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A seasoned HR leader will understand what it means to drive their team and the business they are positioned within, whether that is ensuring the organisation is up to date with relevant people strategies or making sure that communication is clear between teams and individuals for better collaboration, HR professionals are there to ensure best practice at all times.
As HR becomes more and more pivotal to an organisation, it’s natural that the role of an HR leader will gradually change and for an individual to be successful in this profession, Danielle Harmer, Chief People Officer at Metro Bank, said that, as a function, they must become more commercially minded in order for them to succeed.
Speaking to HR Grapevine, when asked what her top tips to being a successful HR leader are, Harmer said: “Firstly, you have to start with the purpose of the organisation, to understand what the purpose and the commercial drivers are of the business that you work for [are], and then your job is to make people better in a way that aligns to the achievement of that objective.”
Traditionally, HR teams may have been accused of working in a silo to their own ends, however, HR has increasingly had to take a more commercial and business orientated approach as a way of improving the organisation and the bottom line. After all, HR is the main function that drives the people of the business, while ensuring they are managed and supported appropriately.
