeable responsibility that may entail managing HR processesfor upwards of 100,000 full-time employees (FTEs). Depending on theorganization’s size, an HR executive may have 10-15+ years of experience.

The senior HR executive role requires a strong understanding of business andindustry, representing the entire employee population on any issue relating toHR. HR executives spend the majority of their time setting HR strategy thatsupports the larger strategy of the organization. They rely on data providedby their staff to justify and lobby for new HR programs and innovations (suchas online benefits administration or an upgraded jobs web site).

No day is the same for HR execs. The start of the workday might find an HRexecutive meeting with the CEO to address the launch of a new HR policy orrunning a conference call to hear updates from HR directors in manyworldwide offices.

“I really don’t have a typical day as so much is dependent on what ishappening,” says Maxine Kent, Associate Vice President of HumanResources for Central Michigan University. “I might be presenting to theBoard and requesting authorization for a new benefit program or for authorityto negotiate with a particular union. I might be in my office, reading reportsor preparing a report, drafting or reviewing a new policy.”

Large organizations with several thousand FTEs may have multiple HRexecutives, or more specific titles such as CAO (Chief AdministrativeOfficer) or CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer) and/or specialtyexecutives such as CLO (Chief Learning Officer). As organizations begin torely more heavily on Human Resource Development activities, the role ofCLO is becoming more and more popular.


The larger the organization, the more likely it is that the career paths willbe more elaborate. There are also likely to be more opportunities todevelop a specialty and have a unique career path in that specialty. Ifyou choose to work for a small organization, the career path may besimpler, with fewer steps and more generalist responsibility. So you’llalso want to consider size when it comes to career path. A smallerorganization may not have the depth of specialties, but may give youmore responsibility earlier in your career.

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External Opportunities

Looking to flex your HR muscles in a unique way? If HR intrigues you, butyou’re not convinced working in an internal HR department is a good fit,there is a wealth of external HR professional options as well. This means youwould be providing an HR service in a company that provides those servicesas the core of their business. You’ll find these external opportunities inorganizations that provide HR services like consulting or benefitsadministration, or manage specific HR tasks such as performing backgroundchecks.

Outsourcing

To save time, money and focus more on strategic activities, manyorganizations outsource specific HR tasks to companies devoted to just thattask. Outsourcing means that companies pay others to take care of things likebackground checks, benefits or 401(k) or other investment plans. Companiesmay choose to outsource because they don’t have the resources or expertisein house, or because they don’t want to be bothered with managing things thataren’t crucial to their business.

“We’re trending more towards outsourcing tasks that are more transactionalin nature,” says Kimo Kippen, Vice President of Human Resources forRenaissance Hotels, a division of Marriott International. “We keep anything[in house] that’s crucial to the core of company, our culture and ourassociates. But we’ve had great success outsourcing things such as stockoption management, benefit enrollment, meeting logistics, and our employeeopinion surveys.”

Many companies are outsourcing more and more to save time, money andensure their employees receive the best HR service. In many companies, HRdepartments may not have enough knowledge to provide immediateassistance in specialized areas such as 401(k) plans or medical benefits. Theymay also have too many other responsibilities to give such specialized areasfull attention.

Companies hired to take on such tasks as stock option management are notonly specialists in their field, but are hired to provide good customer serviceand quick answers to questions about the stock plan and other investments.While outsourcing may be costly upfront, it often provides long-term savingsand better customer satisfaction for employees. After all, HR is primarily



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responsible for serving its “customers” – the employees of the companythey’re working for.

Working for one of the many outsourcing firms that provides companies likeMarriott with HR services is a great opportunity to work with many differentclients instead of just one company. For example, a medical benefitsoutsourcing firm may have a list of client companies that have all outsourcedtheir medical benefits to the firm. The client companies may be divided byindustry, size or other characteristics and then managed by client servicemanagers.

Companies usually contract with outsourcing firms, meaning they agree touse the firm for a set period, such as one or two years. If the firm has done agood job, their contract may be renewed. If not, the company may seek outthe services of a competing firm.

Smaller companies may even outsource the entire HR function. BetseyWalker works for HR XCEL, an organization that provides HR services fororganizations that might be too small to staff a full HR department.

“Right now I am the outsourced VP [for a small non-profit],” says Walker. “Iam considered part of the small senior management team and am responsiblefor everything except worker’s compensation and performance management.While I’ve only been in this role for less than a year, I continue to be includedin more and more activities within the organization.”


The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) cites the top fiveoutsourced HR activities as:

• Background checks: reviewing new employees’ records to verifyeducation and work history

• Employee counseling/assistance: programs to help employees withpersonal and family issues such as substance abuse or mentalhealth problems

• Flexible spending account administration: accounts whereemployees can contribute pre-tax dollars for healthcare and otherapproved costs

• COBRA: the government-regulated program requiring companies tooffer health insurance for purchase by terminated employees

• Health care benefits administration: medical, dental and visionbenefits offered to employees in a company

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For HR professionals like Walker, working in an outsourcing firm means achance to work with many clients, and learn the different HR needs fromindustry to industry. But HR professionals working in these roles say there’sa downside: so many clients means less of an opportunity to get to know theemployees as you might in an internal HR role.

Consulting

Many organizations also call on external help for longer-term strategicprojects. HR consulting is becoming more and more popular as companieslook to assess a current HR practice or program, create a completely new andinnovative strategy or seek specific expertise. Consulting firms such asHewitt, Mercer and Hay Group focus specifically on HR Consulting whilefirms such as Deloitte and Accenture have divisions devoted to HRconsulting.

But how is consulting different from outsourcing? While outsourcing firmstake over a specific task for a company for an indefinite period of time,consulting firms are called upon for help to advance or improve a particulararea of HR. A company who doesn’t want to deal with compensationadministration may outsource the entire process to an outsourcing firm. Buta company who wants to improve or revamp the process may turn to aconsulting firm for their expertise, to guide them through the process. Oncethe process is improved, the consulting firm helps the company learn how tosuccessfully transition to the new procedure.

As Kippen mentioned, companies turn to outsourcing for tasks that are moretransactional in nature, those that a company just doesn’t want to deal withanymore. Consulting tends to be more strategic in nature. Consultants workon client projects, often called engagements, coming into an organization tohelp solve a problem and then leaving when the organization is ready to moveforward on its own.

HR consultants may work on engagements that are as short as a few weeks,or may last a few years. They tend to have experience in problem-solving thatcan come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines.

“I’ve never actually worked in HR, just in consulting,” says a seniorconsultant with Deloitte. “But during my second year as a consultant, I got achance to work on a HR consulting project helping a Fortune 500 companyreview the way they evaluate employee performance. Since then I haveworked on several HR consulting projects, and while I don’t think I’ll leave



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consulting any time soon, I think it’d be pretty easy for me to get a job ininternal HR given the various HR experiences I have had.”

Some HR consultants come to the table with business backgrounds, havingprevious consulting experience and/or degrees in business, finance ormanagement. But just as many have been practicing HR professionals andmake the transition into consulting based on that experience. At theminimum, most consulting firms will require a Bachelor’s degree, but thereare opportunities for both entry-level and experienced professionals.

“I had several years of experience as an HR generalist, but I was stuck in oneindustry. I decided to go into HR consulting to practice what I learned acrossmany companies and industries,” says a former HR generalist who nowworks for a major HR consulting firm in Chicago. “I was worried that myLiberal Arts degree and lack of consulting experience would make it moredifficult to break into consulting, but it was just the opposite – my newcompany really values my HR experience because I have already faced someof the same dilemmas my clients are facing now.”

Regardless of your background, be prepared for stiff competition. Consultingis one of the hottest fields in business and you’ll likely be competing for openpositions with professionals from varied business backgrounds. It’simportant to demonstrate your ability to work in flexible and variedenvironments.

You should also be sure to talk to current consultants before making the jump.While working in a consulting role provides a great opportunity to generalize,and learn about multiple industries and companies, these roles can oftenrequire extensive travel, and pressure to bring in new business and morecontracts, in addition to your day-to-day responsibilities.

Entrepreneur

Once you get some solid HR experience, striking out on your own is also anoption. Tempted by flexible schedules and autonomy over their work, manyHR professionals start their own businesses after spending a fair amount oftime as an in-house HR practitioner. HR consulting is one of these popularentrepreneurial ventures.

Mike Grabarek, a former Director of Leadership Development with Entergyand HR professional with General Electric (GE), created his own consultingfirm, TWCMI, after spending time on both the line and in human resources.Grabarek, who began his career as a engineer with GE and then as an HR


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director, now finds himself running a HR consulting firm and combining anumber of his HR skills: “As a consultant, [my projects can includeeverything from] helping organizations develop their leaders and pipeline offuture leaders, navigate significant change, or improve their teamwork[capabilities].”

Coaching is also another option for wannabe HR entrepreneurs. Both careerand executive coaching are growing in popularity, allowing HR professionalsto share their years of experience coaching and counseling employees acrossmany different organizations. Career and executive coaches typically workone-on-one with professionals looking for guidance in their job search orcareer transition, or advice on developing their leadership or managementskills. Coaches usually have their own small businesses, and are hired byindividual professionals or contract with companies to work with individualemployees.

Regardless of what area of HR entrepreneurs focus on, they all face similarbusiness responsibilities. From career coaches to HR consultants,entrepreneurs have to run their businesses. This includes managementresponsibilities such as accounting, marketing and sales, as well as HRexpertise. While many entrepreneurs use outside experts to help them runtheir businesses, many choose to balance running the business with doing thebusiness.

So who wouldn’t want to be their own boss? Well, as it turns out, a lot ofpeople. You have to have enough HR experience to demonstrate you have theexpertise, and the savvy to make sure your business succeeds and grows. Ifyou’re thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, seek out other entrepreneursto learn the reality behind being the top dog.

Common Misconceptions About HR

No matter what type of HR role you find yourself in, you’ll have tounderstand and deal with common misconceptions that persist in and out ofHR. Some of the misconceptions you’ll be able to combat and manage, whileothers you’ll just have to get used to as part of the job.

Women-only club

HR has traditionally been more heavily dominated by women than other areasof business. As business evolved in the 1900s, women were tasked with



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taking care of the “people” – the employees in an organization. The caretakerrole evolved into the job of welfare secretary, one of the earliest HR positionsknown to date.

But after the mid-century wars, when men came back to the corporate world,they actually dominated HR leadership roles and memberships inprofessional HR organizations such as SHRM (Society for Human ResourceManagement).

“It’s not hard to see that women now dominate the profession based ontoday’s membership figures in major HR associations, but there are noconcrete statistics to be found on gender breakdown,” says one compensationconsultant who just finished a study on compensation differences and genderfor a major U.S. corporation. “But having worked in HR before becoming aconsultant, I think it is because HR is still perceived as such a touchy-feelyprofession.”

But as HR gains legitimacy in the business world, there’s less touchy-feelyand more of an analytical, business and finance focus. And like manyfunctions in the business world, diversity is key to HR’s success. Thefunction is now staffed by a diverse mix of gender, age and ethnicity andbeing male or female is unlikely to help or hinder your HR career success.

All of that said, women still tend to make up a larger portion of the HR field,and like fields that are male-dominated, a gender-heavy workplace can bemore likely to focus on specific issues or handle problems in a specific way.The reality for male HR professionals? Your HR co-workers are more likelyto talk about shopping than sports.

HR as a last resort

Another common misconception is that HR is a last resort for poorly-performing employees. Performance management, typically a role managedby HR, is designed to help employees perform better and isolate poorperformers to be moved to a different function (or out of the organization).But in the past, some of these poor performers have been reassigned to workin HR.

While this was historically the trend for many companies, there is now abetter understanding of the skills and competencies that make a successfulHR professional. HR membership associations such as SHRM (Society forHuman Resource Management) and ASTD (American Society of Trainingand Development) have spent thousands of dollars developing competency


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models – a framework for the skills, education and experience required togrow and develop as an HR professional. And so, this clear picture of HR asa distinct profession with distinct experience and skill requirements hassomewhat eliminated HR as the perceived dumping ground it may have oncebeen. Over 60% of respondents to a 2005 survey by the Society for HumanResource Management (SHRM) on HR as a profession agree that linemanagers recognize that HR adds value to organizations through specificknowledge and skills.

But that still leaves just under 40% who don’t. So just to be sure, if you’reconsidering an HR position, ask for some information on your potentialcoworkers. A good mix of external HR experience and internal companyexperience always bodes well.

Call in the police

Rule-maker, enforcer, police officer – HR professionals have been calledmany things. Another common misconception in the HR profession is thattheir main role is to make sure employees follow the rules. This is becauseas the HR profession evolved, HR professionals were often tasked withdeveloping, communicating and enforcing employee and staff policies.When employees neglected to follow company rules, it was HR that steppedinto the role of disciplinarian.

HR still typically carries the responsibility of managing and enforcingemployee compliance with company policies, but it is only a fraction ofbroader responsibilities that consume most of an HR professional’s day. Butthat doesn’t take away the role, or perception, of “bad cop.” If an employeefails to follow company policy, HR still, and probably always will, step in.

In recent years, ethical and financial scandals in the business world havemade companies even more eager to make sure rules and policies regardingeverything from employee behavior and conduct to use of company materialsand machines are clear and communicated. So now it’s not just HR that’sresponsible for rule enforcement. Financial and legal executives incompanies are joining forces with HR to make sure all angles are coveredwhen it comes to following government regulations and business laws.

It’s hard to play disciplinarian, but the important thing to know is that in someHR roles you’ll always have to enforce some rules, like it or not. If you’recurious about the reputation HR may have in a company you’re consideringworking for, ask employees who work outside of HR for the real skinny.



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So now you know the truth and you’re settled on a career in HR – what willyour career look like down the road? There are a number of questions beingasked about the future of HR that are important to consider:

• Finding a seat at the table: Will CEOs and company presidentscontinue to include HR executives as members of the leadership team,including a seat at the boardroom table?

• HR goes global: As companies expand internationally, will the need forHR professionals with international know-how and experienceincrease?

• HR technology: As HR technology streamlines HR processes, whatimpact will this have on administrative and technical positions?

• HR outsourcing: Will the number of companies hiring outside firms tomanage major HR functions increase, or will companies reverse thattrend?

• Value to the corporation: Companies in increasing numbers arebeginning to see HR’s impact on a company’s bottom line – how willHR respond?

But you don’t need a crystal ball to see where the field of HR is headed. Let’stackle some of these trend questions head-on so you can be prepared inadvance.

Finding a Seat at the Table

You’ve come a long way baby – as a profession, HR has made great strides.From welfare secretary to talent management, HR is now a function nobusiness can afford to be without. But a common frustration many HRleaders face is a struggle for respect. Most companies have executive teamsthat make the key decisions for the company, sitting at the so-calledboardroom table. However, in some companies (but not all), HR doesn’thave a seat at that table, reporting to another senior executive who does. InSHRM’s 2005 survey on the HR profession, less than 50% of HRpractitioners think that senior management believes HR professionals are truebusiness partners.


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Why doesn’t HR always have the respect of its business colleagues? Theanswers vary. Part of it can be blamed on the early days of HR, when HRprofessionals weren’t tapped for their strategic expertise. Many HRprofessionals have worked hard over the year to change that perception.

In other cases, smaller or high-growth companies are more focused on theirproducts or services. Hiring good people is important, but key decisions andfunding may instead be focused on how best to grow the company or bringon a key customer. A famous saying goes: Manage the product, then thepeople.

Another reason? Ask your friends and family what they think about the HRdepartments in their companies. Chances are you’ll hear mixed reviews. HRoften suffers from lack of attention, not enough staff, and minimal resources.

But working in a company where HR doesn’t have a seat at the table, or isn’ta company’s key focus, can have its benefits. The future of HR is change, andthat change could be you. In a start-up company, for example, there are oftenonly one or two HR staff members who have a tremendous amount ofresponsibility. This can be an opportunity to take on a key leadership positionearly in a career and learn multiple HR roles and tasks at once.

In a high-growth company, one that may be gaining momentum in the market,or has just gone public, working in HR can be a chance to focus on the futureand try out innovative ideas.

“When [a high-growth] company is focused on revenue and sales are reallyimportant, the pressure is off HR a bit. Working in this situation really gaveme a chance to suggest some new recruiting mechanisms and alert my bossto some potential HR problems I saw down the road,” says one HR Managerwho used to work for a technology company. “Even though I am not workingfor that company anymore, I hear from my former colleagues how strong thefunction is, partly because I was there to help lay the groundwork.”

And HR isn’t always on the backburner. In some companies, HR is makingheadway as one of the most important parts of the business. As an HRprofessional, getting respect from your clients, the employees in the company,is essential for getting that much-deserved seat at the table.

“I would say that there has been a somewhat negative perception of [HR] inthe past,” says one Account Director with a large, public service firm.“However, I think that is changing. I believe that HR is making someprogress to try to become more strategic, less transactional and more of a


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partner with the businesses.” And at Marriott, Kippen says HR is respected:“I don’t ever need to tell [my boss] why it is important.”

Kippen’s advice to HR professionals who don’tget any respect?

“I think it goes back to the organization. You have to link HR back to thebusiness and catch business leaders’ attention by improving products orreducing costs for services. That could manifest itself in turnover or sales peremployee hour. The opportunity for HR in how a business differentiatesitself is huge.”

While a seat at the table isn’t universal for all HR professionals, companiesare beginning to realize the importance of a strong HR function to manageemployees, create a positive workplace and provide career developmentopportunities. Now may be just the time to get your foot in the HR door.

HR Goes Global

Getting in the HR door may take you more places than you’ve bargained for.As organizations continue to expand around the world, HR professionalsmust manage international employees, hire international workers and dealwith language and culture differences.

Many companies that operate internationally typically have HR staff in eachof the countries of operation. If you’re interested in working internationally,or even living in another country for several years, an international rotationmay be just the thing for you. An international rotation typically involvestaking on an HR management role in a company’s overseas office. Forexample, a training manager for a technology company in California might betapped to help train employees in a newly opened office in Asia.

International opportunities are increasing, since for many organizations, theonly way to grow is internationally – providing many opportunities for HRprofessionals. But this won’t come without significant challenges.

One major challenge HR staff are facing on the international front is theoutsourcing of jobs. Growth internationally doesn’t always equate to anincrease in local jobs; outsourcing jobs to other countries is becoming moreand more common. This means that instead of hiring workers in the countrywhere the company is located, the company outsources those jobs, or offersthose jobs to workers in another country who are willing to work for less



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money. HR is often in charge of finding those candidates and dealing withthe accompanying HR issues.

Another international challenge for HR professionals is ensuring that staffabroad are enabled with the same technology as local staff. This may includeHuman Resource Information Systems (HRIS) online training, and othertechnological tools. Mohamad J. Samman, a HR projects analyst at Qatargasin Ras Laffan, Qatar agrees: “I have seen major HR initiatives that are notimplemented successfully due to poor communication. We should usetechnology to improve our corporate communication; online portals and e-learning systems are great tools that are not used effectively.”

Samman, who completed SHRM’s International HR Management certificateprogram, is no stranger to international HR, having worked in Qatar, theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia in addition to the UnitedStates.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the arduous task of staying on topof all of the different employment laws and regulations in the countries wherean organization is doing business. International HR professionals are notonly challenged to understand the myriad local immigration and employmentlaws, but must also understand how to manage employees in varyingcountries abroad. For example, vacation and time off policies are muchdifferent in the United States then they are in France and China, and it’sextremely important not only to understand a country’s laws but its culture aswell. The daily siesta in a country such as Spain affects how business is doneand the hours employees work.

The Human Resources Certification Institute introduced the GlobalProfessional in Human Resources (GPHR) certification in 2004. The GPHRcertification designates HR professionals who have demonstrated proficiencyin global HR strategies, overseas HR operations and international assignmentmanagement. Additionally, with the Society for Human ResourceManagement (SHRM) hosting HR professionals from over 25 countries at itsyearly Global Forum, it’s clear that international HR is only growing inimportance.


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While there are many trends that will shape the future of HR, there arealso a number of issues that will determine the future of specific HRcareers. Every subset of the function has specific trends to look for(check association websites for more detail) but here are some of thekey trends you’ll find in a few of the specific HR specialty areas.

• Training and development: It’s no surprise that companies arepaying more attention to training and development. Certainly, thismeans an increase in training and development positions (over 20%by 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)). But italso means an increase in HR professionals who can prove howtraining helps a company make or save more money. As long asHR has the numbers to show the value of training anddevelopment, companies can’t ignore its impact. Professionalslooking to grow careers in this area should pay special attention tonew ways to measure the effectiveness of training. As theeconomy continues to fluctuate, companies won’t dump moneyinto an initiative or program unless they see the value. Training anddevelopment professionals will only continue to find better ways tocompute the benefits of their programs and demonstrate theirworth.

• Compensation and benefits: If there’s one function almost allcompanies can’t ignore, it’s compensation and benefits. Whetherit’s a small company with one person in charge of all compensationand benefits, or a big corporation with dozens of professionals inthis area, the function isn’t going away anytime soon. But thefunction may move – outside the company. If you’re interested incompensation and benefits, it’s important to remember thatcompensation and benefits tasks are among top five outsourcedactivities (according to SHRM). Does this mean buddingprofessionals in this arena should work for an outsourcing firminstead? Not necessarily. While an outsourcing firm may give youa chance to manage compensation and benefits issues for manydifferent clients, working in-house for a company is still your bestplace to start. Just be sure you ask specific questions about whichcompensation and benefits functions are outsourced and what yourcareer path options are. On the benefits side specifically, anothertrend to be aware of is the rising cost of healthcare. Since manycompanies provide partial or all healthcare benefits to theirworkers, the cost can be one of the biggest line items in thecompany’s budget. Recently, this cost has increased dramatically,causing companies to undertake extensive benefits analyses,

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The Future of HR


reduce the amount of benefits offered and/or eliminate certainbenefits altogether. The push to find new strategies to manage andreduce these costs is bound to continue.

• Recruiting: Trends in recruiting often mirror economic trends. Asthe economy gains momentum, hiring increases, and as it falls,hiring slows down. But one trend that continues on the upswingis the use of technology in recruiting. The type of technologychanges year to year: first it was the use of large-scale recruitingwebsites like Monster and Career Builder to mass-recruit for jobs,and then it was companies launching their own large-scale hiringweb sites. Either way, technology has found its place in therecruiting world and is certain to only grow larger. Companies arecontinuing to use recruiting sites to post jobs, but also continue toadd their own elaborate internal recruiting management systems.This has meant the loss of some data entry and administrative jobsin the recruiting world that aren’t likely to return, but it also meansthat recruiting techniques will continue to grow more sophisticated.

• Coaching: Since hiring can be a costly endeavor, many companiesare choosing to coach employees and executives through roughspots as opposed to simply replacing them. But coaching isn’t justa way to help troubled employees, it’s also a way to prepare staremployees for the next step. Either way, large companies likeCapital One are even creating coaching functions in-house becauseof their importance. The emphasis on coaching is only going togrow.

• HR Technology: You already know how technology is having animpact on specific HR functions such as training and recruiting.This better enables those functions for sure, but it also means anincrease in the demand for technology professionals with HRexperience. For example, if you have both an interest in HR and astrong technical aptitude, the intersection of these two specialtiesmight be just the place for you. HR technology professionals notonly have to understand how the technology works and how to fixit, but they also have to be able to understand the needs of HR andhow the technology will impact the employees of an organization.The need for professionals with this specific type of expertise willsurely trend upwards.

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The Future of HR

Other Trends in HR

The BLS reports an average increase of about 28% through 2012 in many HRcareers. This includes specialty areas such as labor relations and health andoccupational safety: “Legislation and court rulings setting standards invarious areas – occupational safety and health, equal employmentopportunity, wages, health, pensions, and family leave, among others – willincrease demand for human resources, training, and labor relations experts,”reports the BLS.

On the industry front, as the baby boomer generation ages, the healthcareindustry will grow tremendously, resulting in a growth of HR professionals inthat industry as well. According to the BLS, the group aged 55 to 64 willincrease by 43.6 percent, or 11.5 million persons, more than any other group.HR professionals will also find increased opportunity in the government andleisure and hospitality industries, as these sectors are expected to grow byover 10% each.

However, it’s not all positive news: the advent of new HR technologies mayalso equate with the demise of workers in some areas. In addition tocorporate mergers and downsizing, resulting in the loss of workers, new HRtechnologies may eliminate the need for various HR administrative roles.

As a profession, HR will continue to face the challenges of managinginternational employees as well as the tangled web of internationalemployment laws. HR outsourcing will also become increasingly popular ascompanies look to outside HR specialists to manage specialized areas.Research from The Conference Board, in conjunction with Accenture HRServices, found that three quarters of companies surveyed outsource one ormore of their HR functions. More importantly, 80% would do so in thefuture, and 91% reported either having achieved or partially achieved theirHR outsourcing objectives.

Finally, HR will continue to work to improve its value to businesses andorganizations. Using data to show how HR can help a company save moneywill be a daily practice of HR functions as they continue to fight for respectand a seat at the executive table.

Shari Telfer, an HR practitioner and former business owner, puts it best: “IfHR concentrates on performing tasks which save money for the organization,



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The Future of HR

ensures that these savings are made known to the powers that be, andcontinues to find ways to lead the organization in its effort to achieve itsmission and goals, then we have no worries about the future of the humanresources practitioner.”


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HUMARESOUCARE

GETTING HIRED

Chapter 6: Beginning Your HR Career

Chapter 7: Getting the Job

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Starting from Scratch

Skills

While good communication skills are a key element in many functions, in HRthey are crucial. Communication is an important part of almost every HRrole, from training specialist to HR director. You may be leading employeesthrough new hire orientation or crafting a memo for the CEO to send aboutupcoming layoffs or staff news. HR is often the voice of the company,responsible for drafting and often delivering company and personnel news.Either way, both written and verbal communication skills are a mainingredient to HR success. Experienced HR professionals know theimportance of crafting a message that best reflects the company and itsleaders. Strengthen and develop your communication skills and you’ll beforming the foundation of a strong HR career.

Sure you can talk the talk, but can you crunch the data behind it? Analyticalskills are also important to HR success. This means you are able to analyzedata and information closely and make recommendations to your team andmanagers. For example, compensation professionals require strong analyticalskills in order to review numbers-heavy salary surveys to determine just howmuch employees should be paid. Recruiters need to analyze such data as thetime it takes to fill positions, and HR directors are constantly reviewing thepercentage of employees who leave their division or unit and how to keep thatnumber low.

But it’s not just being able to analyze data that’s important, you’ve got tounderstand what drives many businesses: money. For profits and non-profitsalike, budgets are the backbone to successful operations. And understandingthe finances of an organization is a skill that’s often underdeveloped for manyHR professionals.

“The first thing I want to know is if the candidate can read an incomestatement? Do they know what the gross margin and net margin means?”says Bob McKenzie, long-time HR professional who is now president ofMcKenzie HR. “Most organizations are in business to make a profit. Evennon-profit organizations need to have a statement of their cash flow. If the


Beginning Your HRCareer CHAPTER 6


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Beginning Your HR Career

HR professional does not understand this, how can they possibly be effectivein their job?”

