Jeremy Thorn shares his experiences of working in HR to date, which includes coaching several international Olympic fencers.
What's your current job role?
Founding Chairman and Director of QED Consulting since 1993, a multi-functional management / organisational / strategic development practice operating throughout the UK and selectively overseas, with offices in Yorkshire and London. Key tasks include seeking good clients, returning shareholder value of course, but mainly recruiting and developing outstanding directors, managers and consultants/trainers/coaches. I am also President of my local branch of the Chartered Management Institute and non-Executive Director of a number of software and professional services/design companies.
What did you do before this job?
I had the good fortune to be the UK MD of a world-leading international engineering company for five years, having been their Sales and Marketing Director beforehand. The company became one of the very first 'Investors in People' in the UK in 1989, with no more than encouragement from me, and a passion that everyone should actually enjoy coming to work. We also won Queen's Awards for both Technology and Export, and both individual and corporate National Training Awards, of which I was very proud for my colleagues who worked really hard for them. (It was a great honour to have supported them and a lot of fun!)
Describe your route into HR?
Accidental! First, through coaching several international/Olympic fencers and a World Under-20 Champion as a hobby when younger, and then professionally, through managing a large multi-site business as above and realising that 'people management' was every bit as important as 'process/marketing/service/financial management'; coupled with becoming Chairman of the Manpower Affairs Committee of a large UK Trade Federation, a founding Director of a large Training and Enterprise Council (TEC) and subsequently regional Chairman of a National Training Awards jury; and having several experiential books published on Management Development and related topics which I wrote to test out my own professional knowledge and understanding as a personal career-development tool. (The latter were not a great route to fame, and certainly not fortune, but a great yardstick by which to develop and then test my own learning and possible contribution to the HR community.)
Did you always want to work in HR?
No! I wanted to run a successful business, and developed a passion for both business and people development through this.
What would you say has been the most significant event in your career to date?
Persuing my professional education remorselessly after graduation, most especially at the London Business School latterly and working in the USA formerly, to provide the realisation that you can't beat broad, practical, business experience in at least formulating the right questions – with the right analytical frameworks of course. You may never know the right answers, but you may at least learn to recognise the wrong ones! Then, devoting personal time to learning much more about people's behaviour at work through additional study thereafter.
How do you think the role of HR has changed since you began your HR career?
I have noted the successive moves of strategic HR focus over the last three decades: from IR, to HRM to HRD to OD, to longer-term personal development and added organisational value; and with this, a shift in my own career from leading, then managing, to directing, facilitating and back to leading.
What single thing would improve your working life?
Reliability…more people saying what they they will do/want to do, and then doing what they say they will do, once agreed – including Government(s)!
Greater realisation that we rarely know what we don't know, and so to seek help in becoming ever more 'reliable' ourselves.
And fewer computer viruses!
What's your favourite part of the HR Zone site?
The Any Answers area – to help me know what I don't know!
Have you made contact with any other members?
Yes, all the time.
Do you have any advice for those looking to embark on a career in HR?
– Broadly: don't get fixated on 'process' alone, but 'people'. People make the process work. Fixing the process is often trivial compared with 'fixing' / understanding the people.
– Specifically: never lose sight of your organisation's strategic imperatives. If you don't know them, ask!
– Tactically: get hands-on experience of other functions apart from HR, as a key part of your longer-term career strategy; learn the 'tools of the trade' and keep on learning; network like crazy – internally and externally -you never know who may become important to your career later on!; make as many friends as you can but don't prejudice your values; keep your own options open and don't become 'indispensible' (or you will rarely get promoted!); never allow pride to stand in the way of a learning experience; keep on asking questions!; learn to handle conflict maturely and positively; work as hard on your own development as those of your colleagues.
– Strategically: the world of work is changing fast, so don't get too emotionally involved in 'how things are at the moment'; however you start your career, lift your eyes above the horizon, set some challenging, personal career goals; embrace all change as an opportunity, but do apply judgement of when to accept and when to resist, intelligently; establish your own values securely (and those who depend upon you at home), and never prejudice them for short-term expedience; otherwise, be flexible; keep on learning from others – and show that you have done!
– Finally – work really hard, keep on learning, and play hard! Coaching a sport I loved, aching to develop others, writing some books to see if I could, and continually wanting to understand others better) has left me feeling really fortunate to allow my 'play' to overlap my 'work' so positively and constructively.
Jeremy's publications include 'Developing Your Career in Management', 'Negotiating Better Deals' and 'The First-time Sales Manager' booklets on 'Effective Recruitment', 'Pricing Strategy' and 'Presentation Skills'; and research papers on 'What Makes for a Good Doctor', 'Best Appraisal Practice' for the DTI and Business Links in England, 'Competencies for Chief Executives of Business Links' and 'Competencies for Chairmen and Chief Executives of a NHS Primary Care Group'.
If you're willing to share your experiences of working in HR to date with other members, we'd like to hear from you – e-mail us to receive a copy of this questionnaire.
Previous 'Introducing…' features:
Roger Pattison, HR – Training & Management Development Consultant
Verity McVarish, HR Manager for Sift Media
Rus Slater
David Kelly, Head of Development and Training for Aventis
Jenny Kevan, UK HR Manager for Abbott Laboratories
William Martin, HR Manager, Telewest Broadband
Craig Truter, HR Manager, The Body Shop
Martin Stockton, HR Transformation Leader, Towers Perrin
Nick Heap, Consultant, New Directions
Crispin Garden-Webster, HR Specialist, Asian Development Bank
Sandra Walsh, HR Delivers
Carole Leslie, Director, IT Learning Ltd
Shaun Dunphy, Project and Process Manager, EMEA HR Service Centre for MCI
Debra Artlett, HR Officer, NGJ
Dianne Miles, HR Manager, Rollalong Ltd
Jacqui Mann, HR Manager, Integra NeuroSciences
Isabella Montgomery, Human Resources Officer at The new Housing Association
Iain Young, Head of HR for Cofathec Heatsave
