HR Discussion: How's it looking for 2009?

2009 - Crunch Time

Gordon Brown's pledge to create 100,000 new jobs this year may provide comfort for some, but now that UK unemployment is hitting the two million mark, how can you safeguard your career?

"What don't you get? Its a credit crunch, thats what needs to be addressed" was David Cameron's response on BBC Radio 4's Today programme recently.

Here at Bullet, we know the market's tough, so now, more than ever, you need to make sure you're in the best shape possible to ensure the crunch doesnt bite down on you.

Whether you're still secure in your role, looking for a new job or have recently been made redundant, its time to re-evaluate your skill-sets and take stock of where you're at in your career.

What are your career objectives?

Reassess your career objectives and direction. What do you want to achieve in the next year? Set yourself three goals that you would like to achieve and give yourself a target date for when you want to have achieved each one by. For example, do you want to be promoted within a certain timeframe, are you looking to change jobs, do you want to learn a new language?

What expertise do you already have and what are your strengths?

Create a list of all the skills you possess and next to each point, write down various example situations where you have applied those skills. If you have an interview coming up, this will also help you to easily recall your successes as well as any challenges you overcame when you are asked to demonstrate your skills.

What new skills do you want to acquire?

At Bullet, we're seeing a number of candidates opting to take sabbaticals that will help aid them in their future career and where they can apply learned skills.

Further your education - advance your CIPD skills, for example. If you've been putting off that course you've always wanted to do, now's the time to book it - the investment will be worth it. This will help you consolidate your HR knowledge and prepare you for your next role. In this climate, our clients are looking for exceptional candidates who can hit the ground running.

Be realistic

In this competitive job market, consider all your options. At Bullet, we're witnessing a dramatic shift from candidates who have historically only taken on permanent assignments now moving to the interim space.

As clients are now creating more interim assignments, they're looking for HR professionals who can demonstrate malleability. If you've never done interim before, perhaps you should use this as an opportunity to gain experience in this field. By broadening out into different organisations, not only will you be able to expand your network, you'll also have the flexibility to be able to manoeuvre between a range of industries, work as and when you want, as well as learning skills each new project will bring.  

If you're having trouble finding a new position, use your current network. Offer your services on a freelance basis to your existing contacts. Could you return to a previous employer on a consultative basis? 

Assess your commercial acumen

What do you bring to the boardroom table? Do you wow your superiors? Are you a trusted advisor to those who in positions of authority above you? Is your opinion called upon when important business decisions are being made? If the answers no, then you better start doing your research now. You want to make yourself as indispensable as possible.

Particularly in this climate, its not unusual for our clients to ask us to deliver them HR managers who are specialist in at least one area. If you're an HR generalist, you might want to up-skill and get some specialist experience. If youre an in-house recruiter, look at getting experience in talent management or succession planning.

However, if you're a specialist ensure you have some general business awareness. You might be a compensation and benefits expert, but you need to be a compensation and benefits expert who knows whats happening across the broader HR function and across the business.

Be proactive

Find out what is happening elsewhere in your organisation, walk the shop floor in all departments and ask questions. What areas can you help improve upon, how can you create impact and what are the quick wins?

Get to know your team, what do they do, what impact do they make? How can you lead them through change? If you're a manager, connect with those under you. What do they think of your style of management? Ask them and listen to what they have to say; the best leaders are often the best listeners. Respect the ideas of those around you and show that you can connect with people at all levels.

Always demonstrate your general market awareness in every situation. Get close to the business and understand its growth and decline strategies. Great workforce planning is the key to success.

During interview

If you're interviewing, be clear. Avoid using acronyms remember those terms that are familiar to you may not mean anything to your interviewer. Also describe someone you are referring to by their job title rather than by name if you are mentioning your ex/current work colleagues/bosses.

Back everything up with examples. You need to demonstrate how you can add value to the business and match your skills to the requirements of the employer. This is where your list from earlier will come in useful.

What lies ahead?

Currently, the market faces uncertainty, yet there are still opportunities if you look in the right places. Interim positions are on the rise as companies do not want to commit to offering permanent roles in case the business takes a turn for the worse. However, HR is not seen as a luxury function and organisations will always need to replace, rehire and recruit HR professionals to keep up the good work. Help yourself by brushing up your skills so that you are also in the best possible position, ready for the upturn too.

Hugo Tucker,  Director