A compensation manager for a major retail giant agrees: “I have fourcompensation specialists on my team and one of the first things I made surethey knew is how our job affects how the company makes money. If aspecialist is analyzing compensation changes for even one small division, heneeds to know how recommendations he makes may affect the division’squarterly and yearly profits.”

Have trouble simply balancing your checkbook? Never taken a finance classbefore? Don’t worry. The basics of how money works in a company isn’thard to learn. But if you’re interviewing for entry level jobs, especially at apublic company, you want to make sure you learn these basics before theinterview process begins. Resources like Yahoo! Finance provide basicinformation on the performance and financial status of public companies andtheir stock.

But the lesson here is that you shouldn’t just rely on your people skills.Developing basic financial skills may be just the leg up you need todemonstrate why you’re the best fit for that next HR job.

And while we’re on the subject, being a people person is just the beginning.Sure, successful HR professionals have to have strong interpersonal skills.But this doesn’t just mean enjoying working with people – HR is much morethan that. It means having an ability to interact with people at all levels: fromthe CEO to administrative assistant, from customer to vendor. Whetheryou’re a labor relations specialist trying to mediate an employee-unionconflict, or a benefits manager trying to help an employee resolve acomplicated medical claim, strong interpersonal skills means you cannavigate many of these situations with grace and ease.

HR professionals typically have the unique responsibility of working with allemployees across all functions in an organization. This requires an ability tonegotiate and gain buy-in from all parties involved. For example, an HRdirector might be creating a new vacation approval policy for his divisionbased on feedback from employees division-wide. But such policy changeshave to be sanctioned by the HR director’s regional vice president. It is theHR director’s job to first get all of the division heads to agree to the changeand then to get buy-in from the vice president. Such complicated policychanges and other HR roles may necessitate multiple conversations,proposals and negotiations before changes can be made. Without strongnegotiation and persuasion skills, the HR director would be at a loss.


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As technology evolves, so does its role in the world of HR. That’s wherestrong technical skills come in. One of the fastest-growing sectors of HR isHR Information Technology (HRIT). Whether it’s managing the company’sHR information system, controlling all employee data and statistics, ortroubleshooting resume submission problems on the company’s web site,HRIT professionals are an evolving subset of the HR profession.

Creativity is a skill appreciated in many HR functions. HR professionals maybe called upon to develop creative strategies for employee relationscampaigns, create promotional recruiting materials or even plan organizationevents.

Finally, business acumen is also critical. This is a fancy way of saying you’reskilled at interacting smoothly in your industry and organization. Can youinteract appropriately with senior executives? Do you know the key issues inyour industry? Learning the ins and outs of your organization and how all thedepartments work (not just HR) makes you business savvy and moreattractive as a member of the HR team.

Think you don’t have the skills to do the job? Career changers take note –many of these crucial skills can be gained from other job fields. Be sure tothink through all of your experiences and roles before assessing the level ofskill you have. For you new HR professionals, remember that hiringmanagers for entry-level positions are going to expect you to be green inmany of these areas. As a new professional your goal is to show you have thebasic skills and an ability and willingness to learn new ones. And as yougrow in your HR career, you can strengthen the skill areas in which you’reweakest.

Performance factors

In addition to growing your HR skill sets, what distinguishes many HRprofessionals is the way they perform on the job. Knowing how to administerbenefits is one thing; how you do it is what will help you grow a successfulcareer. Many experienced HR professionals cite grace under pressure asessential to HR career development. Company crises or organizational issuesoften require HR professionals to step in and manage the situation. Layoffsor other employee incidents require an ability to make quick decisions and todo so with grace and aplomb.

Predictability is also an important factor in the world of HR: “If I am goingto give one of my HR associates more responsibility, one of the first things I



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look for is predictive behavior,” says HR VP Kimo Kippen. “Do I know thatperson can perform consistently?”

Also key in HR is adaptability. As an organization changes, HRresponsibilities can change in a heartbeat. In a merger or acquisition, forexample, HR professionals may have to change their strategy 180 degrees. Arecruiting professional may be solely focused on recruiting an extended salesforce, only to find that a recent merger means a need to fill a completelydifferent type of position. Being able to change focus and be flexible iscrucial in situations like this.

Other crucial performance factors include high energy and positive attitude.Since HR can often be tagged as the “rule enforcers” or “bad news bearers,”HR professionals who stay upbeat and encouraging even in times of distressnot only provide reinforcement to employees but also show that HR practicesexist to support employees and not hinder them. Rather than play “bad cop”and chastise managers who haven’t completed their employee evaluations ontime, a successful performance management specialist might instead take aoptimistic tone and focus on the positive changes that arise out of the process.

Finally and perhaps most importantly is the ability to keep trustedinformation confidential.

According to Skeath, this may be one of the most important things toshowcase in a job search: “Demonstrating a level of discretion lets theorganization know the person can be trusted with confidential information.”

HR deals with a number of sensitive issues and types of information. As anHR professional, you might be dealing with salaries, medical information andpersonal employee information on a daily basis. You may also be privy toissues of layoffs, staffing and performance review scores. Regardless of thetype of confidential data you’re working with, no one respects an HRdepartment that can’t keep its mouth shut.

Shari Telfer agrees: “If you can’t refrain from gossip or off-color humor,consider another career area. It won’t make you a bad person, but it willsurely doom you as an HR practitioner.”

Environment

Many HR positions require similar skills and performance characteristics, butno two HR jobs are quite alike. This is partly because of environment – onemajor factor that may affect your job satisfaction and performance greatly.As previously discussed, the HR environment does differ from industry to


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industry. Labor relations positions, for example, won’t be found in industrieswhere unions don’t exist. And in certain industries where they do exist(manufacturing, automotive, construction), union responsibilities can take upa large portion of an HR professional’s time.

But industry isn’t the only factor to consider when evaluating what kind ofenvironment you’d be happiest in. Organization size can also greatly affectan HR role. Larger, more stable organizations may often provide moregrowth opportunity and ability to specialize in particular roles.

“At Bank of America we have several different HR departments with avariety of positions within each department, it is difficult to pin down onepath,” says Bank of America’s Phil Skeath. “Someone may jump from a[HR] Manager to one of our specialized departments (e.g., training,compensation, leadership development, staffing), or vice versa. Someonemay start in HR, take on a sales position, and then move back to HR.”

This flexibility and opportunity to try such different HR roles is what drawsmany individuals to large organizations. Another positive feature of bigcompanies is their tendency to support HRD roles (such as training, coachingand organization development).

“Organization development (OD) roles just don’t exist at many small andmedium-sized companies. I left my last company because they just couldn’tfinancially support growing the training and development function beyondsimple training classes,” says a corporate trainer who now works at one of thelargest retail firms in the world. “They were so focused on growing thecompany that development just wasn’t a priority. But in my current role as acorporate trainer, I work with executive coaches and OD specialists all on oneteam so we can collectively address development needs.”

But large companies aren’t the best fit for every HR professional. While theremay be more opportunity for growth, there are likely to be more layers in theorganization. In a smaller organization, promotion can happen more quicklyand HR professionals may be able to take on more responsibility morequickly than might happen at a Fortune 500 company.

Small companies can also provide more of an opportunity to innovate or startfrom scratch. HR professionals in these environments may be creating an HRdepartment from scratch (in the case of a startup) or helping grow adepartment that hasn’t changed or evolved in many years.

One HR job seeker reflects on her recent search: “I was offered a position asa senior HR associate in a large automotive company the same time I was



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offered the position of HR director for a start-up company. Friends andfamily seemed to want to push me toward the larger, well-known company,but I really wanted a chance to own an HR department and create all theprocesses and policies from scratch. Sure, it was risky, but being a part of acompany that was new and growing was the kind of environment I thoughtwas a better fit. Someone else might have made a different choice fordifferent reasons.”

Career changers should also take note – smaller organizations might be morewilling to take a chance on you than a large firm, since there is likely to beless competition.

All of that said, every organization is different and it’s important to ask keyquestions about the size of the HR function, the division of labor among HRspecialty areas and the vision HR has laid out for the months and years ahead.This is a great way to get a sense of where you might fit in and if you’ll behappy working there down the road.

Money

If you weren’t a finance major, budgets might be foreign to you. But creatinga personal budget is essential before starting any job search. Start bydetermining where you’d be willing to live, or if you want to remain in yourcurrent city. Bankrate.com, Salary.com and Homefair.com all have goodcost-of-living calculators to help you determine average costs for citiesaround the United States. Once you have some geographic targets, create abudget for you and your family (if applicable). Be sure to include all of yourliving and personal expenses. Then you can calculate how much you’ll needto earn.

While HR salaries are higher than some professions, HR may not be the cashcow you hoped for. Use the tools and guidelines in the “How Much Will IMake?” section of this Guide and make sure you’re realistic about your ownexpectations, budget and salary before engaging in an HR job search.

Do You Really Want to Do This?

Before you jump into HR, do your research and make sure it’s really thecareer you want. As many career changers will tell you, it’s much harder tomove into a completely new profession after many years of experience in a


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different field. While researching the profession is a great deal of work, it cansave you time and frustration down the road.

In addition to reading and research, you can also learn about a profession bytalking to people who work in that profession already. Networking is a wayto learn from the people who’ve already been down the path you want tohead, and who can share their missteps and lessons learned. Networking cantake place at a large conference, a social event or one-on-one.

“Talk with people in the industry first. Get a good feel for the good, bad andugly about HR and then make the decision to move forward with a career inHR or not,” says Keith Stemple, Associate Director of Career Services at theGeorge Washington University School of Business.

“[HR professionals] don’t have as many people beating their doors down todo this kind of work,” Stemple says. “These kinds of calls are somewhatinfrequent for them, and most people in HR are more than happy to sit downand talk with people interested in the profession.”

Stemple, formerly an Assistant Director of Recruiting for Arthur Andersen,knows the power of networking. He originally landed his job at Andersenthrough contacts he had made only a year out of college.

But how do you find HR networking contacts? Whether you’re 21 or 41,chances are you know someone who works in HR, even if you don’t know it.Ask your friends, family, neighbors, even your college professors for contactsin HR. The next best thing to actually doing a job is to talk to someone whodoes. But be prepared to work hard to network. Finding contacts isn’talways easy, so you’ll have to be patient. Network like crazy. HR people arebusy and may be hard to reach with just one call or e-mail. So you have togo where they are, which means getting involved in your college’s HRchapter if you’re still in school, or with local chapters of any one of many HRassociations.

Stemple agrees: “Network the heck out of every situation you are in, on theplane, in a bar, at a party, even in line at Starbucks.”

I’ll take a grande latte and one HR manager please.



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Once you locate contacts, use e-mail as a less intrusive way of asking thosecontacts for some time to talk. Ask to schedule short calls or visits (15-20minutes) with an interest in tapping into the contact’s HR expertise andexperience. If you were referred to a contact by another friend, ask that friendto share any insight on how the contact would prefer to be reached, details onhis/her career and industry, etc.

Now that you have networking discussions scheduled, you don’t want to gointo your networking conversations empty-handed. Be sure to prepare foryour networking calls by doing research on the contact and his/her company.Use search engines such as Google to retrieve any background information,quotes or a biography. Prepare a good list of questions to ask, and spendabout 90 percent of the conversation listening – it’s not the time to sellyourself as a job candidate. Not sure what questions to ask? Try simplequestions that will give you a good sense of whether you’d like their job, theirindustry and even HR as a profession. Some questions to get you startedinclude:

• What do you like about your job?• What do you dislike about your job?• How did you start your career in HR?• What kind of meetings do you attend or what’s on your calendar?• What do you know now about HR that you wish you knew when you

started your career?• What advice would you give someone just starting out in HR?• Where do you see the HR profession headed?


Trying to find networking contacts in a certain profession? Begin bymaking a list of everyone you know. Everyone. This includes thewoman who cuts your hair, your parents’ friends and neighbors and thewell-connected professor you had your freshman year. If the personwalked by you on the street and you’d say hello, then include him/heron the list. Once you have that list, do a little legwork to get the e-mailaddresses of each person and prepare to connect. Write a short (threeparagraphs max) e-mail to your list. Tell the recipients that you’re doingsome career research and are looking for contacts in human resources.Make sure you reiterate that at this point you’re not looking for a job(yet) but just want to locate a few varied HR professionals and ask thema few questions about their careers. You’ll be surprised at the responsesyou get, and, the new network you’ve just created. Just be sure to“bcc” your contacts when you send the e-mail. “Reply all” can be a verydangerous option.

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• What are common mistakes you see HR professionals make in the jobsearch process?

• What skills in my current career do you think would be most valued inHR?

Having a cursory knowledge of HR is also important before going into anynetworking conversation. You don’t want your contact to waste time duringthe conversation explaining what a labor union is. Reading this guide is agreat place to start, as is writing down questions and areas to research as yougo along.

Education

Almost all HR positions will require a baseline education (including college).If you don’t have a college degree, you can start out in an administrative HRrole, work to learn the business of HR and perhaps even attend college part-time or at night.

“I actually became an HR executive for a large manufacturing firm withouthaving a college degree,” says one former HR professional who’s now a stay-at-home mom. “But I started at the bottom and really had to prove that Iwanted to learn about HR and that I could handle the responsibility. WhileI’m proud of my success, if I had to do it over, I would have definitely gottena degree while I was working. If I had wanted to leave my company and workfor a different company, my lack of education would have been a toughobstacle to overcome.”

If you’re still in college or considering college, an undergraduate degree inbusiness or HR is great place to start. As a young HR professional, you canbuild and grow your career through professional development or certification.As a career changer or businessperson transitioning to HR, a graduate degreemight be a good option. While education is important, you don’t want tojump into a degree program or certification course without knowing it’s theright step. Research your education options carefully and talk toprofessionals offering the programs. Many universities or training programsoffer advisors or experts that can help you decide if you’re taking the rightstep.



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Formal education and degrees

Getting a formal education, through either an undergraduate and/or graduatedegree in human resources, builds a solid foundation for an HR career. Whilenot required, having an educational background in HR can give you an addedadvantage in the job search.

If you don’t have a college education but are interested in HR, a good startingpoint might be to work as an HR assistant in a busy HR department, or as anexecutive assistant to an HR vice president or other executive. It will giveyou insight into the function and allow you to pursue a degree at the sametime.

For degree-seekers, there are multiple options to bolster your HR knowledgeand credentials at both the undergraduate and the graduate level.

At the undergraduate level, getting a degree in HR or in business is a greatplace to start. Both provide a solid foundation in many basic businessconcepts such as finance and marketing. While you won’t get deep exposurein HR, an undergraduate degree in business or management will give youbroader insight into business and be more versatile should your career take adifferent route.

If you’re confident HR is your career path of choice, an undergraduate degreein HR or an HR discipline will give you a stronger and more specificfoundation from which to launch your career. If you choose this path, thereare over 200 colleges and universities that have HR degree programs.

Talk to college advisors and professors before making your choice to get thepros and cons of each option. Even if you don’t major in an HR field, youcan always take an HR course or two to get a taste of the profession.


Whether you’re joining a new company or taking on an HR role for thefirst time, don’t forget to ask about and investigate all the education andprofessional development opportunities available to you. Manyorganizations have a goal-setting process with new employees thatoccurs in the first weeks of a new job. During this time, training anddevelopment goals are evaluated and set. Other organizations focus ontraining and development prospects as part of the performance reviewprocess. Regardless of your company’s process, be sure to have astructured conversation with your manager or supervisor about how youcan grow and develop professionally.

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According to SHRM’s 2003 Undergraduate HR Curriculum Study, thefollowing courses are of most value to students pursuing undergraduatedegrees in HR and represent the kinds of courses you might take:

• Employment Law (Ranked 1st)• Performance Management (Ranked 2nd)• Compensation (Ranked 3rd)• Workforce Planning and Staffing • Employee Relations • Human Resource Development• HR Strategy • Negotiations • Labor Relations • Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) • Conflict Management• Global/International HR • Safety and Security

Some students also choose to pursue undergraduate degrees in psychology orsociology en route to an HR career. These degrees are a good choice forstudents who are interested in a career in Human Resource Development(HRD), since courses in organizational psychology and human behavior areoften part of the curriculum.

But many HR professionals have an undergraduate degree in a completelydifferent discipline, becoming interested in HR through other channels. Infact, according to SHRM’s 2005 survey data, more than 50% of respondentshadn’t considered a career in HR while in college, but rather sometime laterin their careers.

Some people discover HR while studying a completely different discipline.HR and recruiting professional Katie Lallande-Kalka, college relationsmanager for a Fortune 500 financial services firm, was finishing her BA inMovement and Sports Science when she was turned on to HR: “I learnedabout HR [as a career possibility] via electives I took as an undergraduate. I



Looking for a list of all available degree programs in HR? Try visitingSHRM’s Foundation web site (www.shrm.org/foundation/). The siteincludes a complete list of programs in both undergraduate and graduatestudy. Keep in mind the site only features programs in HR managementand not degrees in human resource development or organizationalstudies.

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found the topic interesting and thought I’d explore it more. I applied tograduate school, and got in!”

At the graduate level, your degree options are numerous. At this level, mostHR professionals have a better idea of the sector of HR in which they aremost interested and choose a degree more directed to HRM or HRD. MostHRM professionals interested in a graduate degree choose an MBA with anHR focus. Such was the case with Ben Elrod.

Armed with an undergraduate degree in economics, he knew he wanted a mixof both HR and business skills.

“After a few years at a software company, I applied to business schools withdegree offerings in HR,” says Elrod, a senior director of compensation andbenefits. “Business school was a means for me to learn more about the HRprofession and to transition into the job best suited for my skills.”

While there are literally hundreds of MBA programs in the United Statesalone, not all offer an opportunity to concentrate or focus in HR or HRmanagement. Some students choose not to pursue a concentration, insteadfocusing on learning broader business techniques that can be applied in theHR arena. Others choose a program that specifically has a concentration inHR. SHRM (www.shrm.org) has a section devoted to graduate educationoptions.

Since pursuing her degree, Lallande-Kalka has worked in both traditional, in-house HR roles and in HR consulting, and recommends a broad-basedcurriculum for others considering a graduate degree in HR.

“For those looking for a Master’s degree,” says Lallande-Kalka, “look for aprogram that provides business courses with the HR core. You can add somuch more value to an organization if you can understand and executeagainst basic business concepts.”

Since HRD is a much newer segment of the HR profession, there are fewerprograms with many different titles. HRD professionals may choose aprogram that is more psychology-focused, such as a Masters in Industrial andOrganizational Psychology or Organizational Behavior. Others may choosea Masters program in Human Resource Development or OrganizationalStudies.

Be sure to also take note of any tuition remission or reimbursementopportunities provided by your organization. This is where the organizationagrees to cover or reimburse you for any or all of your tuition expenses in adegree-seeking program. This type of benefit is very popular at the graduate


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level, as many HR professionals may work for a few years and then return tograduate school through a company-sponsored program. Don’t forget to readthe fine print, though; some companies may require that you either completethe degree part-time while working or return to the organization aftercompleting a full-time degree for several years.

Certifications

In addition to education, another way to prepare yourself for the HR field isthrough certification. Why are certifications important? Not only do theyshow a proficiency in HR, but they also recognize HR professionals who havea certain level of experience and ongoing training in their field.

Certifications are also an immediate way for a recruiter or hiring manager toknow that you have a baseline of HR-related knowledge. Since mostcertifications can only be attained through exams, they demonstrate that youhave a collection of HR-specific knowledge that non-certified professionalscan’t always prove. Most HR certifications require at least one or two yearsof HR-related work experience, so you’ll want to pursue certifications as yougrow your career.

Having an HR certification also shows commitment. Most professionalswon’t take the time or spend the money to get certified unless they plan tostay in the field for a significant period of time. Most certifications requirerenewal after a certain period of time (typically three years), so professionalsalso have to commit to a certain number of professional development hourseach year to maintain their certification status.

If you’re a career changer, it’s worth noting that many certifications requirethe certification candidate to demonstrate that a high percentage (at least51%) of current job responsibilities are HR-related.

There are a number of different certifications to get – each with its owndistinction and process. If you’re unsure about which certification is right foryou, there are a number of ways to investigate:

• Use the chart and certification overviews below to link to certificationwebsites

• Research each certification carefully to make sure you understand theprocess, costs, and requirements to maintain your certification throughthe years; you don’t want to lose it after all your hard work



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• Read job descriptions in your areas of interest; many will indicate acertain certification as a requirement or preference in the hiring process

• Ask mentors and experienced HR professionals in your area of interestto share their experiences with the certification process and their insighton the many certification options

Generalist certifications

The most popular HR certifications are generalist certifications, whichinclude the PHR and the SPHR. These certifications demonstrate knowledgeof the broad HR profession as well as a certain level of experience for thosecandidates who want to grow their HR careers into broad managementresponsibilities.

The PHR stands for “Professional in Human Resources.” It requires aminimum of two years of exempt work experience and suggests an averageof two to four years. Exempt experience means you were/are salaried (asopposed to receiving hourly pay) and are ineligible or exempt from receivingadditional pay for overtime hours worked. The PHR is a great certificationfor HR professionals early in their careers.

SPHR is the “Senior Professional in Human Resources” certification. Itrequires a minimum of two years of exempt work experience as well, butmost candidates for this exam have 6-8 years of work experience. The SPHRexam demonstrates a career commitment to HR and shows you havesignificant HR experience and knowledge typically at a manager level orabove.

Questions on the PHR/SPHR exams come from the following core areas:

• Strategic management• Workforce planning and employment• Human Resource Development• Compensation and Benefits• Employee and Labor Relations• Occupational Health, Safety and Security

While both the PHR and the SPHR cover the same topics, the SPHR exam ismore difficult and has a higher concentration of questions in areas such asstrategic planning and workforce planning. If you’re considering a generalistcertification, discuss which exam is right for you with your manager orsupervisor. Once you attain a generalist certification, you will have to renewit every three years. This involves either re-certifying by exam, or, the more


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preferred method, through sixty hours of continuing education across thethree year period.

Specialty certifications

Specialty certifications are those that are focused in a subset of the HRprofession, such as benefits or international HR. Like generalistcertifications, they demonstrate a level of knowledge and experience, butwith regard to the related specialty area. Most candidates for specialtycertifications are committed to working in that specialty area for a significantperiod of time, or have a large percentage of their job committed to thatspecialty area. HR consultants or specialized outsourcing professionals oftenseek these credentials, as do those who are subject-matter experts in areassuch as benefits or compensation.

The Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) is a designation earned bycompensation specialists demonstrating a certain depth of knowledge inbenefits strategies and practices. Certain benefits positions may require CBPcertification, earned through an exam administered by World at Work, theprofessional association for those in compensation, benefits and rewards.

CCP is a designation earned by compensation specialists demonstrating acertain depth of knowledge in compensation strategies and practices, andstands for Certified Compensation Professional. Certain compensationpositions may require the CCP, which is also earned through an examadministered by World at Work.

A “Global Remuneration Professional,” or GRP, certification is also aspecialty option. GRP is a designation earned by compensation specialistsdemonstrating a certain depth of knowledge in international remuneration andcompensation strategies and practices. Certain compensation positions mayrequire GRP certification, which, too, is earned through an examadministered by World at Work.

Perhaps the newest specialty option is the GPHR: “Global Professional inHuman Resources.” Designed for those who have specific experience inglobal HR, the GPHR is earned only through an exam administered by HRCI(Human Resources Certification Institute).



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Should you get certified in HR? Will it really get you ahead in theprofession? Respondents to SHRM’s 2005 HR profession survey thinkso. 65% agree that to work in HR you should have recognizedcredentials of some sort. An even larger percentage (75%) believe thatthese credentials are essential to advance an HR career.

Certification

• PHR

Cost (2005)(SHRM member/

non-member)

$250/$300(includesapplication andexam fees)

Type

General

Where to Get It

Human ResourceCertification Institute(affiliated with SHRM):http://www.hrci.org/

How to Get It

Register, prepare for andtake the exam offered inSpring and Fall each year.You must receive a passingscore on the exam tobecome certified.

• SPHR $250/$300(includesapplication andexam fees)

General Human ResourceCertification Institute(affiliated with SHRM):http://www.hrci.org/

Register, prepare for andtake the exam offered inSpring and Fall each year.You must receive a passingscore on the exam tobecome certified.

• CBP See the websitefor details, costsvary based onexams selected.

Specialty World at Work:http://www.worldatwork.org

Register, study and preparefor each of the six requiredexaminations and threeelective examinationsoffered. You must passnine total exams to becomecertified.

• CCP See the websitefor details, costsvary based onexams selected



• GRP See the websitefor details, costsvary based onexams selected



• GPHR $375/$425(includesapplication andexam fees)

Specialty Human ResourceCertification Institute(affiliated with SHRM):http://www.hrci.org/

Register, prepare for andtake the exam offered inSpring and Fall each year.

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Professional Training and Workshops

Once you get the job, the likelihood of supplementing your day-to-dayresponsibilities with training is strong. Many organizations (with the gentleprodding of HR) are recognizing the importance of training and developmentand have established full-scale development programs for all employees.This may include employee training budgets, in-house training programs oronline training portals for employee access. Even with all of the optionsavailable to you, it’s important to learn about them early on in your tenure soyou can take advantage of them at the right time.

Most organizations have some sort of provision for professional training andworkshops. How do you find out about this? Just ask. You may have a setamount of dollars you can spend each year on outside training, or may takeclasses as you choose with manager approval.

Outside training and workshop options are numerous, so talk to your managerto set a plan for what makes sense. If you have a professional certification orplan to attain one, you will need a certain amount of training hours each yearto maintain the certification. Check to see if your organization will supportyou in that.

Once you get a sense of what your parameters are, you can start assessingyour options. You or your manager may sense where your career is headedand suggest you take a course or workshop designed to prepare you for thatgoal. Or your manager may note an area for development in yourperformance and suggest training as a way to improve.

Memberships and conferences

Going to workshops as you see a need arise is one way of training. But manyprofessionals choose to affiliate themselves with industry associations forongoing educational opportunities. In HR, there are dozens of associations tochoose from, the most popular being:

• The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): arguably, themost popular human resource management association

• American Society for Training and Development (ASTD): for trainingand development professionals

• World at Work: for compensation and benefits professionals



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See the “Associations, Organizations and Online Resources” section at theend of this guide for a complete list of affiliation opportunities. Manyprofessionals belong to more than one association in order to get full accessto many of the benefits association membership provides.

Most associations manage full-service websites with articles on key HRtopics and issues. Others send regular e-mail newsletters and/or publish full-scale magazines. Membership in an association may run anywhere from$100 to $500 a year and includes all website access and subscriptions toassociation magazines. If you’re a student, many associations also offerdiscounted student rates to help ease the membership cost burden whileyou’re paying that sizeable tuition bill.

Association membership also typically allows for discounted attendance toyearly HR conferences. Many HR professionals satisfy their professionaldevelopment needs through these conferences and the educational sessionsthat make up the bulk of the agenda. Professional conferences offer an arrayof sessions to choose from and are typically held in travel-worthydestinations. Keep in mind, though, they also carry a hefty price tag, withregistration fees and travel often costing several thousand dollars.

