Sunday 6 March 2011

Patience young grasshopper!!!!

So....one of my major development areas is my lack of patience...I get easily frustrated and constantly have to tell myself to slow down!! I'm so much better than I was a few years ago, and when dealing with others I've often give myself a little pat on the back for holding it in ;-)

But one thing I cant seem to be patient about is my career progression, and its something which frustrates and confused me almost on a daily basis.

Every company has its own way of running HR, and will structure its department in whichever way fits its model the best; so it is hard sometimes to benchmark yourself against others in the profession with, say, the same job title as you. Am I operating at the right level for a HR Advisor? Or am I operating above it, and really should be a HR Manager?? I don't know!!

Its unfortunate that I haven't had a stable line manager for a year now, and therefore haven't really had any HR guidance or development. I have taken opportunities where I can to gain feedback from colleagues; and I have even taken the time to speak to other HR Profs in my local area to try and benchmark myself. Unfortunately their feedback has been a mixed bag of complimenting me on my passion, my ability to engage and my knowledge around recruitment....to picking out obvious gaps in my practical experience.

So how do you know when you are ready for the next step? I have taken all the component parts on the CIPD professional map and all its telling me is that I have chosen Level 2 as my current operating level and the majority of my answers are at Level 3....but that's self assessment?!?!?

As you can probably tell, I am confused and slightly baffled by what my next step should be. I am looking forward to my new boss starting on the 14th, and I am hoping that she will take a vested interest and help me figure out my next steps. But if not, I need to take accountability for my career, and my progression within HR......once I have figured out what that is......

2 comments:

  1. Great post Katie....sounds like you could do with a mentor in HR? Perhaps outside of your organisation. I think role titles in HR differ hugely, the really important thing in my view is if you feel you are learning and progressing in your skills and knowledge. I am sure having a stable line manager will help, as you say. Try to be patient if you can and I'm sure you will achieve the progression you want...just make sure you've also taken the time and energy to make sure you know exactly what you want that progression look like.

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  2. You seem to be going about it the right way, by benchmarking yourself and seeing feedback/input from other HR professionals.

    Having been in similar situations myself, one piece of advice is to make sure you have a clear goal of what you want/want to get to. That way you can start taking the right steps and making the right progress towards that goal.

    What you don't want is other people making those decisions for you, as ultimately it will impact your career and motivation. Once you've made your choice, others can support and guide you :-)

    Jose

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