“HR knowledge is something that can be acquired on the job. Don’t undervalue your experience in other areas, because it will help you become a more rounded HR professional.” – Paul Atherton, HR Director, Global Quality & Integrated Business Planning at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc, speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.
As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success.
This week, we had a great conversation with Paul Atherton at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. Paul built a career within the commercial and operations sector of Construction before transitioning into HR roles. His first HR role was HR & Continuous Improvement Manager at Bramall Construction in 2000 before being promoted to HR & Academy Development Manager for parent company Keepmoat plc.
Paul worked for the Keepmoat group of companies for twenty-two years, before moving into manufacturing and engineering. He became Head of HR, UK and Ireland at Pentair Valves & Controls in 2012. Paul ran his own consulting business providing HR support services and interventions from 2014 to 2015, when he took up the role of Senior HR Manager at Avdel, a business division of STANLEY Engineered Fastening within Stanley Black & Decker Industrial sector. During his time at Avdel, Paul’s responsibilities expanded from the UK to cover parts of Europe too. He was promoted in January 2021 to a brand new global role for parent company Stanley Black & Decker as Director HR, Global Operations Quality and EHS.
Can you tell us how you got into HR and why?
At the time I transitioned into HR, around 2000, I was working within quality and training management in the construction sector. That sector can be very cyclical, it could be boom or bust and I became interested in people’s motivations. What kept them with the company? What made them disenfranchised?
Up until that point in my career I’d worked in commercial roles; estimating and surveying and in operations ; site and contracts management before moving into quality assurance. While in quality, I completed a management programme and found the HR elements really interesting, it triggered something within me. I was then asked to take on the management of training which had previously been out-sourced and I also became involved in developing ‘equal opportunities’ as it was then known.
My business division at that time didn’t have any professional HR so it was an opportunity for me and the company to develop policies, procedures and approaches that built on what I would describe as a solid platform of dealing with and developing people.
It was the psychology aspects that initially attracted me to look into HR, but then I became interested in training and what’s now equality and diversity. I was fortunate to be one of the front-runners in that area within our company and indeed within the construction sector. From that, I branched out into more generalist HR.
My time working in quality assurance gave me the opportunity to work with every part of the business and that, along with my earlier commercial exposure stood me in good stead for the transition. Now I’m working for a very dynamic and progressive company that provides lots of opportunities for people both locally and on a worldwide scale.
Can you tell me about the key themes and challenges that you’re seeing across the HR sector?
In my current role I have a population of around 1,600 people globally. On the quality side, most of the people are based in plants and distribution centers around the world, and while most report through the quality function, some still don’t. One of the current challenges is to move us to a position where we have increased ownership of quality globally. That will enable us to drive consistency of standards throughout the organisation.
Additionally, we’re conducting a job architecture project, looking at all job levels across the company to determine if the individuals are in a support, professional or leadership band. From that, we’re helping people develop their careers and signposting options so they’re aware of what’s required if they want to move from one level to the next, or from one function to another. Currently we’re in the early stages of that project and we’re also working on a skills assessment for global quality to inform a training needs analysis.
While I am centrally based, I work in conjunction with people based out in the plants doing HR business partner roles, and with regional leadership. It’s a very cooperative way of working. I’ve got the oversight, but I need their help and support in delivering change in the separate businesses and regions. Of course the cultural differences are a consideration. It’s not always easy, but being based in Europe we’re particularly well-placed to span the timezones.
What career advice would you offer to someone either working towards a career like yours, or someone just getting started in their HR career?
For someone looking to move into HR from another profession, don’t feel that the task is insurmountable, or even more difficult because you haven’t had a HR education. That knowledge is something that can be acquired on the job together with part-time study. Don’t undervalue your experience in other areas because it will help you become a more rounded HR professional. On paper, not coming from a pure HR background might appear to be a challenge, but I believe it can be a distinct advantage.
For someone looking to step up into a HR leadership role, my advice is tough it out. Be persistent. If you want to get to a higher level don’t be put off by setbacks. Keep building experience and eventually the opportunity to step up will arise. Working in HR is tough. You’re often faced with things coming from all directions. You’re charged with implementing the strategy and dealing with the day to day details, and you’re accountable to multiple people. You haven’t always got the benefit of long-term foresight to know what you’re going to be doing next and often there’s very challenging timescales. The unexpected always arises, that’s often an appeal of the job – it was to me, but at the same time you’ve got to balance that with delivering the work.
Having experience at lower levels is essential to help you survive and thrive at a higher level, so make the most of the experience while you’re at the sharp end of the job. Secondly, know that it’s never too late to take that next step. Don’t be put off by knock-backs you get. Keep striving. Remain positive. Every day you’re gaining further experience that will help you perform better and be more respected at a higher level.
Paul has broad experience spanning HR, L&D, quality management and commercial disciplines. He has been HR Director at Stanley Black & Decker since January 2021, currently responsible for Global Quality & Integrated Business Planning.