This is where your employer comes in. Many employers will cover the costof attendance to such events if you can prove what you will learn will relateto your job. Employers may also set up tables at conferences, and offering tostaff the tables can get you in more easily. If you are an HR consultant or youwork for an outsourcing firm, conferences are a prime way to expose yourservices to audiences who will potentially want to buy them. Vendors oftenset up elaborate displays in what’s called “exhibit areas” at conferences. Ifyou’re not a vendor, or even if you’re not in the market to buy new servicesfor your HR department, wandering through these areas will give you a goodidea of the trends in HR technology, services and products.

Once you’re a seasoned professional, conferences also offer you a chance toshow off your HR stuff. Most associations will solicit proposals from HRprofessionals wishing to share their expertise or experience in an educationsession. Competition for these slots is often fierce, so you’ll want to becovering a topic that’s not only relevant, but in which you have deepexpertise.

Being a member of an association also gives you an opportunity to take onleadership roles. Most associations have local, national and internationalchapters that are governed by professionals in the field. It’s also a greatnetworking tool, so if you join, don’t just do it in name only. Get involved in


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the local chapter’s events, programs and meetings to maximize yournetworking opportunities.

On-the-job learning and self-study

Many organizations also offer an opportunity to learn while you work,whether a company self-study program designed for you to learn on yourown, or interactive programs designed to help you learn from moreexperienced HR professionals and mentors.

One way to learn is through self-study. Self-study refers to learning programsthat you do on your own – a self-paced training class. Self-study courses areideal if you need to pick up a particular skill or want to take a course onlineor at night. The advent of electronic learning (e-learning) means that a largeportion of training can now be done online either from the employee’s deskor at home.

“I was asked to create a budget proposal for HR expenses for one of our newdivisions.” says one HR director at a Midwest manufacturing firm. “The VPwanted it done in a technology program with which I had little experience, soI found an online self-study program where I could learn the skill while Iworked in addition to working on the budget. It kept me from having to leavework for a week just to take a training class.”

Another way to learn while you work is through on-the-job learning. On-the-job learning is key for any HR professional to grow and develop. A goodstrategy, especially early on, is to learn as much as you can from moreexperienced HR professionals in your organization. While most newlyminted HR staff lean on direct managers and supervisors, it’s important toalso be sure to make an effort to learn from peers and colleagues in otherfunctions across the organization. Many new HR professionals are sofocused on their immediate HR tasks, they forget how important it is to learnabout the organization and industry. Equally important is learning about howother functions in the organization work and how they interact with HR.

Other on-the-job learning opportunity often occurs proactively. New HRprofessionals should do whatever they can to ask for added responsibility. Ifyou’re working in benefits but want to learn about recruiting, offer to help aRecruiting Manager plan a hiring event. Whether or not your HR departmentholds team meetings, ask your colleagues what they are working on and howyou can help.



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Getting involved across your organization is an additional way to learn on thejob. Whether it’s taking the lead with an organization-wide volunteer eventor taking part in a company sub-committee or task force, getting involvedassures that you’ll learn about functions outside of HR and meet valuablecontacts (who also happen to be your colleagues).

You should also volunteer to take on additional projects where you know youneed the experience. For example, if you want a chance to learn abouttraining but spend the majority of your day doing labor relations work, offerto take charge of your department’s next training session, or ask yourcolleagues who work in training and development if they need your help ona project. The bottom line? HR is a big function. If you want the chance towork in a specific area that you’re currently not, be proactive and offer yourhelp and talents.

Career Changers

Are you looking to move from another profession into HR? Even if you haveseveral years of work experience, unless it is in HR, you may be considereda career changer. The important thing is to make sure that the next step youtake is really the right one. As a career changer, you don’t want to jump intoa new profession just because you are frustrated with your current one. Thereare four specific steps career changers can take to make the transition to HRmore successful:

First, do your research. While it is important to know as much as you canabout HR and business to get a foot in the door, for career changers thatknowledge can make or break you. While you may have a goodunderstanding of the business world, don’t rely on your personal interactionswith HR as the foundation of your HR knowledge. Use the web as a resourceto learn about the competencies required in the field as well as opportunitiesto supplement your real-world experience with core HR knowledge.

Second, ask other HR professionals for advice. Researching the professionand asking good questions of other HR professionals is standard practice, butfor career changers it’s absolutely essential.

Third, be sure to sell the experience you do have. A company may be morelikely to hire a newly minted college graduate for an entry-level HR role thana career changer because the new graduate may work for less money or havea longer career trajectory. But as a career changer, you bring things to thetable the new college graduate may not have: real-world, business experience.


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Finally, be honest about the risks involved in changing careers. Dependingon how transferable your experience is, you may have to take a stepbackwards. And if you have a great deal of experience in your current field,it could be a pretty big step in both salary and responsibility. Make sure youare aware of what your new salary might be and how low on the totem poleyou might begin.

Nervous about jumping ship? Try looking for bridge opportunities. If you’recurrently a financial analyst or accountant, target a role where your auditingor analytical experience might be particularly valued, such as in benefits orcompensation. Have experience in communications or media? Try an HRgeneralist role that emphasizes communications or an HR service role that’sresponsible for getting media attention for employees’ service activities.

If you like the company you work for, seek out HR opportunities in your ownorganization before looking elsewhere. A company that knows you as aprofessional and can rely on your knowledge of the industry andorganization’s history might be more likely to take a chance on you in a newfield. Vern Schellenger, now vice president of training and education with theAmerican Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, did just that early onin his career as a retail store manager for Dunkin’ Donuts.

“I started in operations at Dunkin’ Donuts,” says Schellenger. “The shops Iran were so good, management asked me to train others to operate shops aswell as I did. This led me into training and development, and after 10 yearsI was able to move into a position as director of HR with full generalistresponsibilities.”

Schellenger’s retail and subsequent HR experience at Dunkin’ Donuts led toexecutive roles as director of organizational effectiveness for an association,a vice president of HR for a financial services firm and vice president at aleading outplacement firm before taking on his current role. Need furtherproof that career changing happens? Schellenger has an undergraduatedegree in biology to boot.



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Understanding the Business

Whether you’re new to HR or building on an already established career,you’ll have an edge in your job search if you can prove you know thebusiness. Since HR professionals are often still fighting for respect amongtheir business peers, HR managers and executives want to hire professionalswho understand the challenges HR faces, the issues that typically arise, andthe basics of the profession.

Talking the HR talk is step one. If you have an undergraduate or graduatedegree in HR, you likely already have a good understanding of the function.But if you’re new to HR, there are numerous sources you can turn to. Ifyou’re transitioning from other areas of business, try picking up a HRtextbook or resource guide to help familiarize yourself with the intricacies ofthe profession. William Tracy’s The Human Resources Glossary: TheComplete Desk Reference for Human Resources Executives, Managers andPractitioners or Human Resource Management: Student Resource Guide byRobert L. Mathis are both good places to start. You can also reference the“Suggested Reading” section at the end of this guide for numerous resourcesin HR and in specialty areas.

If you are applying for a specialty role, it is also important to understand thenuances of the function. HR candidates need to have done more than justpracticed compensation and benefits, for example; they need to show theyhave read up on trends in the specialty area and best practices. However, ifyou’re specifically interested in a specialty area, pay attention to trends inyour specialty area and general HR trends as well. Having deep expertise isonly good if you can show you understand the big picture too.

Keeping up on business news is step two. In addition to any HR magazinesyou may get as a result of joining an HR association, read both The WallStreet Journal and the daily newspaper in your city or town. This will notonly help you stay on top of changing HR laws and regulations, but will alsoalert you to relevant business news. The more you know, the easier it will beto convince hiring managers you’re the one for the job, and the more respectyou’ll gain in the workplace after you’re hired.


Getting the Job CHAPTER 7


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Getting the Job

Researching opportunities

Many people start a job search by simply writing a resume. But this is reallythe middle of the process. In order to have a strong resume and cover letterthat truly conveys your interest and experience in HR, you have to do yourresearch ahead of time. If you haven’t already, before you even sit down towrite a resume, use your networking contacts and do your research todetermine several areas of HR in which you think you might fit best. Readthe sections of this guide on the different areas of HR so you have a basicunderstanding of the profession as well as the skills that are important tosuccess in the profession. It’s important to know what potential employersare going to be looking for!

Even after all of this, you’re still not ready to write a resume. Once you knowthat HR is the field for you, you’ll want to figure out what you have to offera potential employer. What are your selling points? Deciding whether you’remore interested in HRD or HRM will help you customize your resume to thetypes of skills each area values.

For example, if you’re interested in an HRM role such as a compensationanalyst, you may want to emphasize your analytical skills and facility withdata. If you’re interested in an HRD role such as a trainer, you’ll want tohighlight your strong presentation and interpersonal skills.

Another way to narrow your focus is to do so by industry. If you’re a careerchanger or recent graduate looking for your first job in HR, you might bewilling to take a job in any industry. That’s fine, but what is important is tomake sure you familiarize yourself with the industry for each job you applyto. The same job can be really different from industry to industry. A recruiterin the manufacturing industry has to have a good understanding of how laborunions work and how labor regulations might affect his job. A recruiter in theretail industry might be hiring large numbers of young, part-time and/orseasonal help and must have a good understanding of child and part-timelabor laws. Use your research to showcase the experience and skills you havethat might matter to a specific industry.

Now that you have an idea of what HR employers might be seeking, it’s timeto start focusing on what you bring to the table. Of all of the workexperiences you’ve had and skills and traits you’ve developed, what will bethe employer’s most-wanted? What will be the industry’s most-wanted?Scan dozens of HR job openings in your areas of interest to see what skillsare being requested, in addition to the skills mentioned here. Make sure youmeet the required qualifications and possess the attributes mentioned. Job


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Getting the Job

descriptions can be vague and are not always well-written (even though itmay be the HR professionals doing the writing), but you should still be sureto read each one you’re interested in very closely to look for important points.Here’s an example of how to do just that.

First, read the job description all the way through:

Second, dissect the job description and ask yourself some pertinent questions.



Benefits specialist

The benefits specialist position in our corporate headquarters isresponsible for various aspects of benefits administration. The specialistensures all local, state and federal requirements are met in relation to allbenefit programs Johnson, Inc. offers. Ensures required deadlines aremet for all audits and required filings, such as HIPAA, VEBA, 401K non-discrimination, IBNR, and 5500. Process, reconcile, review, and monitor401K reports and funding to maintain plan compliance. Maintain andadminister pension program including initiate record keeping and retrievalmethods in compliance with government regulations. 4-year degree orequivalent experience and 2 years of benefits administration or financeor accounting experience preferred. Creative problem solver, self-starter,and innovative thinker to streamline processes and drive efficiencies.

Benefits specialist

The benefits specialist position in our corporate headquarters isresponsible for various aspects of benefits administration. The specialistensures all local, state and federal requirements are met in relation to allbenefit programs Johnson, Inc. offers.

Is the corporate headquarters location a place you’d be willing to live in?Are you familiar with some of the laws and requirements you’d beresponsible for meeting?

Ensures required deadlines are met for all audits and required filings,such as HIPAA, VEBA, 401K non-discrimination, IBNR, and 5500.

Do you know what these abbreviations stand for? Can you talk aboutthese filings and why they are important? Do you know resources touse to learn more about these filings?

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Getting the Job

Dissecting a job description may seem like an arduous task, but doing so willmake clear whether it makes sense for you to apply for a specific position orwhether it would be a waste of your time. It’s better to apply for a smallernumber of HR positions that are a good fit for your skills and experience thanto mass mail your resume to a large number of random HR job openings.

Creating a Strong Resume

Once you’ve figured out your areas of interest and what you have to offer apotential employer, you are ready to write a resume. Like a commercial, aresume has a limited amount of space and time to convey a convincing idea;in this case, to persuade the reader to call you in for an interview. So youshould never have just one resume that you send to dozens of employers.Instead, start out with a base resume that you can then customize every timeit goes out the door. While all of this may take some time, keep in mind thatresume writing is not that difficult if you start out on the right foot.

Remember, the goal of a resume is to give an organization insight into yourskills and capabilities, so they can determine whether you can do the job. Theinterview then determines how you’ll do the job by assessing your


Process, reconcile, review, and monitor 401K reports and funding tomaintain plan compliance. Maintain and administer pension programincluding initiate record keeping and retrieval methods in compliancewith government regulations.

Have you done any of these tasks before? If you’re a career changer,have you done tasks that are similar in nature?

4-year degree or equivalent experience and 2 years of benefitsadministration or finance or accounting experience preferred.

Do you meet these education requirements? Career changers, if youdon’t have benefits experience, do you have finance or accountingexperience instead?

Creative problem solver, self-starter, and innovative thinker to streamlineprocesses and drive efficiencies.

Do you have these behavioral attributes? If asked, could you givespecific examples of times when you solved a problem or came up withan innovative solution?

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Getting the Job

performance and behaviors. Basically, the resume gets you the interview, andthe interview gets you the job.

First, determine a good format. The format is the easiest part of the resumeand should be done first so you can spend more time on the content, which ismost important. There are some sample resumes on page x and y, but thereis no one right way to structure your resume. But here are some commonguidelines you can follow to ensure your resume catches the attention of therecruiter or hiring manager:

1. Use a simple font, and eliminate the use of lines or graphics. Manymedium and large-sized organizations are now using resumemanagement systems to scan in and read resumes. These electronicsystems don’t read fancy formatting and graphics well, and may distortthem, making the resume hard to read.

2. Never go over two pages. If you have five years of experience or less,don’t go over one page. If you have more than five, you can go to twobut don’t ever go over two pages.

3. Don’t list a work phone number or work e-mail – stick withpersonal numbers and accounts. You don’t want a prospectiveemployer to think you’re job-searching at work.

4. Include an introductory section: a short profile or summary thatdefines the kind of professional you are. This section can becustomized for every job you apply to and should make the reader wantto keep reading.

Second, work on your content. The content is the harder part of the resume,but more important. While your format will remain the same, the content iswhat will change every time you send out a new resume. The best way is tostart is to choose one of your target areas (an industry and/or position type)and create a resume for that target area. You might start out with a resumethat’s designed for HR generalist positions at Fortune 500 firms. While thisis still pretty general, it will allow you to customize your resume for qualitiesemployers look for in potential generalists as well as what’s important inlarge, for-profit companies.

The biggest mistake most people make when writing a resume is thinking ofit as a historical document and including every single thing they have everdone. Instead, really think about your resume like a commercial. Include thethings that will matter the most to the audience that is going to read it. Hereare some other tips for content:



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Getting the Job

1. Use bullet points instead of long paragraphs to make it easy for thereader to quickly scan and read.

2. Don’t just list a job responsibility. You have to help the reader notonly understand what you did, but how you did it better than someoneelse with the same job description.

3. Use metrics whenever possible. Include the amount of the trainingbudget you managed, number of people on your team, the increase inpositions filled, number of employees you served, etc. Metrics are notjust for experience with money or budgets – look through your resumeto determine where a bullet point can become more detailed when it isquantified.

4. Lead your bullet points with action words. This format allows youto indicate what you did first, and then end with the result. If you’recurrently working, your bullet points under your current job should belisted in present tense (Manages a team of…) and bullet points underpast jobs should be listed in past tense (Managed a team of…).

5. Eliminate vague words. Using words like “some” or “various” or“many” doesn’t give the reader an idea of exactly what you’re referringto. Instead, give the specific number or say “more than 1000employees” or “over 100 positions.”

6. Don’t use the words “responsible for.” It can leave the readerwondering: “well, he was responsible for that but did he actually do it?And how?”

7. Don’t be too conversational or use first- or third-person. A resumeis a formal business document and you want it to come across as such.A resume should never use the word “I” or “Ms. Smith managed…”

The bottom line is that your resume should be simple and confident, and thenedited and tailored to every job you apply for. It should make it easy for thereader to see that you’re a good fit for the job. You should be able todemonstrate that you have most, if not all, of the qualifications listed in thejob description. How can you be sure it’s ready to go? Go through the jobdescription and ask yourself if you have examples of all the things it is askingfor in your resume. And if you’re struggling to show you’re a good fit, it maybe that the position really isn’t!


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Getting the Job

When you’ve got a good resume to start with, get a second and third opinion.It’s hard to be objective after spending so many hours on your resume. Askmentors or contacts in HR to review your resume and share their advice onwhere you can be more descriptive, or if they find any portions confusing.Share the copy of the job description and ask if they’d hire you based on whatthey’ve read.

You should also try reading your resume aloud to make sure sentences areclear and coherent and you catch any missing words, grammatical errors ormisspellings the spell-checker missed (such as form instead of from). Sinceyou’re applying for an HR job, there’s even a higher risk a small error couldtake you out of the running. Be sure your spacing and fonts are consistenttoo.

Once you start submitting your resume, you can also ask for feedback fromrecruiters who don’t call you in for an interview. Many aren’t allowed to givefeedback (or simply don’t have time to), but if you can get one or two piecesof feedback it will help you in the long run. Keep in mind, though, that someof this advice might be contradictory. There is no one right way to do aresume, and many options that might work. You have to decide what worksbest for you -after all, it’s your career.



Many people struggle when writing a resume because they have notkept accurate records of their past experiences and accomplishments. Agood way to avoid this pitfall is to keep a document saved on theelectronic desktop of your computer, always. As you accomplish thingsin the workplace, list them along with the results that were achieved.This way you’ll never toil over remembering why you’re such a greatworker in the first place. Want to get in overachiever mode? Create anelectronic work file where you can save congratulatory e-mails andperformance reviews to refer to and even quote on your resume and ininterviews.

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Getting the Job

Sample HR Resume: Entry-Level


Amanda C. SmithPermanent: 102 Buchanan Lane, Boston, MA 12345

(111) 555-1111 (h) • (111) 555-2222 (c) • [email protected]

PROFILEHuman Resources graduate with internship experience in training andcompensation and benefits. Strong analytical skills and knowledge of statisticalanalyses, budgeting and planning and HR organizational structures. Seeking anentry-level HR generalist position in a large, financial services firm.

EDUCATIONBS, Business Administration GPA: 3.4/4.0 May 2005University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PAMinor: Human Resource ManagementSelected coursework: Human Resource Systems, Compensation Management,Fundamentals of Management, Leadership Theory and Practice, InformationTechnology in BusinessHonors: Pennsylvania Governor’s scholarship for academic excellence (2002)

WORK EXPERIENCESummers, Brown and Co., Boston, MA Summer 2004Compensation Intern

• Analyzed compensation figures for the information technology division,benchmarking each position with salary survey statistics and industry research

• Created an advanced database in Microsoft Access to track compensationfigures for a newly created division, comparing planned salaries with industrysalary surveys

• Produced and checked all firm salary increase letters following theperformance review cycle, resulting in 100% accuracy and on-time deliveryof letters while maintaining complete data confidentiality

Donovan Inc., Pittsburgh, PA Summer 2003Human Resources Intern

• Performed complete review of HR policy manual with senior HR generalistculminating in a report to senior management with recommendations onoutdated policies and those affected by new HR laws

• Created 20-question employee opinion survey on company vacation policiesand collated results in graphical format for review and use by the director ofHR

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Getting the Job

Sample HR Resume: Entry-Level



• Planned company’s first “Take Your Daughters to Work Day,” creating allemployee communication, a complete day-long agenda, and all aspects ofevent planning; resulted in attendance of more than 75

Panther City Grill 2002-presentWaitress and Hostess

• Served an average of fifty customers a day, two times a week, taking anddelivering orders while maintaining strong customer service and quick tableturnover to increase business revenue

• Managed daily cash receipts of an average of $600 plus gratuities,determining appropriate share levels with other staff members and dividinggratuities equitably

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Technology skills: Lexis-Nexis, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access Certification: PHR certification (anticipated May 2006)Volunteer: Reading tutor: Grove Elementary, Blacksburg, VA (January

2003 – present)Leadership: Alpha Delta Pi sorority: President (2004), Treasurer (2003);

HR Club: Membership Chair; Student Government Officer(2002-2004)

Languages: Spanish (intermediate fluency)

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Getting the Job

Sample HR Resume: Experienced Candidate


Zachary Johnson, SPHR37 Brighton Ave., New York, NY 54321

(111) 555-1111 (h) • (111) 555-2222 (c) • [email protected] candidate in HR with over six years of Fortune 500 business experience in consulting, business analysisand finance. Specific expertise in compensation administration and workforce analysis. Strong interpersonal,communication and presentation skills. Seeking a graduate level HR internship with a for-profit firm.PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEAlion Consulting, New York, NY 1999-2004Senior Consultant, Human Resources practice, 2000-2004

• Member of a seven-person financial services competency model implementation team, assessing,designing and launching the model for over 400 worldwide finance employees in a consumer productsfirm

• Selected as recruiting lead for HR practice, working with HR to manage the selection, interviewing andhiring of 30 consultants and 12 summer interns, providing weekly hiring updates to practice leadership

• Worked with a leading financial services firm’s leaders to create a resource plan for entry-level hiringneeds, including the identification of desired candidate skill sets, qualifications and employmentlocations

Consultant, Financial Services practice, 1999-2000• Participated in full life cycle implementations of financial products for over 10 Fortune 500 clients from

assessment of readiness for financial system implementation to training of accounting staff on systems• Conducted initial research into clients’ sites to determine scope of implementation through creation,

administration and analysis of web-based survey; delivered key findings to ten-person project team • Served as consultant interviewer and recruiting lead for three Ohio universities traveling on-campus

with HR staff to deliver presentations about the company and interview consultant candidates for hirePharmaco Inc., New York, NY 1996-1999Accountant

• Processed payroll for more than 500 divisional employees; produced paychecks, transmitted directdeposits, prepared manual checks, all tax deposits over $8,000 and unemployment tax filings

• Implemented new financial software package by loading data, setting up logistics, testing the system,running parallel systems, and developing procedures and processes

• Generated monthly balance and income statements, using Peoplesoft Financial for $80 million+company

EDUCATIONMBA, Human Resources, GPA: 3.8/4.0 Expected May 2006The Johnson School of Business, Cornell University, Ithaca, NYSelected coursework: Organizational Diagnosis and Development, Organizational Learning, HumanResource Development, Strategic Human Performance Processes, Work Groups and Teams in OrganizationsHR projects include: Organizational Assessment of the Performance Review Process at Smith and Anderson,Inc. BS, Accounting, GPA: 3.2/4.0 May 1996The Ohio State University, Columbus, OHMinor: Political scienceInternships: The office of Congressman James A. Smith, (D-MA), Summer 1995PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTTechnology skills: Peoplesoft Financial, Lotus, Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Bloomberg, Lexis-NexisTraining: Leadership for the Next Century (June 2000), Advanced Facilitation (March 2001)Certification: Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) , attained June 2005

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Getting the Job

Sample Cover Letter



Janice RichardsonRecruiting Manager, Rollins Consulting Firm2100 18th Street NW, Suite 100Washington, DC 20036

Dear Ms. Richardson:

With understanding of the role quality of hire plays for organizations today, and previousrecruiting, staffing and human resources experience, I submit my resume for considerationfor the position of experienced recruiter. In addition to my resume, I provide below a briefoverview of my ability to match your specific needs based on the position competencies.

• Manage recruitment process from consultant through senior manager levelsIn my previous role in corporate human resources, I garnered significant experience in allaspects of the recruiting life cycle, from definition of applicant to alumni management(creating ties with alumni to ensure brand in the marketplace and enable re-employmentstrategies). In addition to recruiting and development responsibilities, I worked closelywith a team to manage the firm internship program from inception to offer.

• Assist in closing candidates In addition to my recruiting experience, my closing capabilities are well-developed frommy experience in client contract negotiation. In my current role, I have negotiated contractsfrom $15,000 to $105,000 with over 300 different clients and an average closing rate of89%.

• Plan and participate in eventsI organized and managed a number of large, successful events at my current consultingfirm, ranging from a global Partner Offsite retreat to Senior Consultant School. In myprevious work with Brown Elementary School, I organized the annual Northern VirginiaBook Fair, raising $10,000 for their scholarship fund (an increase of 150% over theprevious year).

My professional services firm experience and my educational background encapsulates anumber of the position competencies. I have a history of strong staff management, workingclosely with my current team on individual development plans, and understand my role toassist and promote staff member success. I actively seek upward and peer feedback andrecognize its importance in organization success.

Most importantly, I am eager to stay in the professional services firm environment. I wouldwelcome the privilege of speaking with you further and look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully submitted,

Warren R. Anderson

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Getting the Job

Nailing the Interview

Now that you have both a strong resume and cover letter, you’re off to a greatstart. But remember, those only get you in the door – the interview gets youthe job. HR professionals look for a number of different attributes whenhiring, but they all agree on one thing: a strong interview is key. Don’t makethe rookie mistake of thinking that interviewing is easy! You’ve got to beprepared. Many job candidates (especially those interviewing for the firsttime) think if you can talk, you can interview. But the easiest way to ruinyour chances for the perfect HR job is to walk into an interview withoutpreparation.

“I’ve seen candidates that look fantastic on paper and have every qualitywe’re looking for,” says one recruiting manager with a well-known consumerproducts firm. “But then they walk in the door and aren’t prepared. Theymay know very little about our company or haven’t done research about theindustry. I don’t care how highly ranked their school is or if they have theperfect credentials, if they’re not prepared, they simply won’t get hired.”

Interview preparation

Preparing for an interview isn’t hard, but it may take some time, so youshould begin preparing as soon as (if not before) the interview is scheduled.If you can, ask the organizational representative (likely a recruiter or HR staffmember) scheduling the interview what type of interview you can expect.Armed with this piece of information, you’ll know how to prepare, sincethere are several common types of interviews.


If you’re just finishing college or are still in college and looking for an HRinternship, it may seem hard to demonstrate how your experience fitsthe job description. But it’s not as tough as you think. Use your coverletter to show how the experiences you have had in class or in yourextracurricular activities meet the organization’s needs. Have you donea project on a key area of HR? Show how you can use what you learnedon the job. Have you led an on-campus organization? Demonstrate howyou used your leadership or teamwork skills to bring the team togetherduring a difficult or challenging situation. If you don’t have any of theseexperiences, go the extra mile to get involved now!

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After you know what type of interview you’ll be taking part in, make sure youreview the job description thoroughly. Review the skills, education andattributes that the job description highlights to become as comfortable as youcan with the context of the position. Remember how important it was todissect the job description when you were deciding whether to apply for thejob? Go back and do the same thing. Make sure you remind yourself of theexact qualities the hiring organization is looking for.



Type

One-on-one

Description

A one-on-one interview is the mostcommon interview type. The questionswill likely be straightforward and arefocused on the job that’s open or on yourprofessional experience.

How to Succeed

INTERVIEW TYPES

Prepare answers to common questions inadvance, and be sure they are succinct.Practice answers in front of a mirror oron a tape recorder to make sure you’renot rambling. Maintain good eye contactwith the interviewer, good posture, andbe sure to answer the question that isasked.

Behavioral This is where the interviewer has beentrained to assess how you would behavein certain situations. The questions arefocused for you to provide specificexamples of times you faced differentsituations (being a leader, facing a crisis,a time you failed) in the workplace.

Prepare an inventory of stories andexamples to study ahead of time basedon some of the topics suggested below.Remember, there is no right answer andthe interviewer wants you to be yourself.Don’t spend too much time giving thehistory of the situation; instead, focus onthe action you took and the result of youractions.

Panel A panel interview allows multiple peopleto interview you at once. They’re oftenused when a quick decision has to bemade or a consensus needs to bereached.

