Global Head of People, TRIP: How to build an HR function from scratch

Kira Blumer, Global Head of People & Culture at TRIP, says leading people strategy in a high-growth scale-up is an “amazing and unique experience.”

From planning roadmaps free from red tape, to walking the tightrope between adaptability and firm boundaries, there are opportunities and challenges in equal measure.

Blumer speaks to HR Grapevine about what it takes to create a thriving people function that enables business performance; how to avoid building an HR team that spins in circles; and why it’s vital for people leaders to invest in experts from an early stage.

What makes a people leadership role in a high-growth scale-up so unique?

Walking into a successful scale-up as their first senior People hire is an amazing and unique experience. It’s such a rare opportunity to capitalise on the energy, commitment, and engagement that earlier-stage businesses are known for. You’re surrounded by talented people who really care about the mission, and there is a powerful, unrivalled sense of community.

The teams are set up, and the business has grown itself organically, with lots of room to shape the future strategy of the business – recruitment practices, organisational design, onboarding, all the fundamentals. When a business is taking off, agility and flexibility can be a real asset. But to hit that next stage of growth, you need to implement structure that is scalable globally, and this can be an adjustment for the team. I typically join a business when they hit this point in their scaling journey, and they’re ready to lean into the more technical people infrastructure required to grow efficiently.

You need to walk in, assess very quickly what already exists and is good, what already exists and needs to be changed, and what doesn't exist at all. Within that, determine the low-hanging fruit and the strategic, long-term elements. Typically, you don't have a large people team, so you have to be a jack of all trades and figure out how to put together a plan.

It’s hugely advantageous in a lot of ways. You get to shape it in whatever way you want, it’s extremely interesting work, and things can happen quickly. There aren’t a lot of blockers, no red tape, and no bureaucracy. At the same time, the task can feel enormous. You have to be wired the right way to enjoy it.

How do you build a roadmap for your people function in this setting?

I always start with the basics of people operations. Every leader wants to come in and have their big strategic plan, but if you don’t get the fundamentals right at the beginning, you end up wasting a lot of time down the road.

It’s important to have a view of where you’re taking things in the next six months before the granular things you need to do to get there. That means rolling up your sleeves and personally editing the onboarding form, making the trackers, communicating with payroll, and running gap analysis on leadership skills and management fundamentals.

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We all know that eventually managers need to be doing things independently, but in the interim, you need to be willing to hold hands, coach, and mentor live in the moment.

Build those basics immediately when you walk in the door.

What balance do you strike between adaptability and consistency? Does rapid hiring complicate this?

Be agile, be adaptable, and demonstrate that you can go with the flow. However, it's still important to know where to hold your ground. Firm boundaries will serve you and the function you're trying to build, and the business more broadly. No one will benefit from an HR team that's spinning in circles, being pulled in every direction, and willingly gives up any strategic edge.

It's easy to quickly become everyone's administrator. Know when to say no, or that you need more resources on your team – you will never build a people strategy if you don't get out of the weeds. I often say to CEOs and founders, you pay me too much for me to spend my day doing this. I’m not trying to be stubborn; I’m willing to roll up my sleeves and be agile. But ultimately, we need to build a people function that will serve the business, and that requires headspace, time, boundaries, structure, and a clear view of where we're trying to go together.

In the interim, as you’re getting to that point, you do have to be flexible. HR forums often say to simply have SLAs (service level agreements) for contracts, and to tell managers when hiring isn’t an emergency. But that’s not how it works in a start-up. If they need talent and they've come to an agreement with a candidate and that person can start tomorrow, you just move mountains and make it work.