Beth Jobin APHRNZ
What led you to a career in HR/ the position that you are in currently?
In late 2021 the Society undertook a business redesign to understand its resourcing requirements moving forward post the COVID-19 pandemic. An opportunity opened up for me to support the people and culture space with HR related responsibilities across the wider team, which included our volunteers. Having been in the EA to CEO role for seven and half years and looking for change, this opportunity came at the right time enabling me to remain with the Society.
What do you love about working in HR?
In the past HR has not appealed to me as I have always thought it was more about the ‘hard HR’; however, I have found it to be the complete opposite. There is so much you can do to help and support people, particularly with a positive culture focus, which brings the team together. I enjoy seeing happy people in the workplace through the initiatives I have developed and finding engaging ways to support our people leaders.
What is an achievement so far in your career that you are proud of?
There are many things that I am proud of since formally starting my people & culture role in January 2022; however, the biggest achievement would be the implementation of our P.C.A.D.E. policy (Personal Commitment at Delivering Excellence) and all the elements that make up how this policy operates. It includes the annual review process, six monthly mood surveys, monthly lunch’n learns, learning from the field (external presentations), team building activities, internal peer nominated monthly/quarterly award and LMS via Rosterfy (staff and volunteer management system).
What are your thoughts on the Accredited Professional Member process?
When first considering accreditation, I realised that the process was quite in-depth and would need a concentrated commitment to achieve it. It provided me with the opportunity to really understand what I had achieved to date and the opportunities that lay ahead through the new capability framework – The Path through HRNZ. I found it a very robust and engaging process.
Do you plan to now work towards becoming a Chartered Member?
Yes – I have confirmed with my manager in my annual review that this is a medium-term goal for me (1-2 years)
What are your next steps in terms of your career?
I would like to learn more in the employment relations space and continue to embed current knowledge so that I can move through the capability levels of The Path to sit in the ‘Leads’ space across a number of knowledge domains.
Additional information
My role also supports our large number of volunteers in a volunteer manager capacity, primarily delivering our annual Fieldays event. I am currently working with an HRNZ member (recent UoW business management master’s graduate) to develop a Volunteer Training Framework, which is supported by the Volunteering NZ Best Practices Guidelines. The framework will ensure our volunteers receive the training and support they need to undertake their given role at our annual Fieldays event.