Be aware that with multiple interviewers,a panel interview might run longer than atypical interview situation. Be sure tomake eye contact with all of thepanelists, not just the one asking thequestion.

Group A group interview brings severalcandidates together to see how theyshare the spotlight. You may be askedquestions as a group or given an issue tosolve or a problem to address as a teamof candidates.

Make sure you get enough attention, butalso make sure you don’t hog theinterview time. Know that they may beassessing your teamwork skills inaddition to how you answer questions.Listen to others’ answers and be sure tochime in when you have new informationto add, rather than just reiterate whatanother candidate has said.

Case A case interview requires a response to acase study question which may or maynot be related to HR. The question willtest your ability to analyze and respondto an issue and usually includes aworkplace or business problem to solve.

This interview type is rare, but is alsoone of the hardest. It is often used inlarge companies, so your research willlikely uncover if you can expect thisinterview type. Many university careerservices offices have case interviewguides (Vault.com also has preparationguides available for purchase).

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Common interview questions

The next step is to anticipate what types of questions or topics you might beasked about based on the job description and the organization. One way toprepare for an interview is to anticipate the exact questions you might beasked. There are many common interview questions, but keep in mind thatno two interviews are ever alike.

The first type of questions you can prepare for are the common questions;these are the ones that many interviewers like to ask in interviews, regardlessof what the job is. Some common general interview questions include:

• What are your strengths?• What are your weaknesses?• What is the course you most enjoyed or learned the most from at your

college or university?• What have you learned (or what do you like) about our company?• Why do you want to work for our company?• Who are our competitors?• Where do you see yourself in five years?

To answer these questions well, be sure you know your resume in and out.Do your research on the company and think about what you bring to theorganization as a whole and how and where you could contribute, both nowand long-term. Be prepared to talk about your weaknesses and failures too,but always end on a positive note. Share either what you learned from thesituation or what you’re doing to improve your weakness and make itstronger.

Some HR position-specific questions include:

• Why do you want to work in HR?• What specific area in HR do you like the most and why? • What areas of HR do you like the least and why?• Where do you see yourself in HR in the next 10 years? • What are one or two major challenges to HR (or a specific functional

area such as benefits or OD) today?• What do you see as the future of HR (or a specific functional area)?

To answer HR position-specific questions well, take the time to make sureyou are as familiar with the profession as you can be. If you’re new to thefield or are a career changer, be sure to review the basics of HR. The Societyfor Human Resource Management’s website has an “HR Basics.” Tryreferring to your HR textbooks to brush up on HR lingo and use the


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“Professional Development” section of this guide to learn about numerousresources and books to strengthen your HR body of knowledge.

If you have a specialty area, be sure you’ve taken the time to read the latestnews for your specialty area. If you’re a benefits specialist and the latestbenefits news is about a company that has been able to successfully lower thecost of healthcare benefits, you’ll want to know about it. Also be sure youknow what news might affect the industry. If there has been a major laborrelations law recently enacted and you’re interviewing for an HR Generalistposition at a manufacturing firm, it’s likely that law might have an effect onyour job.

Another way to prepare is to make a list of topics the questions might coverand come up with a story for each one. This is especially key for behavioralinterview situations. Leadership, teamwork, and technical skills are justsome of the topics you might want to have stories ready for. Can you talkabout a time you led a project team in class? Can you talk about a cross-functional team you were on in the workplace? The idea is to have thesestories ready so you don’t have to stop and think once you’re in the interview.

Some common interview topics include:

• A time you were in a challenging situation • An example of a time you were innovative• A time you disagreed with a manager• An example of your teamwork• A time you had to handle a crisis• A time you came up with a creative solution• A time you handled an unhappy customer• A situation in which you held a leadership role



Since you’re interviewing for an HR position, you should hope you aren’tasked any illegal questions, but you should be prepared regardless.Illegal questions are basically those that aren’t related to your ability todo the job. In almost all cases, unless it is a requirement to actually dothe job (i.e., actor, model, etc.), any question concerning race,nationality, marital status, family issues or background, sexualorientation and religion is illegal. If you sense a question is illegal, don’toverreact. If you’re not comfortable answering the question, say so.

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Getting the Job

Researching employers

Finally, you want to make sure you do your research on the company beforethe interview. This often separates the good candidates from the great, sinceyou can use your research not only to answer the interview questions but toask good questions at the end of the interview.

Start with the company’s web site. Take the time to explore the overallmission and vision of the organization, but also learn about the companyleaders and explore the company’s service and/or product offerings; it isimportant to have a good holistic view of the organization.

You should pay particular attention to the company’s press or media site.Many organizations house an archive of press releases announcing earnings,company initiatives and leadership changes. Is the company public? If it is,make sure you review company earnings, current trading price and tradinghistory. Understand how highs and lows in the stock’s performance correlateto changes in company, service and product growth, change and/or strategy.

What industry is the organization in and what are the current industry trends?Make sure you take the time to review industry publications and magazinesto understand the latest news and trends. If you’re eyeing a corporate trainerjob, you’d better be familiar with Training magazine’s Top 100. The moreyou’re familiar with the trends in your particular area of HR, the better youcan connect trends to the organization itself, and ask thoughtful questions.

Lastly, if you can, learn what’s going on at the organization. Company pressreleases are great, but they don’t always tell the full story. Use resources likeDow Jones Factiva or Lexis Nexis to do searches on the company. If youdon’t have access to these tools, you can use the “search” function onnewspaper websites to search archives for company news.

You can also use Google or visit Vault’s employer profiles and employeesurveys as a resource for finding “insider” information on manyorganizations. Keep in mind, though, employees driven to post messagesabout their companies tend to be unusually happy or disgruntled, so take itwith a grain of salt.


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Getting the Job

Interview Tips

Because you can’t always anticipate the questions that will be asked or whowill be interviewing you, the important thing is to be yourself wheninterviewing. Not all recruiters are looking for all of the same attributes, butthey are interested in who you are.

“What’s most important to me in interviewing HR candidates is personality,”says Keith Stemple, a former recruiting manager. “People andcommunication skills combined – this is a people business after all. But I alsowant more than that. I want someone who can think on their feet and crunchnumbers, all the while being approachable.”

It’s also important to show you have a history of being successful. If you’vealready started a career in HR, you can share specific successes in your pastHR positions. If you’re a career changer or right out of college,demonstrating that success is just as important. Focus on leadership roles,class projects or skills that are transferable from one field to another(analytical, communication, presentation skills etc.)

Being prepared with examples is also critical, says one senior recruiter witha large, nationwide retail firm: “We use behavioral interviewing, so I alwaysrecommend that candidates have examples of successes as well as failures.Just be prepared to share what you’ve learned from your mistakes.”

“Important factors for me are an individual’s history of demonstrated results,”says compensation manager Ben Elrod. “I also tend to value candidates withstrong technical and analytical abilities.”

Katie-Lallande Kalka, a former HR consultant-turned-recruiting manager,agrees with the importance of strong technical skills: “Some of the trainingthat’s been the most key to my professional development was from statistics,finance and accounting classes I took. They provided a great foundation forgetting hired into to my previous HR roles and being able to relate with mybusiness-line partners.”

But Lallande-Kalka also has her own formula for what sets one candidateabove the rest: “I look for someone who is knowledgeable about mycompany, recent events and acquisitions, as well as someone whounderstands the business and what drives our bottom line.”



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Getting the Job


Last Minute Interview Advice andReminders

Go through this handy checklist the day before the interview:

• Have you reconfirmed the interview with the organization? Last minute changes happen. Always call or e-mail the recruiter or pointof contact the day before to reconfirm the place and time.

• Is your interview outfit ready to go? Be sure you know what you’ll be wearing and make sure it’s appropriatefor the interview. If you have not been given guidance on what to wear,go with a conservative suit and tie (for men) and a pants or skirt (kneelength or below) suit (for women).

• Do you know where you’re going and how long it will take to get there?Be sure you have directions to the interview location and allow 30 extraminutes to get there. You can always wait in a nearby coffee shop orin the downstairs lobby.

• Do you have extra copies of your resume? Be sure to print out a few on professional paper in case they are neededduring the interview, and carry them in a nice portfolio or folder in anequally nice purse or bag. (But don’t overload on items to carry.)

• Do you know your resume inside and out?Make sure you know your resume extremely well. You don’t want tolook surprised or be caught off guard if the interviewer mentions a long-ago job, or a small piece of information at the end of your resume. Younever know what will catch someone’s eye.

• Are you well-prepared? Make notes on important research points about the company andexamples from your work experience you can share. If you arrive earlyfor the interview you will have something to study.

• Have you reviewed your HR lingo? Whether you’re new to the field or a seasoned veteran, pull out atextbook, review this guide or go online to one of the many HRassociations featured in the appendix. If you can’t talk the talk, youwon’t convince the interviewer that you can do the job.

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Getting the Job

Offers and Negotiating Salary

Now that you’ve done a good job of showcasing your skills to get in the doorfor an HR interview, and succeeded in convincing the interviewers you’re theperfect candidate for the job, the offers should come rolling in. Well, maybenot rolling, but if you’ve taken your time with your job search, hopefullyyou’ll have multiple offers to choose from. Receiving an offer for an HRposition is great news, but negotiating an offer for an HR job with HR staffmay be tougher than you think.

First, make sure you have done your salary research. In fact, manyorganizations are now asking about salary requirements in the early stages ofthe interview process. While this may seem frustrating, it actually works toboth the benefit of the job seeker and the organization. Why would you wantto go through the entire interviewing process only to be disappointed whenyou receive an offer that’s much lower than you anticipated? And why wouldan organization want to spend all that time and money on a candidate who’sout of their salary range?

Use your research to determine a bottom-line salary (the absolute minimumyou’d be willing to accept) and an ideal salary (what’s a figure that wouldmake you very happy?) so you can be prepared to answer the question whenasked. Using these two figures, create a range (about $10,000 – $15,000between the upper and lower numbers) to share.

Many professionals refuse to answer the question so early in the process. Butif you’re asked, don’t refuse to answer. There’s a reason the HR staff wantsto know, and by refusing you’re just making their job harder. It doesn’t meanyou’re losing your negotiating power. It just means you’re giving them astarting point.

The next important thing to keep in mind is to never accept an offer on thespot. (Most recruiters will deliver an offer verbally before you receiveanything in writing.) Instead, follow these steps:

1) Thank the recruiter and let them know you’re really pleased to receivethe offer

2) Ask when you can expect to receive the formal offer in writing3) Ask how long after the formal offer is received they expect a decision4) Ask the best way to reach them if you have any questions5) Hang up the phone

Only after you hang up the phone should you scream at the top of your lungs(in the case of the perfect offer) or sigh in disgust (at a really low offer). You



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want to remain professional to the recruiter at all times. Once you receive theoffer in writing, make a list of any questions you have and what you think thegaps are (if any) in the offer.

If you’re unsure the offer is a good one, start with the actual job first. Wouldyou be taking the job just to take it? Is it the right next step for you? Is it agood next step for where you want your HR career to head? You’ve alreadyspent some time determining your HR career goals; now is the time to revisitall of the hard work you did early on. It’s also a good idea to confer with anynetworking contacts from your search process. Talking to mentors or thosewho have experience in HR will help you determine not only if the offer is agood one, but if it’s good for you. Unless you’re in dire financialcircumstances, don’t take an offer just because it’s the first one. Take itbecause it’s right.

If the offer is a good one and you want to move forward, the next step is todecide what, if any, parts of the offer do you want to try to negotiate and inwhat order? If the offer is good, don’t negotiate just because you want to orthink you can. While very rare, recruiters can rescind offers and have doneso when candidates are being overly difficult or just can’t be satisfied. If youdecide to negotiate, do so very carefully!

As long as you negotiate appropriately, the chances a recruiter will rescind anoffer are very, very rare. When you do call the recruiter to negotiate, just bevery professional and know that the more senior the position is, the morelikely it is you’ll be able to negotiate.

When negotiating, first make sure you have all your questions answered. Youhave the most negotiating power when you have the most information.Second, determine what items of negotiation are most important to you. Ifthe recruiter says he can respond to one of your demands but not both, youwant to know up front whether you’d rather have a higher salary or morevacation.

You also want to make sure you’re not offensive, even if the offer is. Insteadof saying: “I deserve much more than this ridiculously paltry salary you’veoffered,” a more appropriate and respectful response is: “While I appreciatethe offer, I feel like the combination of my skills and experience warrants asalary that is a bit higher,” or “based on colleagues in the field with similarskills and experience, my research shows an average salary for this rolewould be more likely in the $X range.”

You should also have a specific idea of what you want and why. Don’t justsay you deserve more, but tell the recruiter what increase you’re looking for


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and what warrants that increase – your education, comparable salaries in thefield, specific expertise or a combination of skills. If you’re turned down,don’t take it as a personal attack. Many organizations have tight budgets forpositions, leaving recruiters minimal opportunity for negotiation. They alsomight have multiple back-up candidates if the position was highly soughtafter, leaving them little reason to negotiate if they don’t have to.

Some recruiters may not be able to give you the salary increase you’relooking for, but may be able to offer a relocation stipend or a signing bonus.While these items are valuable, be aware that they are one-time amounts youwon’t receive again. They aren’t as powerful as a salary increase that you’llnot only see from paycheck to paycheck, but will start you in the organizationat a higher level. If you’re unsuccessful at negotiating salary, you can also tryto negotiate a salary review. This would be an agreement to review yoursalary in a specified period of time (say three or six months) with a consensusto administer an increase if you’re performing at a certain level.

Be aware also that salary is not the only item that’s negotiable. You cannegotiate every item from vacation to tuition reimbursement. Just don’t tryto do it all at once. Choose the things that matter most, have a good reasonfor making the request and be able to back it up with research or data if youcan. Know too that you’re likely not to get an answer on the spot. Recruitersoften have to go back to the hiring manager or their boss to communicate yourdemands and get an answer. This process may take several days, so bepatient.

If any part of your negotiation is accepted, congratulations. But be sure to getthe revised offer in writing. You don’t want an argument later about what theexact terms of the offer were.

Finally, whether you accept or decline the offer, be gracious. Thank therecruiter and his or her team for the time invested in the process and simplyindicate that while you appreciate the offer, you’ve thought it throughthoroughly and are going to have to decline. If you like the organization, butperhaps the position isn’t the right fit, you can always ask that the recruiterkeep you in mind for future openings.

If you accept the offer, show your excitement and let the recruiter knowyou’re looking forward to starting. It’s always a good idea to stop by and seethe recruiter after you’ve started. Maintaining a good relationship could leadto more exciting roles down the road, and closes out the process on the bestnote possible.



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Getting the Job

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Added Pressure

Sure, all of the steps in the job search process – from resume creationto interviewing – are stressful. But what could be more difficult thaninterviewing for a recruiting job with a recruiter? Sure, HR countsrecruiting, interviewing and hiring among its responsibilities, but it alsohas to find new candidates for its own open positions. This means youhave the added pressure of interviewing with the experts, so preparingfor a job search is an even more arduous task when you’re looking for ajob in HR. What’s a girl (or guy) to do?

As mentioned earlier, start out by making sure your resume, cover letterand other documents are perfect. While resume errors aren’t good inany sense, a hiring manager might excuse a resume error made by anaccountant. Numbers are his forte, not words. But an HR professionalshould know better. Much better.

Make sure you sell yourself for the HR position you’re interested in.Recruiters and hiring managers have to vouch for why they think youshould be interviewed or chosen for the job. Make the hiring team’s jobeasier by clearly demonstrating that you’re a perfect fit for the role,making it clear you have experience in and can meet every skill andrequirement they’re asking for.

Practice, practice, practice. HR professionals interview candidates muchmore often that other business professionals, so you don’t want to beanother trite or tired candidate. It’s important to stand out from thecrowd in a good way by being clear about your experience and howyou’re the best fit for the job. Do mock interviews if you can, or simplypractice answering questions in a mirror

Finally, put yourself in their shoes. Pretend you’re the recruiter and thinkabout what the ideal candidate might do or how he or she might respondto a certain request or question. The bottom line? Don’t make rookiemistakes. You’ve got to prove you are the consummate HR professional.

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HUMARESOUCARE

ON THE JOB

Chapter 8: Finding the Right Fit

Chapter 9: Human Resource Management (HRM) Roles

Chapter 10: Human Resource Development (HRD) Roles

Chapter 11: Human Resource Leadership Roles

Chapter 12: Final Analysis

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Digging Deeper into the HR Function

Looking to learn HR from the ground up? If you’re just coming out ofcollege, many large companies such as General Electric have generalmanagement rotations where you’ll get a chance to work in many businessfunctions, including HR. But big companies aren’t always the answer. If it’syour first HR role, you may have better luck getting in the door at a smallorganization where you can take on a greater amount of responsibilityquickly.

If you are interested in labor relations, your best bet is to hone your skills ata manufacturing company such as Toyota or 3M. While each of thesecompanies manufactures different types of products, they all have a highnumber of employees belonging to unions. Because union contracts can belengthy and require a keen understanding of union and labor law, the laborrelations departments in companies such as these are well-staffed, and staybusy. Labor relations isn’t just limited to manufacturing though. Retail storeclerks, teachers, police officers and even actors are members of unions.

HRD roles pique your interest? Look to industries that have some of thelargest companies in the U.S., such as consumer products and financialservices. Companies such as Wal-Mart and Bank of America have large, fullystaffed organization development functions with internal consultants whoaddress the development issues of different business areas.

Want to work in a company well-known for its training and developmentpractices? Training magazine (www.trainingmag.org) Training Top 100ranks the 100 companies that excel in training, learning and human resourcedevelopment.

For every HR function, there’s a way to learn more about companies knownfor success in those areas. If you are in college or have already attained yourundergraduate or graduate degree, turn to your career services office for help.Many have great research tools, such as CareerSearch, where you can learnabout organizations that might be a good fit for you and your interests.

The best way to start your research, though, is to learn about all the functionsthat are a part of HR to get the best sense about where you might fit.


Finding the Right Fit CHAPTER 8


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Finding the Right Fit

HRD versus HRM

Starting any career is tough – you don’t want to start in one job, find out youdon’t like it and then start over with another. But as an HR professional, yourexperience in the field, regardless of its type, will always be valuable. A goodway to start an HR career is to determine what side of HR you want to workon: Human Resource Management (HRM) or Human Resource Development(HRD). Each of the major functional areas discussed earlier falls under HRMor HRD.

HRM means just what it says – human resource management – themanagement of people or resources in an organization. Almost everyworking organization has to have some form of HRM staff to take care ofbasic employee management tasks. HRM encompasses the traditional areasthat most people think of as HR, including compensation and benefits,recruiting and staffing, employee and labor relations and occupational healthand safety.

An HRM professional might start out as a generalist, then choose a specialtyarea of HRM such as benefits and become a benefits manager. After that, shemay choose to remain in the specialty area, perhaps running all benefitsprograms at an organization, or move into an HR leadership role as an HRdirector or VP overseeing both HRM and HRD tasks.

If you like systems, analytics and processes, a career in HRM might makesense. While serving the people in an organization, HRM professionals aretypically given ownership over a process, specialty area or task. For example,a recruiting manager in a consumer products firm might be givenresponsibility for recruiting activities in one department. The manager is thenresponsible for the entire process – finding and locating candidates,conducting first-round phone screens, scheduling second and final roundinterviews with candidates, negotiating the details of job offers andcompleting the hiring paperwork. Sure, there’s a significant amount ofinteraction with people in this role. But successful recruiters will tell you that


NOTE: Keep in mind that in most cases, with the specialty areas thatfollow below in both HRM and HRD, the focus is on entry or mid-levelpositions, from specialist to manager. Your HR career may eventuallyprogress to the director or vice president level, which is addressed in thesection on leadership roles.

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a well-managed process relying on recruiting data is the best way to do thejob.

On the other hand, HRD – human resource development – is the developmentof the resources in a company: organization development, performancemanagement, training and learning, and coaching. HRD includes evaluatingthe performance of employees, helping employees learn and develop newskills, and assisting them with weaknesses or areas of development. HRDalso includes helping an organization develop – diagnosing problems withhow people work together in certain areas of an organization.

An HRD professional’s career might begin with an analyst role, working as aconsultant on a company’s organization development (OD) team. The HRDprofessional may then choose to specialize, focusing specifically onperformance programs in the organization, or may become an OD manager,in charge of several analysts or consultants working on OD projects. Afterthat, he may choose to remain in the specialty area running the OD function,or move into an HR leadership role as an HR director or VP overseeing bothHRM and HRD tasks.

Working in HRD doesn’t mean you won’t be relying on data and statistics.But you will be focusing more on understanding the behavior of the peopleyou’re serving. For example, a training manager in a consulting firm mightbe tasked with selecting and running all training programs in his local office.To ensure he chooses the right programs to develop the staff effectively, hehas to do regular surveys in the office to understand where the training needslie. He then has to consult with staff and management in those areas to learnmore about their needs and either create or find training programs to addressthose. He is responsible for all aspects of running the training, and finally,when the training program is complete, must survey all participants to see ifthe training made an impact on their performance and behaviors.



While academic professionals who study HR often use the terms humanresource management (HRM) and human resource development (HRD) inwriting about the field of HR, many companies won’t have specific HRMand HRD departments. But it’s important to pay attention to the areasof HR that interest you and see where they tend to fit: HRD or HRMeducation, especially at the graduate level, can be quite different in eacharea. Once you’ve got an HR direction, track the HR job listings at thecompanies you’re interested in to see what specific jobs open up.

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Choosing beforehand whether to go the HRM or HRD route is a good ideacareer-wise, since there are clear paths in each area. A good question to askyourself is: “Do I want to manage and grow processes and programs in theworkplace or do I want to help develop people and transform behavior in theworkplace?” But choosing a side doesn’t mean you’re stuck in that areaforever. Many HR professionals start out in HRM to get an understanding ofthe field and then move into HRD to hone their development and coachingskills.

Exploring Industries

It’s also important to understand the different roles HR plays in differentindustries. For example, labor relations refers to the HR tasks required ofunionized companies. If none of a company’s employees are members of aunion, then there is typically not a need for labor relations. This examplemight help you figure out which industries to avoid and which to keep youreye on. While it’s important to research your industry of interest to determinewhat the trends are, here are a few to keep in mind:

• Retail companies: national and worldwide locations mean that retailfirms often have local HR directors or managers onsite at each location– a great way to get supervisory HR experience

• Manufacturing companies: a high number of unionized employeesmake manufacturing companies the perfect place for aspiring laborrelations professionals

• Government: the need to hire thousands of new employees due to thelarge amount of government employees retiring by 2010, and therestructuring of many others, will mean lots of business for HR

• Financial services: known for fast-paced progressive HR, financialservices firms often experiment with new programs and best practices

• Non-profits or startups: small budgets may mean a small staff or alower salary, but also an opportunity to take more responsibility or ahigher-level position


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How Much Will I Make?

As HR gains momentum in the business world, so do the salaries. HR salariesaren’t at the top of the business world heap (so you won’t make as much, perse, as your friends in finance and sales jobs) but financial opportunities existacross all HR positions. You may not start at the top – according to theNational Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) the average startingsalary offer for a human resources major in 2005 was $35,954 – but theearning potential (Fig. 4) is certainly there.

While the average salaries in Fig. 4 are a good estimate of what you mightearn as an HR professional, how much you actually make will depend on anumber of factors, including your level of education and experience, and thesize and type of organization at which you work.

While HR majors right out of college are earning an average of $35,954, thatfigure increases considerably for MBA and Master’s graduates. For example,in 2004, MBA graduates from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School





What better place to start or grow your HR career than in a companyknown as a great place to work? Fortune magazine has published itsyearly list “The 100 Best Companies to Work For” every year since1998. Companies that make the list have exceptional HR practices andhigh levels of employee satisfaction, according to a survey by the GreatPlace to Work Institute in San Francisco (www.greatplacetowork.com).

Benefits Administrator $40,000 – $51,000

Compensation and Benefits Manager $71,000 – $99,000

Human Resources Director $123,000 – $168,000

Human Resources Executive $146,000 – $236,000

Human Resources Generalist $44,000 – $57,000

Organization Development Specialist $53,000 – $68,000

Recruiter $42,000 – $55,000

Senior HRIS Analyst $68,000 – $85,000

Salary.com’s Human Resources 2004 Salary Averages (Fig. 4)

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of Management seeking Human Resources positions earned an average of$74,111 in their first position after graduate school. Experience is also asalary booster. A labor relations specialist with 0-2 years of experience mayearn an average salary of $49,700. However, after working in Labor Relationsfor 6-8 years, that salary average leaps to a hefty $92,700.

Experience and education aren’t the only factors that will affect your salary.In larger organizations and thriving industries, HR professionals may berewarded more than those in smaller, non-profit and government industries.For example, a 2003 workforce.com survey showed an HR manager at a non-profit earning an average of $64,200, almost 20% less than the $79,435nationwide average.

But don’t be fooled by the money alone, says one HR manager at a busy,urban university: “I know I would make much more if I were working in thecorporate world, but the lower pay [at the university] is well offset by the fourweeks of vacation I receive and a work week that is only 37-40 hourscompared to my colleagues in the corporate world putting in 50+ hours aweek.”

Your salary is also going to depend on where you live. According tosalary.com, an entry-level HR generalist in New York City will make anaverage salary of $47,860, while the same position in Baton Rouge, Louisianawill earn $40,333. Many HR professionals are all too familiar with cost ofliving adjustments (COLAs) given to employees to reflect economicdifferences in certain cities.

If a recruiter is hiring two engineers to do the same job, but one lives inBoston and the other in Kansas City, the recruiter may adjust the salary offerto reflect the standard of living in that particular city. After all, the cost of anew house in Boston is going to be a great deal more than the same-sizedhouse in Kansas City. Web sites such as salary.com (http://www.salary.com)can help you compare the cost of living from city to city. You can also ask,when receiving a job offer or if you’re being relocated to another city, if aCOLA is reflected in the offer.


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Understanding the cost of living in your targeted geographic regions is key,but so is understanding other factors that may contribute to yourcompensation. There are other monetary possibilities for HR professionalsbeyond a base salary. While it is always important to know the existingoptions for increasing your earning potential, as an HR professional it mayeven be a part of your job to strategize and plan how to pay the employees inyour company. Here are some of the ways companies reward employees inaddition to their base salary.

• BonusesMany companies offer different bonus options. A bonus is a specificsum of money paid directly to the employee for achieving a specificgoal. An HR generalist might be eligible for a $1000 year-end bonusfor his work and commitment to his job throughout the year. Bonusescan be based on tenure or on level of work. An OD consultant, forexample, might receive a monetary bonus based on achieving certainratings on her performance review. While monetary bonuses are ideal,many organizations reward employees with gift cards, restaurantcertificates, or even extra vacation days.

• IncentivesIncentives are another popular option for rewarding hard work,especially in goal-based environments or professional service firms(such as consulting or outsourced service firms). Unlike a bonus basedon tenure or commitment, incentives are rewards given to an individualemployee who has met his/her goals. For example, an HR consultant



If you’re a new college graduate considering a career in HumanResources, you may want to know how your starting HR salary mightcompare with those of your friends. According to a 2005 survey by theNational Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), HumanResources majors fall right in the middle. Here’s how entry level salariesfor some of the most common majors stack up:

• Computer Engineering: $51,539• Accounting: $43,050• Information Systems: $43,741• Business Administration: $38,357• Human Resources: $35,954 • Broadcast Journalism: $30,465• Elementary Education: $30,364• Liberal Arts: $29,064

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might be mainly responsible for working on assigned HR consultingprojects, but might have a secondary responsibility to bring in newbusiness or new HR clients. As part of his compensation plan, theconsultant might have an incentive goal of $50,000 of new business – ifhe reaches or exceeds that goal, he is then rewarded. Incentives areoften tiered – the more the consultant exceeds his goal, the more he willget paid.

