Stephanie Sharp CMHRNZ
What led you to a career in HR/ the position that you are in currently?
Like a lot of practitioners I know locally, I fell into HR as a career by chance a few years after finishing my university degree. Having studied Psychology and Communications at the University of Otago I was keen to explore Public Relations and Marketing as a career path first however, having built up some experience in corporate environments in London and Wellington and dabbling in the wellbeing space briefly, I was offered the opportunity to return to Dunedin for an HR Administration role with a mining company. This very quickly moved into an advisory position with lots of unique experiences and challenges I’m sure I wouldn’t otherwise have gained and well, the rest is history I guess!
What do you love about working in HR?
I love the problem solving and being able to work alongside individuals and the wider business to come up with practical solutions to support people to succeed and grow. When you get the chance to see this come to fruition first hand it’s so rewarding!
Are there any specific highlights of your career that you wish to share?
In my current role (and previously in the mine) I’ve been lucky enough to experience some impressive site visits and ‘boots on to ground’ action like being over 500m underground, holding a 20kg bar of gold in my hands or traversing to the top of the Railway Station roof in Dunedin to see the façade detailing up close while it was under restoration. Not things you could easily or often experience in a corporate environment and each has given me a newfound appreciation for the mahi our operational teams carry out each day.
What are your thoughts on Chartered Membership? How do you feel about being a Chartered Member?
Chartered Membership is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge and capability against the New Zealand benchmark and, similar to accreditations in other professions, it offers an easily recognisable standard to those outside the HR sector to identify reliable practitioners locally. Personally, I’m really proud to be part of this group and to represent the profession in this capacity. A special mention has to go out to my colleagues, leaders and mentors over the past few years who have challenged and helped me to grow the skillset to apply for this accreditation as well!
What motivated you to work towards becoming a Chartered Member?
I was inspired by some of the stories shared by local practitioners in Dunedin on their development and learning being part of HRNZ and undertaking the chartered process. I wanted to join a group that committed to professional development and a continuous journey of learning as well as having access to the full HRNZ network so working towards Chartered Membership seemed like the perfect opportunity to do this. I look forward to giving back some of the learnings I’ve gained so far to those coming into the industry in years to come too.
What are your next steps in terms of your career now that you are a Chartered Member?
In my current role I’m fortunate to be able to contribute across a broad range of work from Employment Relations to Diversity and Inclusion, Analytics and Policy development amongst others. I’m looking forward to using these experiences to share training with our regional offices to grow our managers capabilities and confidence to act proactively with their teams day to day.