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 Clare Farmer, a passionate, commercial and creative, Global CPO who has built a career helping to build and develop global teams within construction, manufacturing and professional services.
How did you get into HR?
In truth, I stumbled into a career in HR due to my inquisitive nature. However, I was fortunate to have a great mentor early on who provided invaluable advice and inspired me to pursue HR further.
I’ve often considered specialising in a particular area within HR, but as a generalist, I found it challenging to break into a specific specialisation. Interestingly, it seems easier the other way around, which I still find odd.
If given the opportunity, I would love to focus on engagement, talent management, communications, or learning and development.
What challenges are you currently facing, whether professionally or personally?
Currently, I am facing some challenges in my career. The job market is quite strange at the moment, I’m looking for a company culture that values its people and their well-being. I’m currently supporting a great CEO and their team on an interim basis but will be continuing my search for a permanent position as that comes to a close.
On a personal note, I am enjoying having more time to read and work with my coach. I am constantly working on further developing my learning and honing my leadership skills.
What advice would you give to those planning to pursue an HR career?
For those planning to pursue an HR career, my advice would be to seek advice from well-regarded HR professionals across different sectors to gain true insight into the field. HR is not for the faint-hearted, especially as you advance to higher HR roles.
It’s crucial to align with key stakeholders in the business to truly understand and connect with their needs and goals.
Honing your skills to proactively illustrate how engagement and effective people management can improve productivity and reduce costs will be essential.
Developing and continuously refining personal resilience is also crucial because HR can be demanding and challenging.
Accepting that HR is multi-faceted is vital – you’ll need to understand the day-to-day operational aspects of HR while also creating and executing meaningful people strategies that align with the overall business goals.
Furthermore, it’s essential to recognize that you cannot please everyone all the time, which can be tough.
Being authentic, grounded, and appreciative of the employee experience is vital to me. I believe in staying connected with all employees, from new joiners to front-facing colleagues, all the way up to board-level colleagues. Understanding the issues they face and providing support to achieve necessary changes is a key part of the HR role.
In smaller businesses, HR can sometimes be seen as an overhead. Therefore, it’s crucial to focus on connectedness, adding real value, and fostering the employee voice to promote diversity of thought and organisational resilience.
Clare began her HR career with pwc before developing her career from HR Officer to HRBP and most recently Global CPO supporting 700 employees across Asia, the US and UK.
If you are interested in having a confidential conversation about your career or would like support in growing your team, please get in touch today.