• GainsharingAs team-based work continues to rise in importance in the workplace,companies are increasingly rewarding teams, departments, businessunits or even entire offices. Gainsharing refers to a monetary paymentmade to each individual employee that is part of a team; the amount ofthe payment is based on whether the team is able to reach its goals. Forexample, if a local office of a consulting firm reaches its revenue goaleach year, every employee in that office (including HR) receives apercentage bonus of his/her salary. It’s called gainsharing because it isbased on an entire group reaching a goal, and every member of thatgroup sharing in the success.

• CommissionAnother monetary reward, although rare in human resources, iscommission. Commission is a goal-based payment that makes up asignificant portion of an employee’s salary. Common in the sales field,HR professionals who work as account managers or sell outsourced HRservices may be subject to a commission-based compensation plan. Anaccount manager in a health care benefits firm, for example, may beresponsible for getting as many companies as possible to outsource theirhealth care benefits administration to the health care benefits firm. Forevery new client the account manager brings on, or convinces tocontinue outsourcing to them year after year, s/he is heavily rewarded.An account manager might have a base salary of $30,000 but thepotential to earn up to $75,000 by bringing on new clients or business.While the earning potential is certainly high, commission-basedpositions are risky in that the major portion of your salary is basedsolely on how you perform without the guarantee of a hefty paycheckweek to week.


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While you may work hard for the money, it is important to remember that itisn’t just about the dollars. Every good HR professional knows theimportance of a total compensation and benefits package. In addition to basesalary, bonuses, incentives or gainsharing, companies make job offers evenmore attractive by providing medical, dental and other benefits. Be sure toreview the value of these benefits in addition to any monetary compensationoffered.



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Human Resource Management, the basis of the HR profession, is aboutkeeping the organization running. HRM staff makes sure employees gethired, get paid, stay healthy, work in a comfortable and safe environment andfollow the law. HRM roles are a great way to learn the basics of the HRprofession and grow a strong HR career. You may know what these roles areresponsible for, but what would you actually be doing on the job?

Generalists

Starting your HRM career as a generalist is a good foundation, and one of themost common starting points for an HR career. As a generalist, you can learnabout different areas of HR en route to deciding where you want your careerto go.

Generalists are often the backbone of the HR operation. They’re calledgeneralists because they exist to support HR operations and may be workingon a number of different projects at any given time. Generalists may beassigned to support one or two specialty areas, or may be assigned to aspecific division or location and serve all of the employees there.

Because the generalist role is one that often requires little HR experience, youmay find yourself in a strong support role. This means you might be doingpaperwork or answering all of the front-line employee requests.

“When calls come into HR,” says one HR generalist in the media industry,“I’m right there to take them. I have to have good customer service skills andknow right away whether I can handle the employee’s problem or question orif I have to direct them to one of my colleagues.”

Like many entry-level positions, the generalist role can be tough at first. Youmay be doing the legwork or research for a particular project, or fieldingrequests from a manager who needs your assistance. As a specialtygeneralist, for example, you might be supporting a compensation and benefitsmanager or director. This might mean you’re processing benefits electionsforms for all new hires, or prepping paperwork for a benefits or compensationmanager. You may be setting up all of the materials needed for new hire


Human ResourceManagement (HRM) Roles CHAPTER 9


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HRM Roles

orientation, or following up with employees who have questions about whereto find a claim form or if a certain medical need is covered.

“I started right out of college as an HR generalist and felt like kind of a paperpusher at first. I was doing everything from filing paperwork to onlineresearch,” says one HR manager who’s been working in HR for six years.“But only now that I’ve been in HR for awhile do I know how important thosefirst few years were. It was tough, but it was really the best way for me tolearn about the profession.”

If you’re thinking about an HR generalist role, ask good questions about thetype of tasks you may be asked to do so you’re aware of the combination ofresearch, administrative and service responsibilities that await you. Sure, youmight have to pay your dues, but the generalist role can open a number ofdoors to different HR roles as you grow your career.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation and benefits professionals are in charge of making sure newemployees are given an appropriate salary and benefits, and currentemployees continually receive their salary and benefits. Often called “totalrewards,” compensation and benefits encompass all the things employeesmay receive in return for their work in an organization.

You might think receiving a paycheck is a simple process, but making sureeveryone in an organization gets paid the correct amount at the right time isa highly organized and streamlined process. Compensation professionalsmust first do the research, using salary surveys that pull togetherrepresentative samples from specific professions and levels. The surveysoften cost companies a great deal, but they ensure that the company is ontrack in terms of offering pay that is competitive. After all, if a job candidateknows he can earn much more working for a competitor, it may be hard to gethim to stay.

Compensation specialists also have to help HR managers and line managersdecide what the company’s pay strategy is going to be. One of the mostcommon phrases in compensation is “lead, lag or match.” There’s a greatdeal that goes into deciding how people get paid.

Some companies choose to lead in compensation, and are known for payingmore than their competitors. This may be because the job is in a moredifficult environment, such as a factory, or requires personal sacrifice, such asa high amount of travel. Other companies choose to lag in pay. They might


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HRM Roles

be known for paying less than their competitors, but can make up for that withperks, growth opportunities or other benefits. Finally, and most often,companies may strategize to match in pay. They try to offer as close to whattheir competitors offer, so salary doesn’t become the main reason foraccepting or turning down the job.

But research and strategy are just the beginning for compensationprofessionals. They have to work with managers to help them understand thestrategy and communicate pay raises and changes to their employees. Theyhave to work with their HR colleagues to administer salary increases andmake sure they are in line with performance reviews. They also may workwith the executive team to determine other methods of compensation such asbonuses or gainsharing.

Hiring new staff also means that compensation professionals have to beconsulted. What salary has been budgeted for the position? How high canthe recruiter negotiate? If a candidate is receiving an offer from a competitorthat’s much higher, should the current salaries be revisited? These are thekinds of questions that compensation professionals have to be poised toanswer.

Compensation professionals also have to maintain an exceptionally high levelof confidentiality. Compensation is a very personal issue, and mostorganizations urge employees to keep the details of their pay to themselves.Detail-orientation and meticulousness are also crucial. One data entry errorcan mean an employee receives the wrong salary, or a paycheck doesn’t reachan employee when it should. The repercussions of such an error can beenormous.

On the benefits side, the responsibility is just as high. Job offers may beaccepted or rejected based on a benefits package. An employee’sperformance may be hugely affected by a medical problem that is or isn’tcovered by company benefits. In fact, many chief financial officers will tellyou that one of the largest costs to a company is the cost of medical benefits.

Benefits administration typically starts with medical benefits, but alsoincludes the host of other benefits that employees may be privy to, includingtuition reimbursement, on-site daycare, a company concierge, on-site meals,discounts to local stores and facilities, transportation discounts or vouchersand many more. This is why the benefits role varies so much in anorganization, because the benefits themselves often vary.

Because benefits administration can be so complicated, some companies maychoose to outsource their benefits. This means that while an external



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HRM Roles

company is responsible for addressing employee needs and issues in relationto benefits, the company still has compensation and benefits professionalsinternally who are in charge of managing the vendors, negotiating theircontracts, making sure the contracts are fulfilled and that the service is strong.

For companies that manage benefits internally, there is a great deal ofresearch that must occur to find the right programs and determine the steps tolaunch. They have to make sure that the value of the program will outweighthe cost. For example, a company may decide to cover the cost of publictransportation if it’s located in a big city. This may encourage job applicantswho may live further outside the city and otherwise couldn’t afford to makesuch a long commute. Benefits professionals have to assess if this cost isworth the money saved in recruiting or turnover.

Benefits administrators also have to make sure employees are aware of howto access benefits, and when changes can be made. This includes what’sknown in many companies as “Open Enrollment,” a period of time whenemployees can add family members to a benefit plan or make changes in thetypes of benefits they are receiving or the plan they want to use. During thistime, there are a heavy load of forms to process, questions to answer andproblems to manage.

Confidentiality is also key on the benefits side of the house. Employees maybe sharing sensitive medical information or may have a high level of anxietydue to a family medical issue or diagnosis. Being the consummateprofessional – able to help the employee but be honest about the benefitsoffered – is essential.

As an entry-level employee, you might start out as a compensation analyst oras a benefits or salary administrator.

This may mean you’re doing everything from analyzing job duties andwriting job descriptions to performing job evaluations and conducting andanalyzing compensation surveys. Benefits professionals may developdetailed data analyses of benefits programs, administer benefits plans andmonitor benefits costs. They may be responsible for oversight of vendors orpartners to whom these functions have been outsourced.

As a manager or more seasoned employee, you may be more focused on theoverall compensation and benefits strategy. You’ll be continually workingwith HR staff in other functions to see how your programs are supportingtheirs. For example, a division that is having trouble recruiting may have tostrategize with you to rethink how pay plays a role in the issues they mightbe facing.


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HRM Roles

Managers in this arena also have to play measurement guru. They have toconsistently measure and evaluate how the compensation and benefitsprograms are working in the organization and what the return on investment(ROI) is. Are pay increases yielding better performance? Are healthy livingprograms encouraging employees to make better health choices, thuslowering healthcare costs?

Finally, compensation and benefits professionals can’t succeed without goodcommunication skills. They have to be able to understand the questions andissues their employees are facing and communicate responses that are clearand concise. This is especially important in times of organizational orprogram changes.

Labor and Employee Relations

Labor and employee relations is another key area of Human ResourcesManagement. This function requires oversight of employee contracts, rights,responsibilities and complaints. While labor relations as a function typicallyjust exists in companies that deal with contracted or unionized labor, there issome form of employee relations in every organization. In smallercompanies, these responsibilities may fall to an HR generalist or HRmanager. But in larger companies, they are often separate functions. Eitherway, they’re integral to HR.

Employee relations is just what it sounds like – relating to employees andmaking sure any issues they face in the workplace are resolved. This maymean an employee conflict with another employee in the department, or anemployee alleging discrimination in relation to a recent promotion of acolleague.

Because the issues that employee relations professionals deal with varygreatly, it is essential that they know the ins and outs of HR law, since manyof the issues they are dealing with relate to federal, state and local laws thatgovern hiring and employment. This includes affirmative action programsand labor laws as well as issues of internal company policies.

On any given day, an employee relations professional might find himselfcounseling an unhappy employee who has just been put on a performanceimprovement plan. As a function, HR is always trying to attain the goal ofzero lawsuits, so employee relations professionals do a great deal ofcounseling and mediation, trying to resolve issues at the ground level beforethey escalate. Depending on the gravity of the situation, or the issue at hand,



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HRM Roles

employee relations professionals may serve as a neutral party or as anemployee advocate. If an employee has been wronged, it may be up to anemployee relations specialist to blow the whistle and defend the employee.

The role played may actually depend on the environment. In a non-unionizedcompany, the employee may not have anyone to argue on his behalf. But ina unionized environment, the role of employee advocate may be played byanother employee and union member as opposed to HR.

“In my role as a union representative, I actually help advocate for teacherswho are having a problem in the classroom or the school,” says RebeccaBullen, a teacher for the Corona-Norco school district in Southern California.“When an issue arises, or the contract has been broken or abused, that’s whereI come in. Every situation is different, but I may talk with the teacher andHR to help them work out the issue so it won’t have to go through the formalgrievance process.”

Though her union involvement was a volunteer activity, Bullen liked theadvocacy work so much she ran for elected office in her region and will betaking a two-year hiatus from teaching to serve as union vice president.Being an employee advocate can be rewarding work – last year, Bullenreceived a dozen roses from a teacher she helped navigate a contract issue.

Regardless of the role an employee relations specialist plays, either in oroutside of the organization, there is a great deal of careful conversationinvolved. Mediation or advocacy may include one-on-one sessions with theinvolved employee or liaising with any employee, manager or executiveinvolved in the situation, and proposing a solution to the issue at hand.Specialists may also do a great deal of referrals, connecting employees withinside and outside resources that may help them deal with problems impedingtheir work. Some companies actually have what’s called an ombudsman –an employee that serves as a confidential source for other employees tocontact to discuss problems or suggestions in the workplace.

There’s also a good deal of administrative and reporting work. Companiesthat do work for the government and all government agencies have tocomplete affirmative action plans. This law requires that employee relationsprofessionals collect company-wide data to demonstrate their compliancewith the law, making an effort to hire and retain employees from ethnicitiestypically underrepresented in the workplace. Employee relationsprofessionals are also involved in reporting on employee issue statistics andtracking trends that executives can use to prevent lawsuits and make theorganization a better place to work.


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If you want a career in employee relations, you can look for a larger companythat has a separate employee relations function, or take on a role as an HRgeneralist where you might count employee relations among your manyduties. You can also look externally to outside Employee Assistance Program(EAP) firms. These firms staff professionals who can take calls and deal withissues that come in from companies they contract with.

Employee relations professionals face many common issues acrossindustries, but in some industries there is a separate function for dealingspecifically with union issues. As a specialty, labor relations evolved inindustries where, historically, employees came together to organize theworkforce, called organized labor. Originally, organized labor was borne outof issues in factories in the early 1900s where there were few standards forchild labor and factory safety. Employees banded together to force employersto pay attention to these issues.

Today, unions now serve as the formal outcome of this movement. Unionsexist in dozens of industries, from healthcare to manufacturing andconstruction to safety. They act as a way for employees to request certainrequirements in return for working for a company or industry, from benefitsreceived to hours worked, and even pay. Pipe fitters, police officers, teachers,machinists, and even actors can be members of a union.

Workers aren’t required to join unions, and there are specific HR laws thatgovern how unions can bring in new members and organize labor at a newcompany or plant. Additionally, there are laws that govern how companiesand unions interact, to fairly serve the interests of both.

Unions have their own staff, often members elected by the entirety of theunion who serve on behalf of the membership, while companies rely on laborrelations professionals to serve on behalf of the interests of the company.Together, they deal with ongoing issues, like the new contracts between unionmembers and a company. They may have to negotiate certain parts of thecontract, and discuss issues that have to be resolved before the contract canbe approved, or ratified. Strong negotiation skills are key to succeeding inthis role.

To be a good labor relations professional, you also have to exhibit grace underpressure. While much of the time unions and companies can peacefully worktogether, many labor relations professionals are called upon to step up to theplate when problems between the two arise. You’ve probably heard of timeswhen workers have gone on strike. This is usually because a company and aunion can’t come to agreement on certain employee issues. In this case, there



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are usually union leaders on one side of the table and labor relationsprofessionals and company executives on the other. Together with amediator, they go through a process called bargaining, where each sidecommunicates what they will and won’t give up.

You also must have a solid understanding of labor and union law. You’ll beinteracting with union professionals regularly and have to clearly understandthe legal implications of every decision you make. Ignoring or bypassing thelaw can result in major legal implications.

This doesn’t mean you can’t find an entry-level role in labor relations. Ifyou’ve got the willingness to learn, there are many entry-level opportunities,especially at large companies where labor relations is essential to thecompany’s ability to maintain production and do business in compliance withthe law. As an entry level candidate, you may start out as a plant personnelspecialist, for example.

“I hire several plant specialists each year,” says one HR manager for aMichigan-based automotive giant. “We have plants all over the U.S. and weneed multiple HR professionals to staff each plant. Plant specialists start outby learning the basics of how our plants operate, and the basic laws we haveto comply with. There’s a lot of data gathering and report creation in this role,but it’s a great start to a career in labor relations and HR.”

Other roles in labor relations may focus specifically on interpreting unioncontracts (reviewing them to look for issues or discrepancies), or later on ina labor relations career, working directly with the union and mediators to helpnegotiate collective bargaining agreements. If you’re unsure if labor relationsis right for you, do your research first. Because labor relations is one area ofHR that isn’t in every company, you run the risk of getting into a specialtythat’s not always so transferable. Try working as a generalist at a companythat has a labor relations specialty. This way you can see how labor relationsworks up close and get a better sense of whether it’s right for you.


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Employment and HR Law

Another aspect of employee and labor relations is employment and HR law.Just as there are specialty lawyers to handle legal issues regarding crime,bankruptcy, divorce or real estate, there are also lawyers who specialize inissues relating to the workplace. While most companies have a chief lawyer(usually referred to as general counsel for a company), there are alsoadditional lawyers (counsel or assistant counsel) responsible for managingspecific legal issues in a company. This might include reviewing andapproving company contracts, managing legal disputes with vendors oroutside parties, and of course, employment and HR law.

So what do employment lawyers do exactly? Employment lawyers often dealwith legal issues that arise from hiring. Hiring issues may include allegeddiscrimination or hiring contract disputes. For example, there are federal andstate laws that companies have to follow regarding their hiring practices.This includes equal employment opportunity laws that prevent companiesfrom hiring based on certain personal qualities.

While the laws sometimes differ by state, employers often showcase adesignation to candidates as an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer(EEOE). The EEOE designation affirms that the employer abides by theemployment regulations set forth by the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission. This includes prohibiting hiring on the basis of gender, race,ethnicity, religion or creed. The EEOE designation can often be found at theend of an organization’s job posting and/or on the organization’s web site.

“I recently had to provide copies of all of the e-mails I sent and received froma candidate who we did not give a job offer to,” says one recruiter at anational recruiting firm. “The candidate was alleging that we did not givehim the offer because of his age, and one of our company lawyers who workson employment law likes to have copies of all communication, paperwork



HR law is complicated, since laws vary from state to state and at boththe federal and local levels. Additionally, whether a law applies to anorganization may depend on things like the size of the organization orwho it does business with. If you don’t want to go to law school, butneed a basic education in HR law, consider taking one of the HRcertification exam preparation courses. Since the exams test yourknowledge of specific HR laws, the preparation courses are a good wayto learn the basics.

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and any candidate interaction we can document. This is why keeping perfectrecords is so important in HR.”

Termination issues are also often prevalent in employment law. Formeremployees may sue companies, alleging wrongful termination ordiscrimination. As an example, an employee who might have been fired forpoor performance may have evidence that his performance wasn’t poor butthat he was fired for other, illegal reasons. Employers may also sue formeremployees who participated in illegal actions at the company such asembezzlement or misuse of company property.

Another common termination dispute may arise from non-competeagreements. In today’s competitive business world, many companies ask newemployees to sign these agreements to prevent them from leaving for a directcompetitor. Non-compete agreements differ in many respects, but generallybar the employee from working for a competitor, if he or she were to everleave the organization, for a specified (say two years) period of time. Theymay also prohibit a departing employee from immediately hiring otheremployees away. Such contracts can be detailed, lengthy and sometimesdifficult to enforce – thus the involvement of employment lawyers.

Managing legal issues in a company is done in many different ways. Theremay be in-house lawyers (those that work directly for a company) whospecialize in employment law and handle all legal issues related to HR. Somecompanies may have an attorney who works specifically for the HR function,sometimes reporting into the senior vice president of HR. And othercompanies either don’t have any lawyers in-house or work mostly with lawfirms. Either way, employment and HR lawyers have a deep knowledge oflaws relating to issues in the workplace, and often specialize in cases just inthis area. The work of an employment and HR lawyer is somewhat similar tothat of any other specialty lawyer, investigating claims or issues andinteracting and negotiating with lawyers from the other side of the case. Thisincludes filing all motions and complaints (the official papers that activate acase and its rules in court).

Employment and HR lawyers in-house are also often responsible forinteracting with other departments and functions in a company to gatherrequired information or investigate a case. They are also often responsible forhelping to prevent legal issues from arising in a company. This might includecreating and presenting preventative training, such as interview, diversityawareness or sexual harassment prevention training.


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Regardless of whether a company has in-house lawyers or works with outsidefirms that specialize in employment law, HR executives and professionals inall HR specialties may find themselves immersed in employment law atcertain times. Legal issues can arise in recruiting, labor relations, benefits –almost any area of HR is open to the risk of litigation. So HR professionalsoften work closely with a company’s general counsel or outside lawyers onspecific issues or cases that might affect their specialty area. This mightinclude furnishing all paperwork related to a specific case, providingtestimony or details on the specifics of a situation, or reviewing policies andregulations to determine if they need to be revised or changed to better protectthe company and/or its employees.

If you’re interested in law and really want to specialize in the employmentarena, you most likely won’t work as a company’s internal lawyer. Manylarge companies do have a team of lawyers internally, reporting to a generalcounsel and handling legal issues relating to employees. But the majority ofemployment lawyers work for a law firm that specializes in, or has adepartment that specializes in, employment law. These employment lawyersare often hired by large companies to work through difficult or complexissues that require a very extensive and detailed knowledge of specificemployment laws and regulations.

If HR and employment law is a direction you’d like to consider pursuing,there are a number of important factors to be aware of as early on in yourcareer as possible. With little to no exception, becoming a lawyer requiresboth a four-year undergraduate degree and a law degree, which means threeyears of graduate school. You’ll also have to pass the Bar exam in the statewhere you want to practice. The Bar exam is the formal test that proves alawyer is qualified to walk in front of the courtroom “bar” (the wall thatseparates lawyers from the rest of the courtroom audience).

Once you’ve passed the Bar, you’ll want to search for law firms thatspecialize in employment law. Firms may specialize in one side or the other(defending the accused company or the person(s) doing the accusing) or maytake on clients on both sides.

If law is truly your calling, be sure to network with and talk to lawyers whospecialize in employment law. While some may have a background in HR,it’s more likely that most started out in general law before specializing in HRand employment law. You should also see the Vault Career Guide to Labor& Employment Law Careers for an in-depth understanding of employmentlaw careers.



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If you don’t want to become a full-fledged lawyer but are interested inemployment law as a part of your larger HR career, there are other options.Many large companies have HR professionals (without a law degree) who arewell-versed in HR law to serve as the function’s liaison with companyattorneys.

Whether or not you’re interested in HR law as a part of your greater HRcareer, you better be prepared to know HR law. Both the PHR (Professionalin Human Resources) and SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources)exams require a strong knowledge of HR laws. Specialty certification examsand career advancement in your HR specialty may also require you to knowand stay on top HR laws and regulations. Don’t worry – it’s not as tough asyou think. Associations like SHRM (Society for Human ResourceManagement) have an entire section of their website devoted to HR law andto Capitol Hill legislation that affects current and future HR and employmentlaws.

Recruiting and Staffing

Simply put, recruiting professionals are responsible for finding and hiringnew employees, and staffing professionals are responsible for figuring outwhere they best fit in a company.

While recruiting exists in some form in virtually every company, staffing isnot always a separate function – sometimes the recruiters do that too. So let’stalk about recruiting first – how does it actually work? Companies don’t justhire new people as they get busier. Recruiting is a very strategic part of HRand of a company. Hiring the right people at the right time may make orbreak a company.

Recruiting typically starts with companies determining what their hiringneeds are each year. This stage usually starts at the top, with the senior-mostHR executive providing direction to his/her HR leaders on the company’sstrategy and growth plans for the year. If a company is going to grow or focusmore in a certain area, the recruiting strategy has to be adjusted as such. If astaffing function exists, it will also play a key role in this process.

Depending on the structure of the company, recruiting strategy may bemanaged geographically (by recruiting directors or managers in certainregions or locations) or functionally (by recruiting directors or managers incertain functions like sales or finance). Some recruiting can be planned for –companies use statistics and metrics to anticipate hiring needs – but not all


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recruiting can be planned. Employees often unexpectedly leave, creating jobvacancies that have to be filled.

Either way, it’s up to the recruiting directors and managers to learn aboutthese hiring needs and set up a strategy. In some organizations, theserecruiting professionals are embedded within departments and functions tolearn about immediate hiring needs as they arise. In other companies, therecruiting function is centralized, and functions or departments that want tohire a new employee have to complete a requisition to initiate the process.Since every organization manages this process differently, you can learn a lotabout the process by how you are recruited.

As with many HR positions, the size of an organization often dictates thenumber of employees. Recruiting is no different; large organizations oftenhave dozens of recruiters working around the country and around the worldto fill the many positions a company may have open at any given time. Forsmall organizations, an HR manager or director may be in charge of bothassessing recruiting needs and filling the position.

Once there is a need or request to hire, a plan has to take shape. This includesknowing what type of candidate is needed, and how that person will be found.First, a recruiting professional has to understand the qualifications of theposition. Usually the recruiter will work with the hiring manager to create ajob description. The hiring manager is usually the person from the “line,” theperson who either runs the department where the new hire will work, or whowill be the new hire’s boss.

Creating a good description is essential to finding the right person, and thesign of a good recruiter. The better the job description, the more likely acompany is to attract applicants who are a good fit for the position. Forpositions that companies hire for on a regular basis, the same job descriptionmay be used year in and year out, revised as the company grows and changes.The recruiter is also in charge of working with compensation professionals todetermine a budget for the new position. You can’t hire for a position withoutknowing what your competitors are offering candidates for similar roles andhow much money you have in the budget for each position. In somecompanies, recruiters may be in charge of all recruiting and compensationtasks. It really just depends on the size of the HR staff and the size of thecompany.

Once a description is written, the recruiter has to have a plan for how toattract and find candidates. This process, considering all available resources,is also called “sourcing” and may be one of the most strategic parts of the



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process. Recruiters have to have an exceptional knowledge of the resourcesavailable to recruit candidates and which ones will yield the best results.

As you likely know already, companies find employees through a variety ofsources, including but not limited to:

• Online job boards (Monster.com, etc.)• Company web sites• Colleges and universities• Staffing and placement firms• Local and national newspapers• Current employee referrals• Alumni referrals• Associations and networking organizations• Headhunters or executive recruiters

Since there are perhaps hundreds of ways to locate potential employees,recruiters turn to the resources that are likely to yield the most candidatessuited for the position. For example, if a recruiter is in charge of hiringinformation technology (IT) professionals, he might use job boards ofpopular IT web sites, like dice.com or Computerworld. Another recruitermight be in charge of hiring executives, and might work with a headhunter orexecutive recruiter to find candidates who might be a good fit for the position.

It is important to note that while most companies have internal recruitingfunctions, it’s likely that they have solicited assistance from outside recruitingfirms. These firms are in the business of helping companies find talent, andthey charge to do so. Staffing and placement firms like Today’s Temporary,Accountemps or Manpower typically work at the administrative or low-tomid-levels of a company. They may help companies find temporaryemployees (to replace someone who may be out on maternity leave) or allemployees in a department, such as accounting.

Executive recruiters and headhunters like Korn/Ferry, ManagementRecruiters International and Russell Reynolds are well-known for hiring forhigh-level positions. Since these positions can be quite difficult to recruit for,companies contract with these firms to manage the initial search process.Executive recruiters find candidates and interview and evaluate them evenbefore they are introduced to the company. They might submit four or fivecarefully vetted candidates to a company and have the company work thosecandidates through executive interviews. In these cases, the executiverecruiter is the main communicator, answering questions about the processfor the candidate and delivering the job offer from the company.


