HR Director of CFS Executive Cathy Wilcher reveals why she’s unsure of HR’s ability to survive against outsourcers, and how the sector’s skill set has changed.
6. Will HR survive outsourcing and changes to service delivery?
That is a good question. The HR I have described above will as it operates at the very heart of the business strategy. However, in organisations where HR is a service activity, the outsourcers – of which there are now many good ones – may well take over.
7. What’s the new skill set of HR?
I started my career in HR in 1986, at that time the IPD (as it was then) offered three core subjects for graduates to cover; IR, training and recruitment. Today’s students would probably be surprised by this limited curriculum. HR now is a profession with a number of career streams within it. They range from the employee relations specialists, reward advisors, change agents, Learning and Development consultants, talent management and now the employer brand experts, to name a few.
So here’s the choice. You need to either become a deep specialist in one of these or if you really want to head up the function, operate at the top of the organisation and influence at a strategic level, manage your career in such a way that you spend time in all of the specialist roles and of course the generalist roles too. If you can spend some time in the line, then do that as well.
HR is not an easy career option. If you are not learning something new every year, then you are not enhancing your professional expertise and so you are going backwards. The new skill set for HR is the ability to keep learning!
8. What’s the worst thing about working in HR and the best?
You are asking the wrong person as I’ve no idea – I absolutely love what I do.
9. What are the key issues preventing HR professionals from getting a seat on the board?
Generally the reason why HR is not represented on the board is the mindset of the CEO – either they haven’t seen great HR in operation or they see it as a service function. Personally I haven’t worked in an organisation where the function isn’t represented by a HR professional and that has been a deliberate strategy.
10. If you have a mantra or motto what is it?
Do everything to the highest possible standard and make a positive footprint wherever you work.
11. What are you currently reading?
I’ve always got at least two books on the go. At the moment I’m reading Malcolm Gadwell’s The Tipping Point and I would recommend to anyone trying to get change in their organisation to stick.
My non-work reading at the moment is Paulo Coelho’s Eleven Minutes, about a Brazilian girl who succeeds in very difficult circumstances, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, a heavy read but a good one for any parent on the constant debate of nature or nurture.
12. What would be your desert island disc?
I’m enjoying Maroon 5 and Keane at the moment, so maybe something from them.
13. If you could have lunch with three famous people, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
I think this one is difficult, as there are so many great people for many different reasons. So for this lunch I’d choose Clinton, as I think he has a real understanding of how the world operates (or not) as a community.
I think Churchill would make the conversation even more enlightening with a perceptive on how to achieve the impossible with steer determination, winning over evil.
And, to help me ask the difficult questions I’d invite Jonathan Ross. He’s bound to liven it up a little.
14. If you’d like to be remembered for one thing what is it?
I’d like to be remembered for playing my part in getting an organisation to do something that it didn’t think was possible and, within that, its people achieving their aspirations and dreams. Maybe you should come back and interview me again in three years and see what we’ve achieved at CFS.
Previous career profiles can be seen on the How Did I Get Here? page.
