“I think the times where I’ve learnt the most are the instances where things have gone wrong…. that’s where I’ve absolutely developed most.” – Charlotte Park, Contino’s VP People – EMEA, shares insights about not letting the fear of making mistakes hinder one’s learning.
As part of our commitment to support candidates in developing fulfilling careers, we’ve invited HR Leaders from a wide variety of organisations to share their insights on building a career, the challenges they face and what advice they would share with those hoping to follow in their footsteps.
This week, we had a great conversation with Charlotte Park, VP of People for EMEA of the transformation consultancy firm, Contino. Charlotte’s career may have started with other industries, including construction and finance, but she realised that her true passion was to help people through her HR career. In the 12 years since she made the shift, she has fully established herself, amassing knowledge and experience, helping her master the art and science of HR.
Can you share with us your journey in pursuing a career in HR?
I absolutely fell into HR. When I started in the world professionally, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I started my career at a company called CrispInteriors, went on to Deloitte and then to KPMG. I’d taken on a couple of jobs as an administrator and then I moved into the finance world.
When I was at KPMG, the company migrated over to SAP, and it was actually in my finance role that I started to enjoy some of the HR or the human people aspect a little bit more. I found that I picked up the system quite quickly and I was also able to relay the tools and platform to the people I was working with. I could connect with people and explain the system and why we were changing. It turns out I really like people! And so I ended up leaving that role and joined Saunderson House as their HR Executive. It was my first official HR role, and that was 12 years ago now – the rest is history.
About my current role in Contino, I saw the job advert and thought, this is exactly what I want. It almost seemed too good to be true, but a month or so later, it all became real.
The reason I love my role, is that moment when you see a triumph someone’s had at work, and you know you’ve helped them. It’s the moment someone gets a promotion, or the moment when someone’s been struggling with something and you’re able to step in and help, and know you’ve genuinely made a difference. It’s helping people develop and progress and become the best versions of themselves.
What challenges are you currently facing?
I think the main thing that we have at the moment is about keeping our people engaged and happy. It’s about building a really strong and unique EVP, and embedding our values to show to our people that we have an offering that we will truly act as a career accelerant.
We really want people to see the value that they get from having Contino on their CV. It’s an incredible place to work. We’ve got very ambitious people. One of our colleagues said the best thing about working at Contino is you’re never the smartest person in the room. And that’s brilliant because we want everyone to be intellectually curious to take on new challenges, new tasks and new roles. I think because we have such an incredibly bright driven workforce, the biggest challenge is finding ways to keep them not just ticking over, but developing and growing as they progress with us.
Our vision is to nurture and maintain a culture that enables our people to thrive and continue to grow, which absolutely has to come from the people. It has to be people led. I can then facilitate and create a platform to make that happen, and as rewarding an experience as possible.
What advice would you give to those planning to pursue an HR career?
Keep learning. Keep pushing. Keep looking for opportunities to learn and grow.
Always keep learning if you can, and that can be through any medium you want – it doesn’t have to be academic. If you hated school, or struggle with structured learning, there are a myriad of platforms available to you. If you can, find an employer that will sponsor you through stuff and push yourself. Don’t ever be afraid to put your hand up and just give it a go, because the worst that can happen is you’ll get it wrong. As long as you’ve got the best intentions, and really try to do your best, that’s the best possible thing you can do.
I think the times where I’ve learnt the most are the instances where things have gone wrong. It’s in the process of fixing it or learning from someone who is helping me fix it, where I’ve absolutely developed most.
Years ago, I saw street art (graffiti!) on the side of the building that said, “fear makes the wolf look bigger”. When you get that fear in you, everything seems so much worse, and just the idea of getting started can be daunting. Whether it’s in life or professionally, you get it into your head that it’s a huge, scary task, and the tendency to catastrophize it can creep in. Whereas when you just go ahead and get it done, you often end up thinking, ‘Oh, what was I worried about?’. Even if you fail, you learn another lesson. The next time you face it, you’ve got a whole different set of responses and tactics that you can utilise to approach it.
Charlotte indeed worked up the ranks since she made her career shift to HR 12 years ago. From being an HR Executive and HR Manager in the several organisations she joined in, she joined Contino in February 2022 as their VP of People for EMEA.