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Internally, larger companies often have recruiters specifically in charge ofrecruiting from colleges and universities. These companies may have certainsales, consulting or staff positions designed for new college graduates orthose just finishing MBA or other graduate programs. Targeting these newlyeducated candidates requires a familiarity with both these types of candidatesand their campuses.

“We have a huge presence on campus at dozens of universities in the UnitedStates,” says one recruiter with a major sales supplier. “We have a salesdevelopment program where we recruit new graduates to start at the bottomin our warehouses and learn the business in order to progress to inside salesand eventually outside sales. Someone who starts with our company out ofcollege can make it to outside sales in four or five years, easily makingupwards of $80,000+ by that time. A set career path and earning potential arepretty attractive to a new college graduate, but we have to deploy recruiterswho can connect with these graduates and sell this as a career. We wantpeople who are in it for the long haul.”

Other companies also source different types of candidates. The Home Depot,famous for its massive home improvement stores, is well-known for targetingmilitary personnel who are just finishing military duty. These candidates area good fit in many of Home Depot’s stores because of their leadership skillsand their need to find stable employment soon after their duty finishes.

Borders, the national bookstore chain, has been more recently targeting olderworkers. Since the majority of its employees are hired at its retail storelocations, older workers have proven to be effective in providing goodcustomer service, a good knowledge of certain literary genres and awillingness to work varied weekday and weekend hours.

It’s finding which types of candidates and from what sources best fit certainpositions that make recruiters good at what they do. They are essentially theeyes and ears of the hiring managers – finding the best talent at the right time.Finding the candidates, though, is still just part of the process. The othermajor responsibility of recruiters is to manage candidates through theprocess. This includes reviewing candidate applications, interviewingselected candidates, helping hiring managers make hiring decisions, makingjob offers, and closing out the hiring requirement.

Reviewing candidate applications isn’t an easy task. While most companiesnow use resume management systems (RMS), large databases that collectresumes electronically, in a small company, e-mailed resumes may have to beindividually reviewed. Either way, recruiters are usually the front line – in



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charge of reviewing resumes to see who makes the first-round cut. Theyalso typically conduct first-round interviews, know the job description andhiring manager’s needs well, and serve as a gatekeeper for the job opening.

The process differs from organization to organization, but recruiters aremainly in charge of managing the process from here, which may includecreating and managing interviews and educating the hiring manager andothers on interviewing techniques, legalities and processes. Recruiters alsousually serve as the communicator during the process – talking withcandidates to let them know where they are in the hiring process, andanswering both logistical and company-related questions.

The evaluation of the candidate is also managed by the recruiter. Everycompany evaluates candidates differently, and even within a company theevaluation process may differ from department to department. Normally, therecruiting team works with hiring managers to determine the type and lengthof the interview process as well as how candidates will be assessed. Whileeach interviewer typically evaluates the candidate individually, the recruiterusually manages the process of making sure evaluations are completed. Therecruiter is also likely in charge of facilitating the hiring decision, bringing allrelevant parties together who have a say in who is hired.

Once the decision is made, the recruiter typically makes the job offer to thecandidate. This includes answering all questions the candidate might haveabout the offer, as well as managing salary negotiations (if any). Animportant part of a recruiter’s job is selling the offer so that candidate willaccept it. If a candidate doesn’t, the recruiter has to start the process overagain, taking more time and spending more money.

Also key to a recruiter’s job is managing statistics. Recruiters are oftenresponsible for meeting quotas – hiring a certain amount of people in a certainamount of time. Time-to-fill is also an important statistic tracked byrecruiters, measuring how long it takes to fill certain positions. Anothercommon measurement is a yield ratio, which can measure how manycandidates receiving offers actually accept the offer. While statistics differfrom company to company, a large part of recruiter performance is usuallymeasured on some or all of these statistics.

A vital part in all of this is a process known as staffing. Staffing professionalswork alongside recruiters in HR to determine what needs have to be filled andwhere new hires are placed. While it may seem easy (you hire a person fora position and they are placed in that position), staffing is actually much morecomplicated. Staffing professionals do a great deal of forecasting; they must


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make sure they can plan for what positions might be new, vacated oreliminated, and work with recruiters to fill those gaps. The longer a jobopening goes unfilled, the more difficulty it causes for the company – othercolleagues might be taking on extra work and money is lost on projects thataren’t completed.

All of that said, whether or not a company has a separate staffing function,and who actually does staffing, depends on the type of business the companydoes. In some firms, recruiters also take on the staffing duties, helping toanticipate new openings, recruit for new hires and determine where new hiresare placed. But in other companies, staffing is a stand-alone function with agreat deal of responsibility. For example, consulting firms rely heavily onstaffing professionals. They often hire many employees with a set of specificqualifications, and it’s up to the staffing professionals to work withmanagement to place the employee on a project that makes the best use of theemployee’s skills.

An Atlanta-based staffing manager for one of the country’s biggest consultingfirms doesn’t take his responsibility lightly: “I am responsible for figuring outwhere our consultants will be staffed at all times. This includes all new hiresin my office location as well as consultants who have just finished or ‘rolledoff’ a project. It’s somewhat of a stressful job, because if a consultant isn’ton a project (we call it sitting on the bench), the company can’t bill thatperson’s hours or make any money. I’m also constantly battling with partnersand managers over the star performers. If someone is really good at whatthey do, everyone wants him or her on their project.”

In other companies, staffing professionals focus on long-term staffing issuessuch as who is in line to succeed top senior executives, and creating strategicplans for staffing new or reorganized divisions. Some companies, like thestaffing and placement firms mentioned earlier, do only staffing. Manyrecruiting and staffing professionals get their start at staffing firms where theycan learn the ins and outs of evaluating candidate attributes and determiningwhere a candidate might best fit. Keep in mind, though, many staffing firmspay on a commission basis, so you’ll want to make sure that structure worksfor you.

The one thing to remember: staffing can take on many varied meanings andis sometimes even interchangeable with recruiting, so it’s important toresearch the structure of the functions at companies where you’re interestedin working.



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And though recruiting and staffing are essential to an organization, thatdoesn’t mean recruiters are always highly lauded in a company. Somerecruiters may be trying to hire for positions where a well-liked colleague waslaid off or fired. Others may struggle with position managers who want topay a candidate more money or don’t like the caliber of candidates therecruiter has found. Keep in mind as well, that while the generalresponsibilities of recruiters and staffing professionals are somewhat similaracross organizations, no organization is exactly alike. If you’re searching forrecruiting or staffing roles, read the job description carefully and ask goodquestions about how these professionals are valued and how theirperformance is evaluated.

Human Resource Information Technology(HRIT)/e-HR

It’s no surprise that technology has found its way into the HR function,making processes run more quickly and much more easily. HR professionalsuse technology to manage recruiting and gather data on employeecompensation and other statistics. Even processes like benefits enrollmentand training are partially, if not all, online.

Along with the huge increase in the use of e-HR is the increase in the numberof professionals who work specifically on HR technology. While the field issmall, its growth is a clear HR trend: those who have both HR knowledge andIT experience are increasingly valued in the workplace. So what do thesepeople do exactly? First, it’s important to understand how technology isactually used in HR.

The use of technology in HR is typically called HR Information Technology(HRIT), or e-HR. HRIT is used across all functions of HR, and its manysystems are commonly referred to as HR Information Systems (HRIS). Acompany’s HRIS may be a part of a larger company-wide data managementsystem like SAP or PeopleSoft; smaller companies may have a stand-aloneHRIS, or even one they created on their own. Either way, an HRIS providesan easy way to access and evaluate many different types of data.

But managing the HRIS isn’t always easy. The systems are often verytechnologically complex and require a team of people to initially implementand launch the system. Then the systems have to be monitored and checkedregularly (and fixed if there is ever a problem). If they are part of a larger


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company-wide system, they have to communicate with other parts of thesystem, and go through updates when required.

All of this requires professionals with HRIT experience. In small companies,this role may not exist separately, instead falling to those responsible for allIT needs in a company. But in larger companies, HRIT professionals are indemand. System designers are in charge of designing systems from scratchor may be part of a larger effort to implement a new HRIS. This requires notonly design and technology skills, but the ability to train employees to getused to the system.

There are also HRIT professionals responsible for managing and analyzingthe data. They have technological skills, but also understand what kind ofdata their HR colleagues need, how it will be used and how it can help HRand the company perform better.

HRIT professionals are also in demand in many other parts of HR. In trainingand development, for example, many large companies may have a LearningManagement System (LMS) that is part of their larger HRIS. An LMS tracksand manages employee training, such as providing company-wide onlineaccess to courses and tracking employee compliance with trainingrequirements.

Another technological advance in HR is the migration of many processesonline. Many companies have employees enroll in benefits programs online.Others have company handbooks and knowledge-sharing tools, like companydiscussion boards. Even recruiting is now heavily electronic.

It’s obvious that the opportunities to use IT in HR are numerous, but everycompany does it differently. If this is your area of interest, explore yourcareer path carefully. You may find yourself in HR, specializing in IT, or inIT, specializing in HR.

HR Metrics and Strategy

Even in the early days of HR, the department was required to provideemployment statistics to a company’s senior management: accurate records ofthe number of employees, how much each employee was paid and how oftenemployees left the company. But many of these statistics are now keptelectronically through advanced electronic databases and systems.

In addition to newly evolved systems for managing HR data, manycompanies have also started creating positions to assess, evaluate and make



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recommendations on this information. Often called HR metrics, HR datapulled from advanced databases can now be analyzed more quickly than ever.Working alongside HRIS specialists, HR Metrics Analysts can quicklyretrieve a week’s or month’s HR data to evaluate and help makerecommendations to better manage employee activities.

But what exactly are HR metrics? Really just a fancy word for quantitativedata or numbers, HR metrics are the figures a company collects on itsemployees and employment trends. Some companies may collect hundredsof different kinds of figures, but the most common figures to collect andanalyze include:

• Number of FTEs (full-time employees) • Number of PTEs (part-time employees)• Number of employees by level or classification• Number of employees by gender or race (for affirmative action

purposes)• Percentage voluntary turnover (employees quitting or resigning

voluntarily)• Percentage non-voluntary turnover (employees that are fired or asked to

leave)• Number of employees at specific compensation levels• Number of employees receiving certain benefits• Percentage of open positions/positions still being recruited• Time-to-fill for specific positions

Tracking these figures helps identify where there are gaps to specific HRgoals. And now HR metrics are more important than ever before.Historically, HR has been seen as a cost center – an area of the company thathas to exist but costs money to run. This is where the importance of HRmetrics comes in. By analyzing the data, HR now has an ability to see whereefficiencies can be made (i.e. eliminating a benefit that isn’t used by manyemployees but costs the company a great deal of money) or where changesneed to be made (revamping the recruiting process for positions that aretaking way too long to fill).

Isolating these types of issues helps HR executives prove how their functionis saving the company money or helping the company strategy for the longterm, shifting the perception of HR from that of a cost center to a function ofimportance. It also gives HR the ability to show results quantitatively, whichtends to boost credibility.


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HR metrics professionals may come to the profession with a specificbackground in statistics or with strong analytical skills. This may includegraduate work or experience in analyzing data and producing reports. Othersgrow into a metrics role, learning about the importance of metrics and how todistill them as a generalist. But being comfortable with numbers and havingthe ability to see patterns in how the numbers and data might affect thecompany in the future is essential for anyone who wants to make a career outof HR metrics and strategy.

These positions can also be strategy-focused, where a company might hire anHR professional not simply to review and dissect HR metrics, but to focus onwhat the numbers mean. What do they tell the function about how it shouldgrow and change in the future? In what areas of the company does HR needto ramp up or tone down its efforts? These strategy roles may be part of anHR director or HR executive’s job description, or may be a position all on itsown. Researching the structure of the HR function at the companies you’remost interested in is the best way to find out.

In either an HR metrics or strategy role, you will spend a great deal of timeinteracting with other functions in your company. You might be presenting tothe sales team on how their recruiting statistics are different from otherdepartments in the company. You might be demonstrating to a business unithow the elimination of certain positions will save the company more moneythan eliminating others.

The good? HR metrics are the backbone of a good HR function. Withoutmetrics, HR has a hard time getting as much attention as its finance, sales ormarketing colleagues. And if you can use metrics to show HR’s impact onthe company as opposed to its drain on resources, all the better.

The bad? HR metrics aren’t always easy to come by. While constantlyevolving, HR technology hasn’t been around forever, and HRIS systemupgrades and developments often affect how good the data is and how well itcan be used. Additionally, not everyone has a head for statistics and canspend hours heads down in data. You’ve got to have a certain comfort levelwith the numbers to be successful.

Metrics will always play a part in an HR role, but it’s up to you to decide howmuch responsibility you want managing and reporting on HR metrics. Themost important thing to remember, though, is that your success in HR maywell depend upon the metrics. Good HR professionals know that the bestway to make a point in the business world is to back it up with numbers.



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Health, Safety and Security

An area of HR that’s often overlooked or taken for granted is also one of theearliest functions of the profession. Health, safety and security was one of thefirst responsibilities of HR professionals, making sure employees were safeon the factory floor. Today, it’s still a major and complicated responsibility.

Keeping the workplace safe falls to health, safety and security HRprofessionals. While titles vary greatly in the field, the goal remains thesame: zero accidents in the workplace. While companies would want to keepthe workplace safe regardless, they are actually mandated to do so by theOccupational Safety and Health Act, known as OSHA. OSHA, which fallsunder the purview of the U.S. Department of Labor, was created in 1970 toenforce basics standards in the workplace for health and safety, whethertemporary (if a company is working on a specific construction project) orpermanent (if a factory uses a certain chemical in day-to-day manufacturing).

OSHA requires that employers maintain a healthful work environment, keeprecords of on-the-job illnesses and injuries, and comply with all sections ofthe law. In organizations where the risk is low, the responsibility often fallsto HR directors and managers to keep accurate records and create and enforcepolicies for safety in the workplace. But in organizations where the risk ofinjury or illness is high, there are HR professionals specifically in charge ofthese areas.

Manufacturing companies are just one example where health, safety andsecurity professionals are essential to the company’s operations. First andforemost, they are responsible for making sure the company is in compliancewith local, state and federal laws, including, for example, making surefactories are free from hazards and machinery is in good and proper workingcondition.

Another key responsibility is educating employees. Any employee workingwith a machine has to be well-trained on its use and misuse. New factoryemployees are often trained for dozens of hours, as well as supervised earlyon in their tenure to make sure they are following proper safety proceduresand precautions. Health and safety professionals often audit factories to makesure employees are wearing proper headgear (on a construction site, forexample) and proper eye coverings (when working on an assembly line.)

Health and safety professionals also have a responsibility to educatemanagers and employees on record-keeping and reporting. If an accidentdoes happen on the factory floor, it must be reported and medical attention


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given immediately. Companies typically cover all employee health costs ifthey are injured on the job – called “worker’s compensation.” It is up to HRto make sure these procedures are followed and recorded, to be reported inaccordance with the law. This means that on-site accident assistancematerials also have to be provided. In a pharmaceutical company, health andsafety professionals may be in charge of assuring that all laboratories haveeye and body wash stations in case a scientist comes in contact with adangerous substance.

Health and safety professionals working in companies with hazardousenvironments such as chemical companies must make sure hazardousmaterials are handled and disposed of properly. In a hospital, employeescan’t just throw used needles and medical supplies in with the regular trash.For an electrical utility, employees fixing and handling wires with electricalcurrents have to be incredibly well-trained for this hazardous role.

Health and safety professionals must also maintain their organization’s healthrequirements, if any. This may include drug testing or abilities testing if aposition requires the ability to lift or carry a certain amount of weight (suchas furniture delivery personnel).

In addition to health and safety, HR is responsible for keeping the workplaceand its employees secure, and protecting the property and proprietaryinformation of the company. Most organizations have an employee handbookdetailing policies on workplace security that cover things like what can andcan’t be brought into the workplace (i.e., weapons or illegal substances).

Security in the workplace has never been more top-of-mind than post-September 11. Organizations were galvanized to evaluate their securityprocedures and make sure that employees were aware of and trained in thingslike evacuation procedure, natural disaster, criminal activity or other illegalacts in the workplace.

“After September 11, there were actually armed reserve guards and tanks onthe corner outside our office,” says one Washington, D.C. HR professionalwhose office is just blocks from the White House. “It was incredibly soberingto be reminded of the important responsibility we as HR professionals haveto keep our offices and employees safe if something ever happens in or nearour workplace.”

Health, safety and security professionals often work alongside theircolleagues in other areas of a company to ensure the workplace is safe andsecure. They may collaborate with IT, for example, on policies to protectcompany data, and with operations on assembly line safety.



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The types of roles available to health, safety and security professionals isalways going to vary based on the level of risk in the workplace. If you’reinterested in this career path or a role where this would be your soleresponsibility, your best bet is an industry with more risk, such as chemical,manufacturing, or utilities.

A good place to start is as a safety specialist, focusing on the administrationof health and safety programs. This may include performing safetyinspections, maintaining accident records, and preparing legal compliancereports. Health, safety and security managers take on an additional level ofresponsibility, developing safety programs and managing multiple workplacesites to ensure their safety.

Directors in this arena are usually responsible for the health, safety andsecurity of workplace sites across multiple divisions or geographies. Theyalso direct proactive safety, anticipating potential safety issues and workingacross all functions of the organization to check for issues that might pop upin the development of a new program or product.

Some companies also classify employee assistance program (EAP)counselors in this specialty. Keeping employees mentally healthy is just asimportant as keeping them physically healthy, and an EAP providesemployees with confidential access to treatment for mental problems anddiseases such as depression or alcoholism.

While it may not be the sexiest specialty in HR, health, safety and securitymight be one of the most crucial. If you’re interested in both HR andoperations, it might just be the place for you.


A Day in the Life: Compensation Specialist,Tech Industry

8:00 a.m.: I am somewhat of an early bird, so I am always in the officeby 8:00 a.m., if not earlier. Things are a bit quieter this week for mesince we just finished a cycle of compensation increases, but I amstarting my day going through the multiple e-mails I have with questionsabout the raises and when they take effect.

9:00 a.m.: After going through my e-mail, I move on to my major project– a report on what our compensation structure looks like for ourcompany. Our compensation manager will be giving a presentation to theexecutive team on where our compensation structure stands. My job isto make sure we have all the right data in the presentation.

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10:45 a.m.: I get a call from a division director, who was on vacation lastweek and had a lot of questions about the compensation increases in hisgroup. We talk out the structure and he asks if he can schedule ameeting for me to come explain to his group how increases are made.

12:00 p.m.: I answer some more e-mails and return a few calls over lunchat my desk. One associate tries to get me to divulge figures for hercolleagues, which I absolutely can’t do. Confidentiality is perhaps themost important part of my job, no matter how much they push. I giveher the same “stock” answer I give to everyone. It’s important not towaver on policy and deliver the same message to everyone.

1:30 p.m.: I have an afternoon meeting with my compensation manager,who is meeting with a group of directors who are trying to learn how tofield complaints. She has invited me to come along because I do a lot ofthe research and salary benchmarking and wants me there to jump in togive data if it’s needed. It’s important that I know my “stuff” for timeslike this when my manager relies on me.

3:30 p.m.: I then move on to an HR staff meeting. Today our benefitsstaff is giving a presentation on some best practices they just learnedfrom attending a conference on integrated benefits. We haven’t changedour benefits very much since I’ve been with the company (about 3 years)so we’re also going to be talking about the direction we should be headedas an HR team and what role we all play (outside of the benefits staff).

5:00 p.m.: I typically leave about 5:30 p.m. each day. My manager ispretty flexible. Last week was so busy with the last round ofcompensation increases, so I was leaving closer to 7:00 p.m. I did stayone evening until well after 9:00 p.m., because we found a discrepancyin one of the salary categories and had to go through mounds of papersto find the error. We fixed it, though, and while my wife hates when Icome home this late, it’s really, really rare so it’s not that big of a deal.

What I didn’t get to today: I actually made it through most of my to-dolist today, which is rare. I keep meaning to schedule my next set ofcompensation certification exams, but I haven’t had a chance to do soyet. The deadline is next week so I have to do it in the next few days.

Reflections on my typical day: Today was a pretty calm day compared towhat things were like last week, when the increases were announced. Itwas several long days trying to get everything done in time. But normallymy days are pretty structured. I am usually more at my desk doingresearch and writing reports than in meetings, but this week is moremeeting-heavy than normal.

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A Day in the Life: Recruiter, ManufacturingIndustry

8:00 a.m.: I am in the office early each day because I have to make sureI prepare for my day. I have six first-round phone interviews today,among other projects, so the more I prepare ahead of time the easier myday is.

9:00 a.m.: I have one more hour left before my first interview, so I usemy status board to see what needs to be done. I am in charge ofrecruiting entry-level sales staff for one of our divisions. All nine of usin the office use a status board to track candidates who are in the finalstages so that our manager can always know what’s going on.

10:00 a.m.: My first interview of the day. This one doesn’t last verylong, about 30 minutes, because I can tell right away the candidate isn’ta fit for the company or the position. Sometimes I have candidates thataren’t right for the position, but might be a fit in the company. Hewasn’t, but it reminds me that I need to make some time this week toreview new positions open in other divisions so I can pass candidatesthat way if appropriate.

11:00 a.m.: My second interview of the day. This candidate is definitelymoving on to the next stage. I update our electronic resumemanagement system and direct our scheduler to follow-up with him in afew days to schedule the next round with our sales team.

12:00 p.m.: My third interview of the day. This candidate is also gettingpassed on to the next round, so I update the system and ask thescheduler to take care of this one too.

1:00 p.m.: I take a quick break for lunch and then make an offer call.This is my favorite part of the job. I let the candidate know he canexpect the offer in writing to arrive in the next few days. He soundspretty excited, and I make a note on our status board that I’m 90% surehe’ll accept.

2:00 p.m.: Interview #4, I am on a roll. It’s another good interview, andI pass on this candidate too. He’s already been working in sales for twoyears, so I make a note in his profile that his salary requirements may behigher than we normally expect.

3:00 p.m.: My streak doesn’t last long. Interview #5 isn’t there when Icall. This is frustrating, because many candidates don’t take interviewsseriously or think that if they blow off an scheduled call, it’s okay, whenreally it’s not. Unless they have a good excuse, we won’t reschedule.

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A Day in the Life: HR Generalist, ConsultingIndustry

8:30 a.m.: Today I am in by 8:30 for a partner meeting. It’s rare that Iget to go to these, but my HR director is presenting to the partners ona new vacation policy based on some of the research I did. She’s askedme to be there, since I did a lot of the work.

9:45 a.m.: At 9:45, I am back at my desk. I got to listen to the partnersdebate about the policy, and my director has asked me to do someadditional research on a statistic they’d like before making a decision.

10:30 a.m.: I send the research off to my director and head off to thesecond meeting of the day. There are fifteen HR staff members in ouroffice, and we meet once a week to go over the tasks we’re working on.There are three of us who are generalists, and we usually work onprojects for the managers so it’s good to hear what my peers areworking on.

4:00 p.m.: My 6th interview of the day is a no – the candidate wasn’taware that the position was a sales role and after about twenty minuteshe indicates he would rather not pursue the role. I update the systemand mark him a no.

4:30 p.m.: I have a quick status meeting with my manager, updating heron a few offers I have made and on how quickly I think I can fill someof the other open positions. We have an impromptu meeting with a fewmembers of the sales staff who are concerned about the number of openpositions. My manager follows-up with our entire recruiting team andasks me to schedule an all-hands meeting for tomorrow. It’s about 6:00p.m. when I leave for the day.

What I didn’t get to today: I have a backlog of candidate e-mails andvoice-mails I need to answer. The majority of them are from candidateswho we haven’t continued in the process and who are calling to find outwhy or if we’ll reconsider. But others are from candidates we do likewho have questions about the process or our company.

Reflections on my typical day: I try not to schedule six interviews in oneday – it’s hard to get other work done. But we have more openpositions than normal right now, so the more good candidates I can findto pass on for more interviews the better for my company.

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12:00 p.m.: Today happens to be my performance review day, so mymanager is taking me to lunch to talk about it. I have already seen thereview, and was satisfied with it, but we’re going to lunch to talk aboutwhat things I can do to work on some of my weaknesses.

1:30 p.m.: Back at my desk again, I get to work on the employeesatisfaction survey I am working on. Our company is launching thissurvey nationally, and there is one generalist in each office responsiblefor the administration. It’s a big project because I have to set the surveyup for our office and get all of the communication ready for my managerto review.

4:00 p.m.: I have a quick afternoon status meeting with my managerand director on the survey. They have a lot of questions on how thesurvey will be administered and how we’ll access the data. I have beenthe main point of contact with HQ on this so I update them.

5:00 p.m.: I finish answering a few e-mails before getting out the doorpretty quickly. I am taking classes at night toward a Master’s degree inHR, so I have to make sure I leave on time to get to class on time.

What I didn’t get to today: There are probably a thousand things Ihaven’t done today. I have about 30 e-mails I haven’t even read that Iwill get to first thing in the morning, and I also have to go through someresumes that were submitted for an HR generalist position that isbecoming vacant.

Reflections on my typical day: Today was an overly busy day – moremeetings than I usually have. I typically spend most of the day at mydesk doing research, answering employee questions or laying the groundwork for big projects. But I like the meetings too. It’s energizing to learnfrom my colleagues.

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You already know that Human Resource Development (HRD) is the evolvingside of the HR profession. While mainly consisting of training, learning andorganization development, these roles also comprise other growingresponsibilities. So some of the more contemporary additions to the HRprofession, such as coaching and succession planning, may be separatefunctions in large or growing companies that have invested time and moneyinto HR. But in smaller or more traditional companies, you may find thatmany HRD functions fall under more common generalist or manager roles.

Training and Development

Training and development, sometimes called training and learning or learningand development, is the most common HRD function when it comes todeveloping and growing talent in an organization. Almost every organizationhas some sort of training function, whether it’s one HR staff memberresponsible for training new employees or a team of trainers, instructionaldesigners and evaluators.

So what exactly is training and development? It’s a way to make employeesin an organization perform better in their jobs and grow their careers.Depending on how progressive a company is, training and development cantake on many different forms, from classroom training to conferences to self-study courses. It may be a six-month intensive leadership developmentprogram or a one-hour course on presentation skills. But regardless of thesize of a training program or how innovative a training and developmentfunction is, if your HR career heads in this direction, the basic responsibilitiesare the same.

The first responsibility training and development professionals take on iswhat’s called needs assessment. This refers to the research behinddetermining what kind of training is actually needed in a company. Say atechnology company is launching a new product offering. It will need todevelop training for the sales force on that product, so that they understandhow the product works, who it’s for and why a customer should make thepurchase. In this case, there may be a training manager deployed to meet withthe product team and the sales director to assess what exactly the sales force


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needs to be trained on. Needs assessment is also done in response to aproblem training might solve.

“In our company-wide survey last year, one of the biggest complaints wasabout how our supervisors don’t have good management skills,” says oneconsultant at an up-and-coming technology company. “So the trainingdepartment followed up with their own research and determined that weshouldn’t be hiring different people, but instead training the people wealready have.”

Once a needs assessment has been done, training and developmentprofessionals are then charged with determining how they will meet thoseneeds. Will there be a large-scale training class created? An online trainingmodule? On-the-job training? An initial decision has to now be made aboutwhat type of training and development activity can best solve the problem athand and/or best develop and grow company employees.

In a large company, there may be a group of training and developmentprofessionals that focus solely on needs assessment and program selection,and then leave it up to their colleagues to work on the program design. In asmall company, this may all be done by one person.

There are also a number of decisions made during this step – training anddevelopment professionals liaise with colleagues across the company to seehow long a program should run, who should teach or administer it, how tobest reach the intended audience and how to evaluate the results. Creating atraining program is called instructional design.

Instructional design is one subset of the training and development professionthat can be a specialty on its own. Many Fortune 500 and other largecompanies employ teams of instructional designers proficient in designingtraining in their area of expertise. For example, if that sales training wasgoing to be an online training course, the instructional designers must havethe technology know-how to create and deploy the course online. If thetraining is to be a leadership development course, they must be familiar withthe theories that will be taught and the best order and method of delivery.Instructional design can often be the longest part of the training process.Depending on the scale of the program, there may be dozens of peopleinvolved in editing and reviewing the course content and design.

After final approval, the program may actually see the light of day. If there’stime, and the size or length of the program warrants, training anddevelopment professionals may test the program first to see if it’s effective.Then it’s time for execution. Again, in a small company, the person who


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designed the course may be the one who teaches it. In larger companies, thereare bands of actual trainers whose job it is to constantly deliver new trainingcourses to employees across an organization. If the course involves atechnical component, there should be HR IT specialists involved to make surean online course runs smoothly or that technical glitches are fixed promptly.

The final step in the process is evaluation. You’ve probably filled outevaluations on professors or teachers you’ve had in the past. In anorganization the process isn’t that much different, though the results may becrucial to a company. The evaluation of training and development programsis key to determining if a program has met its goal. The resulting statisticsmay also prove to company executives that the program has saved thecompany money, effectively trained employees and is essentially worthcontinuing. There are a number of different types of evaluations, from simplequestionnaires to on-the-job assessment, to see if employees actually performbetter after the training than before. The goal of the program and the needsof the company determine the type of evaluation process used.

Many training professionals go through this process on a regular basis,responding to needs of their assigned function or department as they arise.Others work specifically on one section of the process (i.e., as an instructionaldesigner or a trainer). It’s also important to keep in mind that training anddevelopment professionals are often tasked with typical administrativeresponsibilities like compiling reports of attendees. Many professions andcertifications (including HR) require professionals to take a certain number ofhours of training each year, and companies often help employees track thesehours.

Ongoing programs and initiatives are also part of the job. You might findyourself working solely on one project like new hire orientation, or doing areview of a training program that hasn’t been changed in many years. Theopportunity to work on multiple projects is certainly available.

But are there entry-level roles in the training specialty? Absolutely. You maystart doing some of the administrative tasks, tracking training hours orhelping compile supplies and materials for an upcoming training session.Depending on your skills and attributes, you can move into different areas ofthe function. Instructional design, for example, requires a strict attention todetail, while the role of a trainer demands excellent presentation skills.Whether you want to do it all in a small company, or try a specific specialtyin a larger organization, training and development is one specialty that’s hereto stay.



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Organization Development

A specialty that’s gained tremendous momentum in the HR profession overthe past five years is organization development. While training focuses ondeveloping employees, organization development focuses on organizationalstructures, processes and practices in an organization. Technologicaladvances might render a process that was put in place ten years ago no longereffective. A reporting structure created under a previous executive may notbe one a new executive sees as supportive for company growth.

It’s for challenges like these that organization development (OD)professionals enter the picture. They are deployed to specific companydepartments to help them manage situations affecting the organization and itstalent, and have the expertise to help the organization grow and change.

For example, let’s say a company is going through a merger (joining onecompany to form a new company) or acquisition (buying a smaller companyand making it part of their own), creating a number of organizational issues.A newly merged company has to decide who the executives will be, what thepolicies and rules will be and what the company culture will be like. Acompany that’s acquired a smaller company may now have several hundrednew employees to staff in the organization and orient to company policies.

OD professionals often step in for situations like this. In a merger, an ODprofessional may be in charge of helping a specific function like IT determinehow it will operate in the newly formed company. What systems will bekept? How will employees from one company learn the technology used bythe other? An OD professional will work alongside IT professionals to isolatethe issues and potential problems they may face. Other situations like thismay include the restructuring of a new division or of the company as a whole.

In addition to organization changes, OD professionals are also changemanagement specialists. This means they can help employees in a companydeal with big changes. If a manufacturing firm decides to roll out an entirelynew customer database, not only will all affected employees have to learnhow to use the new system, but some may not even want to. Change is tough,and OD professionals are brought into the picture to make the change processless painful and more effective.

Other instances where OD expertise is needed include company expansion, orcreation of a new function or division. OD professionals may jump in to helpcreate the organizational structure and help determine where the structuremight fit in the whole of the organization. What positions need to be created?


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How will the new division interact with the rest of the company? ODspecialists also have to know when to bring in their HR colleagues to addressother HR specialty issues, such as recruiting or staffing.

To do all of this, OD professionals must have a very specific skill andknowledge set. Most OD professionals have a Bachelor’s degree andprevious HR experience, or a graduate degree specific to organizationdevelopment or human resource development. This may include a Master’sdegree in Human and Organizational Studies, or a graduate degree inpsychology.

“My interests included social psychology and industrial and organizationalpsychology (I/O psych). There was more of an opportunity to do appliedwork with the I/O degree, so I chose to go this route in graduate school,” saysPhil Skeath, who gained graduate and real world experience in OD beforelanding his current role as a performance improvement consultant at Bank ofAmerica.

Can you start in OD without going to graduate school? Most OD experts sayit’s rare. Those who do start out as HR generalists, working on OD issues ina small organization as part of their larger list of tasks. But most go back tograduate school eventually to supplement their HR knowledge with anunderstanding of behavior and psychology – essential for any ODprofessional – and to get practice with a broad range of OD issues.

It was in graduate school where Skeath got hands-on practice as a buddingOD professional: “I held two internships: one government position engagingin survey design/analysis work and another with a consulting firm, where Iparticipated in projects geared toward reducing absenteeism and turnover inthe workplace.”

Whether addressing a common problem like absenteeism in the workplace ordealing with a company merger, OD professionals are often structured likeinternal consultants. They may be assigned to certain geographies,departments, or business units, and then are assigned to OD issues as theyarise. There are also firms, many of them small, devoted to OD consulting asa whole. OD professionals in these roles work much like any externalconsultant and are assigned to projects as organizations hire them, for theirspecific expertise.

Like many HRD specialties, it’s important to note that some of the sameprinciples apply here. In small organizations, OD responsibilities will likelyfall underneath the umbrella of a HR manager or generalist. But not allorganizations use, employ or even understand the role of OD. Other



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organizations may not necessarily see it as an HR function – leavingresponsibility for managing change to the function or department affected.So if you’re interested in OD, you can lead the charge at a small organization,working to show how OD can make a difference. You can do your researchand find an organization that values OD with a specific function devoted toits practice, or a firm that only does OD work. Regardless, it’s one area ofHR where the fruits of your labor will be quite evident.

Leadership Development and SuccessionPlanning

Another more recent addition to the HRD side of the house is a specialtyknown as leadership development and succession planning. Often, the markof a successful company is strong leadership that can take the company to thenext level, or having the next leader in place if needed. Well-known is therecent case in which McDonald’s CEO, Jim Cantalupo, passed away, and thecompany was immediate in announcing who was next in line to take on therole. It showed investors and customers that the company was well-preparedand wouldn’t suffer during this time.

Traditionally, this specialty has fallen under training and development, andwill continue to for most small and medium-sized companies. But if it’s anarea that really interests you, you can look to larger companies that have thecapacity to support specialty roles that focus just in this area.

Leadership development is pretty easy to understand. It’s a program or set ofprograms specifically designed to help employees be better leaders. Theother part of the specialty, succession planning, assures that the company hasan idea who its true leaders are, and what their next step or position can be ina company.

Creating leadership development programs is much like creating a trainingprogram. A needs assessment is done, followed by decisions on how theprogram will run, who it will include or target and what the specific goals are.Some companies may have a specific leadership program for employees whoreach a certain level in the company. Others may hire candidates directly intoa leadership development program (LDP), giving them the opportunity towork in several different areas throughout the company and determine wherethey might be most successful. Well-known companies like General Electric(GE) are famous for hiring LDP candidates directly from undergraduate or


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graduate school, hoping to direct them into long-term careers with thecompany.

Succession planning, on the other hand, is much like organizationdevelopment. HR professionals in this arena may work with a specificdivision, business unit, or with the executive team to understand thecompany’s future strategy and goals and determine who internally might bestfit in some of those roles. Good succession plans start at the top but may godeeply into the mid-levels of the company, locating star talent and keepingthat star talent from leaving. It may also involve coordinating with trainingand development to help employees with a development area that may keepthem from rising to the top if not fixed, or coordinating with recruiting andstaffing on positions where there aren’t good internal candidates available.

As a new HR professional, you may want to start in training and developmentand work yourself into this specialty area, since it typically requires some HRbackground or business experience. Whether or not this specialty area is ofinterest, you may be interested in applying to be a part of an LDP as part ofyour career strategy.

Performance Management

What may be a subset of training and development, or a stand-alone functionon its own is what’s known as performance management. HR professionalsin this arena help evaluate and address the performance of employees acrossan organization. Like some of the other HRD specialties, for small and mid-sized companies this may be a function that’s embedded in an HR generalistor manager’s responsibilities, or may fall under training and development.

Regardless of whose responsibility it is, evaluating how employees performisn’t always the most welcomed task in an organization, but it is definitelyessential to making it run well. Most organizations have some sort ofperformance evaluation program; it may be once a year or once every fewmonths, but it’s a chance for a manager to give feedback to an employee onwhat’s working and what’s not.

All organizations have to develop a structure to evaluate performance, andsome may do so company-wide, or leave it up to divisions or business unitsto create their own. In small organizations, an HR manager or director istypically responsible for creating and maintaining the program, making sureit’s working and that employees are getting valuable feedback.



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The most common type of evaluation is a simple survey where a managerrates or grades an employee on how s/he performed in the major areas ofresponsibility in the job. Large companies and good performancemanagement programs usually have employees set performance expectationsupfront, so they know what they are going to be measured on over the courseof the evaluation period.

Once the program is created, it usually falls to HR or performancemanagement professionals to make sure managers know what is expected ofthem, are trained on doing the evaluations and giving feedback and that theevaluations actually get completed. The latter is one of the toughest parts ofthe job. Managers are often so busy that they don’t make time for evaluationsor ignore due dates. They may complain that the process is too lengthy, orgive feedback to their employees informally.

Performance management professionals are also tasked with reviewingevaluations and taking action where needed. This may include coordinatingwith a manager who has a problem employee or just the opposite – someonewho is ready to be promoted. It may also mean coordinating with the trainingand development function to help an individual employee, or to convey acommon development need in a certain group of employees.

Many HR professionals in this specialty got their start as HR generalists withpartial responsibility for this area. As a new HR professional, it may againmean some administrative work, like collecting evaluations, answeringcommon questions or creating and distributing communications on theprocess. But helping employees perform better can be one of the mostrewarding aspects of the HR profession.

Executive Coaching

Last but not least, one of the newest components of the HRD function isexecutive and employee coaching. Much like the role of a sports coach, anexecutive coach provides guidance in problem areas and motivation tosucceed. As you have probably figured out by now, hiring and firingemployees can be expensive. And many employees are good performers buthave one or two problem areas that they really need to work on. This is wherecoaches come in. They may work with an employee for a limited time on onespecific problem, or on a longer-term basis to make sure the employee stayson track to reach a specific goal or position.


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Some coaches only work one-on-one with clients, to help them attain aspecific goal or position. This type of executive coaching is becoming moreand more common. In this case, an executive may seek out a coach on his orher own, or a company may recommend that the executive retain a coach aspart of a individual development plan. The executive may meet with severalcoaches to get a sense of each coach’s methods and work style.

Once a coach is selected, s/he may meet with both the executive andcolleagues to get a better sense of the targeted goals. For example, anexecutive may need help learning how to better lead a team through a crisis,manage multiple projects at once, or even work on a personality attribute(such as attitude) that may be preventing him from getting to the next level.

Some coaches use personality assessments to get a good sense of theexecutive. Others may have the executive’s colleagues fill out assessmentforms on what it’s like to work with or for him. Either way, a strongbackground in human behavior and psychology is essential to this kind ofwork.

Once the coach has a solid background on the executive, they begin to worktogether in discussions and on assignments. The relationship may last for afew weeks or several months, however long it takes to help the executiveaddress his issues.

While more rare, some coaches may also work in group settings, particularlywhen coaching is needed in a specific behavioral area. For example, a groupof executives may have good presentation skills but all have a fear of givingpresentations. Group coaching may help them get past that fear together.

So how does an HR professional get into coaching? If you’re looking for anentry-level HR role, coaching is probably not the place for you – at least notyet. Most coaches have coaching certifications attained through extensivecoaching training from a program like the Coaches Institute. Many also cometo the coaching function with HR or business experience. They may haveenjoyed helping their colleagues internally through mentoring or HR-specifictasks like training, and decided to move into coaching as a full-timeprofession.

Some coaches have their own specialties, whether working with a certain typeof audience such as healthcare executives, or on a certain subject like crisiscoaching. Career coaches are also gaining popularity, helping job seekers andthose wishing to advance their careers reach specific career developmentgoals.



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As a profession, coaching is still growing and changing, but the majority ofcoaches still work in private practice, contracting with companies as the needarises. Most coaches charge on an hourly basis, but may provide a free initialconsultation. Others may be on retainer for a company, receiving a setmonthly fee for working a specific number of hours.

For some companies, the need for coaching is so strong and the cost so high,they have abandoned working with external coaches, instead choosing to stafftheir own coaching functions. This isn’t common, but as shown by CapitalOne in the Case in Point (see page 26), it can be a very effective model for acompany that understands the power of coaching and is committed todeveloping a strong assembly of executives.


A Day in the Life: Training Manager, RetailIndustry

7:00 a.m.: Today I am in Minneapolis, working with one of our regionalfield offices. We have a large number of stores here, and I am in chargeof training 35 store managers on our company’s new customer servicestrategy and initiative. The training doesn’t start until 9:00 a.m., but I amhere early to make sure everything is set up, the computer and projectorare working, the breakfast has arrived and my three training colleagues areready to present their sections.

9:00 a.m.: People have started arriving for the training. The three trainersare signing people in. I stand over by where the breakfast has been setup. It’s important I say hello and meet each person as they come in. Onething I have learned about training is the environment has to becomfortable and the people comfortable. If they’re uncomfortable theycan’t learn.

9:45 a.m.: We’ve got everyone ready to go and we begin introductionsaround the room. At this point I am more like a facilitator than a trainer.As the store managers introduce themselves, I make sure they each sharesome of the customer service challenges they’re facing in their stores. Ihave to keep the stories short, though, and keep the group on track. Wehave a long day ahead and a lot to get done.

11:00 a.m.: One of my trainers begins the first module with a video weproduced at corporate headquarters. Our CEO was interviewed about thetrip he took around the country to different stores. We show clips fromhis trip, and two of the managers in the room are featured in the video.Afterwards, the trainer introduces the new customer service strategy. Itake notes on how the managers react and what kind of questions they

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ask. We talk to them about what aspects we hope to change with thenew strategy.

1:00 p.m.: Over lunch, we bring in a panel of managers from anotherregion who have already been trained. They talk about the challenges theyface with the new strategy, but also reiterate why it’s working. Astrainers we can’t just be the only advocates for what we’re training on.

2:30 p.m.: We take a half hour break so the managers can call into theirstores and check on things. I try to escape to check my own e-mail butend up talking one-on-one with a manager who is having problems trainingassociates in his store. I make a mental note to set up a call with him nextweek. I also quickly debrief with my team on how the session is going.

3:00 p.m.: The next two hours, we break into three small groups, with onetrainer for each one, and do more role plays. We review the new strategyand then we take turns being challenging customers. The managers canstart to see how it would play out in their stores.

5:00 p.m.: The group takes another break before meeting back for acocktail hour and dinner. We will socialize with the managers tonight butalso spend some time over dinner preparing them for tomorrow. Theyeach have associates coming to the training session, and we’ll be trainingsmall groups of them in each of the service techniques.

9:00 p.m.: I am finally back in my hotel room, and decide to go straight tobed after making a few quick calls. I am still a bit jetlagged and haveanother early day tomorrow.

What I didn’t get to today: I had planned to step away during lunch to tryto check e-mail, but never got around to it. I can only imagine how my in-box is piling up, since I have already been out of the office for a few days.I also didn’t return a call from a trainer who is running a session in anotherstate and wanted to give me an update. But she didn’t indicate anyproblems, so I will try to touch base with her tomorrow.

Reflections on my typical day: I am on the road about 40 percent of thetime and should be used to it by now; the travel can be draining. Myfamily’s on the East Coast so I have to pay attention to the time differenceand try to call home before the kids go to bed. But even though I waspromoted to manager last year, my favorite part of the job is still theinteraction and presentation, so I love being in the training classes andreally seeing the impact of what my team does.

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A Day in the Life: Executive Coach

9:00 a.m.: I make the short commute to my home office – a benefit ofbeing an entrepreneur. While I was often at work much earlier when Iwas working at a large company, another benefit of running my owncoaching business is that I have more flexibility with my hours. Itypically spend the first few hours of my day responding to client e-mailsand setting up for any appointments I have for the day. This may includeupdating client files and setting agendas for client meetings. I have tofigure out what issues we are going to discuss and what kind ofhomework I might give the client.

11:00 a.m.: My first appointment of the day arrives. He is a director ina financial services firm who has been passed over for a VP role becauseof his track record of poor management skills. I have just startedworking with him, so today we’re going over the results of some of thebehavioral tests he has taken. My goal is to help him find the root of hispoor management skills so we can work on then changing that behavior.

12:15 p.m.: I quickly respond to a few e-mails before rushing out thedoor for a prospective client lunch. The president of a small company ishaving trouble with two of her female executives whose clashingattitudes are starting to affect their ability to win new business. I buyher lunch and we talk about how I might be able to work with both ofthem to overcome these attitude problems. At the conclusion of ourlunch I promise to follow-up with a cost proposal so she knows how I’drecommend we work together and how much it might cost.

1:45 p.m.: I quickly check e-mail responding to a client who has anunexpected presentation to give and wants my advice based on some ofthe things I have been helping her on. I then work on two clientproposals from the lunch I had today.

3:00 p.m.: I am out the door again for a 3:30 appointment with anexecutive on-site. I often work with my clients in their offices becauseit is easier and sometimes more comfortable for them. With this client,we’re working on his ability to communicate. Today, he has twopresentations he is running through for me to give him guidance andsuggestion on his style and on his demeanor. He is known for hisgruffness in the workplace, so we’re working on his tone.

5:15 p.m.: I stop by my daughter’s school to pick her up frompractice on my way back home. I have another hour or two of work towrap up today, making notes on my clients from today, updating theirfiles and prepping tomorrow’s schedule.

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7:00 p.m.: I finally wrap up for the day and head into the kitchen tomake a quick dinner for the family. Once we’re done, I will probablycheck a few more e-mails and dive into a new book on career brandingthat I just picked up. I do mostly executive coaching, but I am lookinginto doing more career coaching and development so I want to try tohone those skills.

What I didn’t get to today: I have been meaning to call the company thatcreated my website to make some updates and changes. Some of thecontent is out of date and I want to add some new services and ideas.For some reason though, this always gets pushed to the wayside.

Reflections on my typical day: I really like the variety in my days. I getto be in many places, and meet with many different types of people. Itmakes for a lot of challenge which is good for me. I also like theflexibility. It’s also good for me now that I have kids. I can alter myschedule if I need to and don’t have to ask permission to take time offfor my son’s soccer games. But it does mean that I do work seven daysa week. I am often checking e-mail late at night and do schedule someweekend appointments. So there are positives and negatives to beingan entrepreneur, but all in all it’s been a good transition from myprevious corporate HR career.

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Whether you work in Human Resource Management or Human ResourceDevelopment, there are numerous HR specialties to choose from. Butwhether you choose a generalist or specialist role, you may also want to lookahead to how you can grow your career into a leadership role. There arestrong career path choices and leadership roles in specialty areas; largecompanies actually have executive roles in specialty areas such as training,recruiting or employee relations.

But many HR professionals have to make a choice at some point as towhether they want to stay a specialist or subject matter expert, or whetherthey want to have more leadership and managerial responsibility for one orall of the HR specialty areas in a company. If you choose to take on aleadership or management role, opportunities exist in all industries andcompanies, large and small.

All of the specialty areas mentioned above may or may not have leadershiproles, depending on the size of the company. If you are interested in a careerpath where you can be a director or vice president in a single specialty area,you’ll want to eventually seek out organizations large enough to have suchroles.

More common though are HR management and leadership roles that haveresponsibility for multiple specialty areas.

Director, HR: Single Office

In smaller companies, or in large companies organized by geography ordivision, there may only be a few HR professionals managed by one director.The HR director is the “go to” for all HR related issues, and runs all aspectsof HR for the office, from compensation and benefits to training.

Some HR directors may work solo – doing all HR-related tasks from advisingthe executive team to processing paychecks. But more common is a situationwhere an HR director delegates certain tasks to the few HR specialists orgeneralists on her team. HR directors may find themselves leading teammeetings to talk about policy changes and execution, as well as checking inwith specialists to make sure projects are completed and HR processes are


Human ResourceLeadership Roles CHAPTER 11


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running smoothly. If they’re not, responsibility falls to the HR director tomake sure that they do.

If it’s a single office, the HR director may have authority for all HR decisionsand policy creation. This may include research and training as well asbenchmarking competitors in the field to make sure the best decisions aremade. In larger companies, the director may have authority for all local officeissues, but may also look to company headquarters for guidance and policycreation.

Working as the HR leader in a single office provides a great deal ofresponsibility and leeway to make decisions and be creative. If you’re incharge, you’re the one other managers and executives may turn to forguidance and advice. But it’s usually the top HR position for a smallorganization, so it doesn’t allow much room for growth. In fact, some smallcompanies actually hire outside firms to run their HR function if they don’thave the capacity internally.

On the other hand, while an HR director at a large company may have to deferto more senior HR executives on decisions and program creation, she alsomay still have more room to grow and advance her career. Being a part of alarger company may also mean the chance to learn from other offices thathave previously faced HR challenges you might be facing now. There mayalso be a greater opportunity to travel, both to company headquarters and tomeet with HR colleagues in other offices.

Director/Vice-President, HR: BusinessUnit/Division

Beyond the role of HR director of a single office, many HR professionalsprogress to the role of director or vice president (VP) for an entire division orbusiness unit. Obviously these roles can only be found in organizations largeenough to have the need for multiple HR leaders, but are a great opportunityfor those looking for broader responsibility.

More responsibility means that the director or VP may oversee multiple HRdirectors or managers in multiple locations or divisions. A VP of HR for theeastern region may be responsible for all HR-related work and issues in onehalf of the U.S. A director of HR for a specific business unit, such asmanufacturing, may be responsible for all HR-related work and issues in allof a company’s plants or factories.


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There are usually a number of staff members reporting up to the director orVP, whose job it is to make sure all divisions and/or locations are runningsmoothly from an HR perspective. This type of leadership role might find theHR professional at a local plant helping to manage an escalated employeeissue, or meeting with other HR leaders in the company to discuss policychanges or to implement a new HR program across the entire company.

Like the director of HR at a single office, the director or VP of HR for abusiness unit or division has to have knowledge of and experience in multipleHR specialties. HR specialty managers may count on the director or VP foradvice and strategic direction on projects in that specialty area. For example,while the manager of recruiting may be in charge of recruiting for alldivisional positions, he may go to the director or VP for approval to launch anew program or for a budget increase.

The actual title, director or vice president, may likely depend on the amountof responsibility involved. It also may signal the jump to executive. Thisvaries, but in many industries, the VP title may signal more say andparticipation in executive-level decision-making and company direction andstrategy.

Regardless of title or full scope of responsibility, directors and VPs are mostlikely going to be very metrics focused. In addition to making sure thefunction is running smoothly, they also have to report to executives on HRactivity, including positions filled, on-the-job accident statistics, trainingevaluations or money saved through HR programs. The exact statistics theseleaders focus on may depend on the industry or the issues or strategy of thecompany at any given time.

The other important factor about the director or VP role is that it’s often onestep from the top of the HR mountain. Leaders in these positions may oftenbe in position to take on the top HR job company-wide.

Chief Administrative Officer/SVP, HR:Organization-Wide

In mid-to-large sized companies, there is often a company-wide vicepresident, senior vice president (SVP) or chief administrative officer (CAO)with an enormous amount of HR responsibility. Depending on the size andassets of the company, this may mean oversight for all HR operations aroundthe world in all specialty areas.



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In this case the leader has ultimate responsibility, so the title may signifywhere the leader sits in the organization. For example, a worldwide VP of HRmay report to a CAO who is in charge of worldwide HR, Operations andLegal. In another case, the SVP of HR may report directly to the CEO. Atthis level the HR leader has a direct connection to what’s called a C-levelexecutive: executives at the highest level of a company.

Another key aspect of this role is the responsibility to decrease as muchemployee and workplace risk as possible. Since the HR leader ultimatelydirects all workplace policy and employee regulations, s/he works to doeverything possible to make sure the right education and programs are inplace to ensure all HR professionals are in compliance with the law and avoidlegal issues or lawsuits.

HR VPs or SVPs also have to manage all of the HR reporting structures in anorganization. They are not only responsible for the managers and directorsreporting to them, but also the staff that report to each manager and director.They are constantly evaluating company structure and making sure it enablesall HR specialties to run in an organization. For example, if sales trainersaren’t doing their job, it is up to the director of training to make sure theproblem is corrected. But if the director needs guidance, or isn’t performingwell himself, the VP or SVP has to step in and take action.

Like the business unit or divisional HR leader, the VP or SVP also reliesheavily on statistics and metrics. She is the voice of the entire function to theleaders of the organization, and must use these numbers to make the case forlarge-scale programs, budget increases or hiring more staff. If an HRprogram or function needs to be revamped or launched for the first time, theVP or SVP leads the charge, making sure the executive team sees the value inthe program or change and makes sure all employees are on board.

Even with what might be an HR staff of hundreds, the VP or SVP must alsostay in touch with the needs and opinions of all workplace employees.Ultimately, the VP or SVP has to make sure he is keeping the workforcehappy so that they can perform well and keep the company running smoothly.

This executive role is usually at the pinnacle of a career. It comes after manyyears of learning the ins and outs of the profession and gradually taking onmore and more management responsibility. There are some HR executiveswho come from other areas of the company, such as finance or legal, just asthere are HR executives who go on to work in other areas of a company oreven progress to a president and CEO role. The bottom line is that theopportunities exist – you just have to earn them.


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External Consultant or Outsourced HRProfessional

Whether you’re just starting your HR career or have been at it for severalyears, there is always an opportunity to advance your HR career by workingas an external consultant or outsourced HR professional. These people havean HR specialty, but either work for a company that contracts withorganizations to provide a specific HR service, or run their own.

The first part of working externally is getting new business. If you’reworking for a company that provides HR outsourced services, they mayactually have an entire department responsible for getting new contracts orbusiness. A company that provides benefits enrollment services, for example,has to try to get new organizations to sign up for their services in order togrow.

But it also needs a division that is providing good service, so its clients willcontinue to use its services year after year. The employees providing theoutsourced service or consulting have to stay on top of the needs of theirclients and make sure they are delivering the service promised. They alsohave to evaluate the service and make sure the customer is satisfied. This notonly leads to long-term relationships, but in the case of consulting firms, forexample, may lead to what’s called “add-on work,” or the opportunity to earnmore business.

Like any HR-related role, choosing to work externally has its benefits anddrawbacks. Your work is diverse, as you’ll get to work with many differentkinds of clients in many different kinds of industries. It may expose you toHR issues you might not encounter if you work only in one industry. You alsomay be more of a problem-solver – in the case of a consultant, being calledupon to help address or solve an issue. But you may not have an HR-specificcareer path, instead advancing in the organization as opposed to the HRprofession. Because you’re moving from client to client, you may also notget as deep access to an issue or company as you’d like, and you may bemanaging multiple clients at once.

The opportunities to work in this type of role are endless. Almost all of thewell-known consulting firms, like Deloitte and Accenture, have divisions thatfocus on HR consulting. There are opportunities to work for firms thatspecialize in HR specialty consulting, like Mercer or Towers Perrin. And ofcourse there are the numerous firms that provide outsourced services –everything from benefits administration and staffing to background checks



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and employee assistance programs. There are also HR professionals whowork internally in a specialty area for many years before leaving a companyto start their own consulting firm focusing on that specialty.

Most external HR professionals have tried both external and internal roles tofind what works best for them. But like any other area of the profession, askquestions and talk to those already in the trenches. There’s no better way tolearn.


A Day in the Life: Functional VP or HR

Elizabeth R. “Betsey” Walker, SPHR

8:00 a.m.: Arrived in the office for the morning and checked e-mail toview any messages that may have arrived overnight. Especially look forHR newsletter e-mails.

9:00 a.m.: Received call from the CEO of my account to discuss ongoingorganizational changes. He is trying to come to a conclusion on a goodstructure.

9:45 a.m.: Met with a director-level manager to discuss compensationstrategies in her functional area.

11:00 a.m.: Called insurance broker to review quote that had beenreceived in anticipation of a new benefit year. Continued discussion ofgroup needs. Went online to research some particulars concerningsection 125 benefits.

12:00 p.m.: Met with benefit administrator to discuss her list of issuesneeding resolution. Gave her a small project of updating the status ofeach employee (full-time, part-time, etc) in updating benefit costestimates. Took a call from a first-line supervisor to discuss anemployee relations issue.

1:00 p.m.: Called a manager to discuss proper recording of hoursworked. Had heard through the grapevine that something might not bein accordance with DOL regulations. Wrote a draft of a policy concerningexempt employees doing extra work in other areas. Grabbed some quicklunch at my desk.

2:30 p.m.: Joined a conference call with branch managers to discussstaffing needs and levels.

3:00 p.m.: Reviewed draft of responses to a benefit and compensationsurvey that was completed by one of our HR generalists on staff.

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Created a report to analyze the FLSA status of certain jobs and startedlooking for trends of inconsistencies in who is and is not benefit-eligible.

4:00 p.m.: Took a call from another supervisor with an employeerelations issue and then a call from an employee who is not happy witha management decision.

5:00 p.m.: Started developing a presentation to give to all managementand supervisors on major HR laws/practices. Worked on this for abouttwo hours before going home about 7:00 p.m.

What I didn’t get to today: I wanted to spend some time with thebenefits administrator on COBRA items. I also wanted to discuss anissue with the HR generalist that has the potential of becoming anemployee relations issue.

Reflections on my typical day: Once again, I did not get to some of theitems I had hoped to, but still felt productive. It’s important to beresponsive to other managers in helping them with their HR issues,which means I do missed items on my list another time!

A Day in the Life: Associate VP, HR

Maxine Klump Kent, Associate Vice President, Human Resources,Central Michigan University

7:00 a.m.: I generally arrive around 7:00 a.m. I organize my day, look atmy calendar to make sure I am ready for any meetings I have today or forthe week (if I know they will take longer prep than one day) and also atmy pending list to see what the priorities are. I plan my day – what hasto get done etc. I also clear my e-mail (if I can) and go through mail fromthe prior day.

8:00 a.m.: I try to have 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. as hold time so I cancontinue with the items above, reading mail, responding, correspondenceetc. This is not always possible as sometimes I have breakfast meetings.Since I have three directors reporting to me, I often have policies,proposals or other reports from them to read and respond to.

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. is generally spent inmeetings. The meetings can be for a variety of things. I meet weekly foran hour with each of my directors to get updated on what they areworking on, answer questions and give feedback. I also meet weekly foran hour with the VP to keep him posted on what is happening in HR and

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on campus. Every two weeks we have a department-wide staff meetingfor two hours. The first hour is generally a presentation on a new processor new information someone has gotten from a conference, the second isa roundtable to keep everyone informed on what is happening. Mymeetings might also be to address special topics, like a proposed policy.It might be to deal with a pending personnel issue like a discipline,investigation, grievance/arbitration, termination or criminal history check.Currently we are doing our annual analysis of market competitiveness,preparing for bargaining with two unions and doing our annual calculationsto set our self-insured rates for medical, prescription drug and dentalcoverage – so I will be attending lots of meetings to discuss our findingsand prepare our recommendations for the Board.

12:00 p.m.: If I do not have a lunch meeting, I generally network with acolleague over lunch or grab a salad while trying to catch up withprofessional reading.

1:00 p.m. – 6:00p.m.: My afternoons vary from completely filled withmeetings as noted above, or doing project work, such as makingrecommendations based on the analysis of my staff as to how much salaryand benefit adjustments should be, how we should handle upcominglayoffs, what our strategy should be for retention of our star players, ourstrategy and goals for bargaining etc., returning phone calls, answering e-mails etc. I generally take a final look at the rest of the week to make sureI have my priorities accounted for.

6:00 p.m.: I generally work until about 5:30 p.m. doing any of the abovethat didn’t get done for the day. I also sit on a non-profit board, so Ifrequently have meetings in the evening for that or events associated withthe university.

What I didn’t get to today: There is never enough time to get it all done.Right now sitting on my desk is the editing of our self-study foraccreditation, preparing mid-year evaluations for my directors, preparing a5% budget reduction from our HR account, updating our strategic reportand goals, a wellness proposal for my review and an issue dealing withbenefit deductions for 18 pay faculty among other things. I also have astack of professional reading that I am very interested in, but never seemto find the time to review.

Reflections on my typical day: I really enjoy what I do. I find it challenging,with lots of opportunities for creativity and opportunities to make theuniversity a better place for people to work. I deal with people-issues,benefit plan design, calculations for budget and bargaining, strategy – mywork is never boring.

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A Day in the Life: President, HR ConsultingFirm

Bob McKenzie, SPHR, President, McKenzie HR

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.: Early morning I worked on a proposal forenhancing the performance management system to include updating jobdescriptions, development of performance standards, management andemployee training and conducting a salary survey to update the wageand salary grade and compensation programs.

11:00 a.m.: I am interrupted by a conference call from the CEO of acompany to follow up on a harassment investigation conducted lastmonth. This “short” conversation lasted an hour and a half.

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.: Responded to questions on employee discipline,an employee complaint of being mistreated by his manager, arecommendation on how to conduct a training needs analysis, a numberof inquiries on the progress on recruitment assignments, participated ina brainstorming session with a few people on an agenda for amanagement meeting to be held next week. In the meantime, I had tocomplete the documentation and deliver a final report on another sexualharassment compliant, arrange counseling for the victim, arrange adifferent counseling session for the harasser and put top management atease.

5:00 p.m.: Late in the afternoon, I followed up with a few other peopleregarding their progress on meeting affirmative action goals, and myemployees on the weekly progress and plans for next week.

What I didn’t get to today: There are often so many things to do, andthe diversity of projects and tasks, along with the interruptions, maketime management and meeting deadlines difficult. I have learned todouble the time I think it is necessary to complete projects. This was adifficult thing for me to do earlier in my career, and resulted in many longhours.

Reflections on my typical day: Things are different every day. We are inthe consulting business and act as the HR department for a number ofsmaller companies. No two days are the same. It is a constantchallenge to deal with the number of issues, use influential power versuspositional power to get things done. The sheer variety of work isamazing.

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Hopefully by now you are well-versed in the basics of HR and what it takesto begin and grow an HR career. Whether you’re the lone HR personmanaging all HR needs for a small company, or getting your feet wet in anHR specialty area for a large company, you’ve got a strong career path andmultiple career options ahead of you. Now’s the time to get started! If you’reready to dive into the HR profession, it’s time to get out there, ask questionsand do some research.

So how do you get started? Take some time to answer the questions below.If you don’t know the answer, get out and talk to professionals in the field.Ask professors, friends, family and/or colleagues to connect you with anyonethey might know who works in HR. If you’re a career changer, start in yourown company with your own HR colleagues. Use the checklist below to youradvantage: make sure HR is where you want to head, and that you knowwhere you’re going once you get there.

• Is HR for you?HR isn’t a career for everyone. You’ve got to have the ability to learnspecific communication, analytical, and management skills needed forHR. Don’t just jump into HR without doing your research.

• Where can you start in the field?Do you need a degree? Are you a career changer? Be sure to read the“Beginning Your HR Career” section of the guide closely to make sureyou know what you need to do to be well-prepared to jump into thefield. You’ll also want to talk to current HR professionals to confirmwhere you can start in the field (entry-level or experienced hire) andgrow a career.

• What specialty areas are you interested in?HR is a big career field – make sure you understand the specialtyoptions available and determine what’s the best fit and what you’d bemost interested in. If you know you want to be in HR but aren’t surewhere, start out as a generalist, where you’ll be exposed to a number ofdifferent HR specialties.

• What kind of career path is best suited for you?Do you have dreams of climbing the corporate ladder, or being knownfor a distinct specialty? You don’t have to have an exact map of everystep you want to take, but start thinking about the general direction in


Final AnalysisCHAPTER 12


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Final Analysis

which you want to head. This can be helpful in figuring out your bestfirst step.

• What experience, skills and attributes make you a good fit for HR?As you already well know, you can’t just sit down and write a resume.Once you have an idea of where you can start in HR, map out what youhave to offer and what you need (degree, certification, training, etc.)

• Are you ready to sell yourself for a career in HR?Don’t just start applying for HR jobs. Practice selling your skills andtake the time to prepare effectively. If you can’t answer “why you wantto work in HR” and “why you’re a good fit for HR/specific HR job,”take a step back and make sure you’re comfortable and confidentenough to sell yourself. You’ve got to be 100% sure before you canconvince a hiring manager.

• Do you have plans for professional development?Once you get that great, first HR job, your work isn’t done. What plansdo you have for growing your HR career? Take note of certificationeducation and training options and stay on top of association web sitesand trends in the field.

Statistics show that HR careers are on the rise; you just want to make sure youknow where you’ll fit and where you want to go. There will be challengesalong the way, but HR is a field always in need of committed professionalswho want to work hard and make a difference in their workplace.

Now get out there and get going!


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HUMARESOUCARE

APPENDIX

Competency Models

Glossary of HR Terms and Acronyms

Associations, Organizations and Online Resources

Recommended Reading

About the Author

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HR is a profession that is continually studied and researched. For HR, themany professional associations that exist primarily operate to advance theprofession and educate its professionals. To ensure that professionals are onthe right track, many associations have created competency models. Thesedetail the skills and experience needed to grow a generalist or specialty HRcareer. If you’re in the process of researching HR careers, use the collectionof online resources later in the guide to locate the association that you’re mostinterested in. They’ll likely have a competency model that you can use inyour research and growth like the one below from the American Society forTraining and Development (ASTD):


Competency Models


Competency Models

BUSINESSPARTNER

LEARNINGSTRATEGIST

PROFESSIONALSPECIALIST

PROJECTMANAGER

• PERSONALDemonstratingAdaptabilityModeling PersonalDevelopment

COMPETENCIES • COMPETENCIES • COMPETENCIES

WORKPLACE LEARNING & PERFORMANCE ROLES

DESIGNING LEARNINGIMPROVING HUMAN PERFORMANCE

DELIVERING TRAININGMEASURING & EVALUATING

FACILITATING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGEMANAGING THE LEARNING FUNCTION

COACHINGMANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

CAREER PLANNING & TALENT MANAGEMENT

• BUSINESS/MANAGEMENTAnalyzing Needs & Proposing SolutionsApplying Business AcumenDriving ResultsPlanning & Implementing AssignmentsThinking Strategically

AREAS OF EXPERTISE: SUPPORTED BY TECHNOLOGY

• INTERPERSONALBuilding TrustCommunicating EffectivelyInfluencing StakeholdersLeveraging DiversityNetworking & Partnering

FOUNDATION + FOCUS = SUCCESSFUL EXECUTION

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Affirmative action: Affirmative action refers to programs or measures takento boost representation of minority populations in the workplace. While onlygovernment organizations or organizations that contract with the governmentare required to have and report AAPs (Affirmative Action Plans), many otherlarge organizations are adopting such plans.

At-will: Many organizations hire employees at-will, meaning the employeeis free to leave the organization at any time, and the employer is free toterminate the employee at any time for just cause. Most workers are hired at-will.

CBP (Certified Benefits Professional): CBP is a designation earned bycompensation specialists demonstrating a certain depth of knowledge inbenefits strategies and practices. Certain benefits positions may require CBPcertification, earned through an exam administered by World at Work, theprofessional association for professionals in compensation, benefits andrewards.

CCP (Certified Compensation Professional): CCP is a designation earnedby compensation specialists demonstrating a certain depth of knowledge incompensation strategies and practices. Certain compensation positions mayrequire CCP certification, earned through an exam administered by World atWork, the professional association for professionals in compensation,benefits and rewards.

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act): COBRA requiresemployers to give departing employees an opportunity to purchase medicalinsurance for coverage up to 18 months after the departure.

EAD (Employer Authorization Document): An EAD is a document thatnon-U.S. Citizens must provide to prove they are legally allowed to work inthe United States. EADs can be obtained in many ways, including work andstudent visas, and while a candidate for citizenship is awaiting receipt of a“green card.” Obtaining an EAD is typically the responsibility of theemployee, not the employer.

EEOC (Equal Opportunity Employment Commission): The EEOC, agovernment agency, exists to make sure that employers are following thestrong arm of the law. EEOC staff monitors changes in employment law and


Glossary of HR Termsand Acronyms


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Appendix

helps ensure organizations abide by those laws. If an employee allegesdiscrimination in hiring, the EEOC is often the first point of contact for suchissues.

EEOE (Equal Employment Opportunity Employer): An EEOEdesignation for an employer affirms that the employer abides by theemployment regulations set forth by the EEOC, including prohibiting hiringon the basis of gender, race, ethnicity, religion or creed. The EEOEdesignation can often be found at the end of an organization’s job postingand/or on the organization’s Web site.

Exempt: Exempt status defines professional employees who are salaried (asopposed to receiving hourly pay) and are ineligible or exempt from receivingadditional pay for overtime hours worked.

Exit interview: Exit interviews are given to employees who are ending theiremployment with an organization. Normally conducted by HR staff, exitinterviews can be a great way to gather valuable information about areas ofemployee dissatisfaction and how the organization can work better.

Flexible spending accounts (FSAs): Flexible spending accounts, also calledFSAs, allow employees to have a certain amount of money deducted fromtheir paychecks, tax free, to be used for health care expenses such asprescription drugs, co-payments or vision care.

FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act): This law, first enacted over sixty yearsago, created a minimum wage, set rules for child labor and requiresemployers to treat employees fairly in regards to wage and hours worked.

FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act): FMLA, a national law, requiresemployers to give eligible employees at least 12 weeks of unpaid leave duringany 12-month period in order to care for a family member, after the birth ofa new child, or an adoption. Some states have expanded this law to requireadditional time, and some organizations have broader policies, including paidleave for one or both parents.

FTE (Full-time employee): FTE is used to describe employees in theorganization who are working full-time (roughly 35-40+ hours a week). Anorganization will often be described as having a certain number of FTEs – animportant designation since FTE status typically includes a much higher levelof benefits than those given to a part-time employee.

GPHR (Global Professional in Human Resources): GPHR is the newestdesignation available to HR professionals. Designed for those who have


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Appendix

specific experience in global HR, the GPHR is earned only through an examadministered by HRCI (Human Resources Certification Institute).

GRP (Global Remuneration Professional): GRP is a designation earned bycompensation specialists demonstrating a certain depth of knowledge ininternational remuneration and compensation strategies and practices.Certain compensation positions may require GRP certification, earnedthrough an exam administered by World at Work, the professional associationfor professionals in compensation, benefits and rewards.

H1-B visa: An H1-B visa is given to citizens of other countries to work in theU.S., based on technical expertise. In order to get an H1-B visa, theindividual or hiring employer must prove that the individual’s expertisecannot be found or is difficult to find in the U.S. While H1-B visas can betransferred from one organization to another, in 2004 the United States put acap on the number of new H1-B visas granted.

HRIS (Human Resource Information System): An HRIS is the systemmany organizations use to store, review, edit and report on employee data.Often a sizeable database, an HRIS system (such as Peoplesoft or SAP) workswith other technology tools in the company to share data and easeadministrative and reporting tasks.

Job sharing: Job sharing is a term given to two or more people sharing onejob or role. For example, two accountants might each work 22 hours of agiven work week, where they each take half off the workload of one full-timejob. They are only in the office at the same time for four hours a week, usingthat overlapping time to work on projects together and update each other onthe status of projects.

LMS (Learning Management System): A database used to manage thetraining and development activities in an organization. A LMS often providesonline training registration, manages the training taken and needed by a givenemployee in an organization, and produces training and development data fororganizations.

Non-compete: A non-compete is an agreement that a new employee may beasked to sign as a condition of employment. Such an agreement would barthe employee from working for a competitor if he or she were to ever leavethe organization. Non-compete agreements are usually valid for a certainperiod of time after the employee leaves. For example, if an employee leavesa company in 2005 and the non-compete is valid for two years, the employeewould be free to work for any organization after 2007.



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Appendix

Non-exempt: Non-exempt status defines employees who are paid by the hour(as opposed to receiving a yearly salary) and are required to receiveadditional pay for overtime hours worked.

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act): Created in 1970, OSHAprovides for permanent and temporary health and safety standards in theworkplace. Under the Act and its specific provisions, employers are requiredto create and manage a healthful work environment, keep records of illnessesand injuries that occur on the job and comply with all standards set forth bythe Act.

PHR (Professional in Human Resources): PHR is the designation given toHR professionals with fewer than five years of HR experience. The PHR isearned only through an exam administered by HRCI (Human ResourcesCertification Institute).

PTE (Part-time employee): PTE is used to describe employees in theorganization who are working part-time (typically less than 25 hours a week).Employees working part-time usually receive a lesser degree of benefits thanthat given to full-time employees.

RMS (Resume management system): A database used to manage the hiringactivities in an organization and that eliminates much of the extensive filingand record-keeping historically used as part of the hiring process. A RMSoften provides for online resume submission, resume search and review andhiring trends and reports.

SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources): SPHR is thedesignation given to HR professionals with five or more years of HRexperience. The SPHR is earned only through an exam administered byHRCI (Human Resources Certification Institute), and candidates for theSPHR must be able to prove they have had the required amount of HRexperience.

Succession plan: A plan created in an organization, often for executive roles,to prepare for who is next in line for a certain position. Succession plans arecreated to ensure an organization has talent in line to help it grow. They areuseful in preparing a candidate for a specific role, or in the case that a keyemployee departs an organization and her role needs to be filled quickly.

Union: A group of workers banding together to lobby for rights in theworkplace. Unions are formed to bring together workers in a specificindustry such as the UAW (United Auto Workers) and the AFT (AmericanFederation of Teachers).


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Appendix

Unionized: Unionized companies are those whose employees belong to oneor more unions. While unions exist across many professions, unionizedcompanies are common to the manufacturing, consumer products, teachingand service industries.

Wage garnishment: As part of court orders, employees may be required tohave their wages garnished. This practice requires an organization toautomatically deduct a certain portion of an employee’s paycheck to pay adebt such as child support. Organizations are required by law to garnish anemployee’s wages if directed to do so by the courts.

Wrongful discharge: If an employee believes he was fired for illegal orimproper reasons, a wrongful discharge complaint may be brought against anorganization. These complaints may be resolved by the organization’s humanresources function, the EEOC or a local mediator. Complaints not resolvedthis way may end up in the form of a lawsuit.



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Whether you’re new on the job and trying to find a quick answer to an HRquestion, or simply want to research an area of interest, online resources areinvaluable. Not only do many of these HR-specific websites post HR jobs,but many also provide valuable information on skills and competenciesneeded to be successful in HR, certifications, and the latest HR news andresearch.

3M Meeting Network: http://www.3m.com/meetingnetwork/

911 HR: http://www.911HR.com

Academy of Human Resource Development: http://www.ahrd.org/

Academy of Management (AOM): http://www.aomonline.org/

American Society for Training and Development (ASTD):http://www.astd.org

American Staffing Association: www.natss.org

Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://www.bls.gov/

Bureau of National Affairs: http://www.bna.com/

Corporate Leadership Council: www.corporateleadershipcouncil.com

Great Place to Work Institute: www.greatplacetowork.com

Employment Management Association: http://www.shrm.org/ema/

HR.com: http://www.hr.com/HRcom/index.cfm

HR Direct: http://www.hrdirect.com

HR e-Source: http://www.hr-esource.com

HR Guide: http://www.hr-guide.com

HR Net: http://www.the-hrnet.com

HR Store: http://hrstore.com/freestuff.html

HR Village: http://www.hrvillage.com/index.asp

HR World: http://www.hrworld.com

Human Resource Institute (HRI): http://www.hrinstitute.info/

Human Resource Planning Society (HRPS): http://www.hrps.org/

International Association for Human Resource InformationManagement: www.ihrim.org

International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans:http://www.ifebp.org/jobs/


Online Resources


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Appendix

International Personnel Management Association: http://www.ipma-hr.org/

International Society for Performance Improvement:http://www.ispi.org/

Kennedy Information (HR Central): http://www.kennedyinfo.com/hr/hrindex.html

Learning and Development Roundtable: http://www.ldronline.com

The MASIE Center:http://www.masie.com/masie/default.cfm?page=default

National Human Resources Association: http://www.humanresources.org/

Organization Development and Change (Division of AOM):http://aom.pace.edu/odc/

Organization Development Institute: http://www.odinstitute.org

Organization Development Network: http://www.odnetwork.org/

Organization Development Information:http://humanresources.about.com/cs/orgdevelopment/

Recruiting Life: http://www.napsweb.org/

Saratoga Institute: http://www.saratogainstitute.com/

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM): http://www.shrm.org

Society for Human Resource Management Foundation (including alist of HR degree programs): www.shrm.org/foundation/

Society for Organizational Learning: http://www.solonline.org/

TCM’s HR Careers: http://hr-careers.tcm.com/jobs/list.php3

Work 911: http://www.work911.com

Workforce Online: http://www.workforceonline.com/

World at Work: www.worldatwork.org


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It is important to stay on top of the changes in the profession and in HRresearch, and since human resource professionals are increasingly calledupon to think strategically and shape their organizations, staying on top ofbusiness trends will only help your cause.

Thinking about an HR specialty? There are numerous books that will helpyou dig deeper into your area of interest. Need on the job help? Grab oneor more of these HR reference guides for your bookshelf.

96 Great Interview Questions to Ask Before You Hire. Paul Falcone,AMACOM: 1997.

The American Bar Association Guide to Workplace Law : Everything YouNeed to Know About Your Rights as an Employee or Employer. Barbara J.Fick, Random House Reference: 1997

Delivering Results: A New Mandate for Human Resource Professionals.Dave Ulirich, Harvard Business School Press: 1998.

The Five Patterns of Extraordinary Careers. James M. Citrin and Richard A.Smith, Crown Business: 2003.

The Global Challenge: Frameworks for International Human ResourceManagement. Paul Evans and Vladimir Pucik, McGraw-Hill/Irwin: 2002.

How to Choose the Right Person for the Right Job Every Time. Lori Davilaand Louise Kursmark, McGraw-Hill: 2004.

The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable Guide for Managers and HumanResources Professionals. Shawn A. Smith and Rebecca A. Mazin,AMACOM: 2004.

The Human Capital Edge. Bruce N. Pfau and Ira T. Kay, McGraw Hill:2000.

Human Resource Essentials: Your Guide to Starting and Running the HRFunction. Lin Grensing Pophal, Society for Human Resource Management:2002.


RecommendedReading


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Appendix

The Human Resources Glossary: The Complete Desk Reference for HumanResources Executives, Managers and Practitioners. William R. Tracy, CRMPress: 2003.

Human Resource Management: Student Resource Guide. Robert L. Mathis,Thomson Learning: 2002.

Real World Human Resource Strategies That Work. Richard Tyler, InsightPublishing Company, 2004.

Planning and Managing Human Resources. William J. Rothwell: HumanResource Development Press: 2002.

PHR/SPHR: Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide.Anne M. Bogardus, Sybex, Inc.: 2003.

The ROI of Human Capital. Jac Fitz-Enz, AMACOM: 2000.

Web-Based Human Resources. Alfred J. Walker, McGraw-Hill: 200.

Working Identity. Herminia Ibarra, Harvard Business School Press: 2004


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Susan D. Strayer, SPHR, is a human resources professional, careerdevelopment expert and freelance writer. As the founder of University andCareer Decisions (www.ucdecisions.com), Susan works with individuals,companies and universities in career management, organization developmentand human resources and recruiting strategy.

In addition to running University and Career Decisions, Susan has served asAssistant Director of Career Services for Johns Hopkins University, workingwith the university’s MBA, business and education graduate students. Shehas also worked in human resources consulting with GW Solutions and theCorporate Executive Board, serving Fortune 1000 clients in researchprograms focusing on corporate human resources, benefits, recruiting andtraining and learning. Susan’s human resources career began with ArthurAndersen LLP, where she spent several years working in multiple training,staffing and recruiting functions.

Susan holds an MA in Human Resource Development from The GeorgeWashington University and a BA in Communication from Virginia Tech. Sheis certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), the highestdesignation of the human resources profession, and is a certifiedadministrator of the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). She is also amember of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Susan has presented at several national conferences, and her expertise hasbeen quoted in both print and online publications including The WashingtonPost, CollegeGrad.com, Fast Company and The Washington Times. She hasbeen a member of the “Ask the Experts” panel at CollegeRecruiter.com, andhas written a syndicated career advice column that has appeared in severalonline publications. Susan is currently writing a career strategy and jobsearch guide for business professionals to be published by St. Martin’s Pressin 2007.

Originally from Philadelphia, Susan began her career living and working foreight years in Washington, D.C. She now resides in Nashville, TN and ispursuing an MBA at the Owen Graduate School of Management at VanderbiltUniversity.

When not coaching, consulting or writing, Susan can usually be foundwatching HBO, buying shoes, or figuring out how to make a career ofsleeping late.


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