Claire Walker CMHRNZ

What led you to a career in HR/ the position that you are in currently?  

My first career was in education and I spent five years working as a secondary school English teacher.  My team would tell you that correcting their grammar in Board papers is a transferable skill I have brought with me into my business career!  I made a conscious decision to move into the corporate world which involved 12-months of post-graduate study and enabled me to bring the insights I had gained around what motivates learning and behaviour into a business setting.  I still often refer to these early experiences of leadership as informing the way I have conducted myself as a leader throughout my career. 

What do you love about working in HR?  

Many things!  I love the breadth of the role and the opportunity to influence decisions across the business.  No other function has the same line of sight or requires such a diverse range of skills and attributes.  One of the aspects of working in HR that is most rewarding is the clear connection between what we bring to the table, performance and achieving strategic business outcomes – every business revolves around or is enabled by people.  Particularly in a customer service oriented sector like hospitality, this is obvious to me every day as I move around SkyCity and see our people offering guests wonderful experiences of uniquely New Zealand hospitality. 

Are there any specific highlights of your career that you wish to share?  

There are many highlights and, of course, some lowlights – every career has it’s share of light and shade.  Often the lowlights are where the seismic shifts in personal growth come from and so I am grateful for those too.  However, the aspect of my career which gives me a real sense of pride is the contribution I’ve made to advancing the careers, representation and pay of our wāhine by showing what can be achieved when an organisation focuses in tandem on both the “hard wiring” and the “soft wiring”.  By this, I mean a systematic review of all policies, processes and practices that may be negatively influencing outcomes for women whilst also ensuring the organisational culture and environment is conducive to women thriving.  The result being the organisation reaps the rewards of diversity of thought and individual women get what is their entitlement – a voice, fair pay and an opportunity to reach their potential.    

What are your thoughts on Chartered Membership? How do you feel about being a Chartered Member?   

Being a Chartered Member of HRNZ is both wonderful recognition of the contribution I have personally made to the HR profession but also a responsibility to ensure I continue my professional development and take every opportunity to encourage others within our profession to do the same.  

What motivated you to work towards becoming a Chartered Member? 

I am a strong advocate of the concept of intentional leadership and have always taken my responsibilities as a leader very seriously.  This has resulted in a very planned career and working towards being recognised as a Chartered Member was important to me as a way of validating all that hard work.  More importantly, as a senior member of the HR profession, it is important to me to encourage others to pursue professional development and personal growth by sharing my journey as an example.  Being given this recognition also motivates me to hold myself to account as a role model for others in our profession or those considering a move into our profession. 

What steps have you taken in your career since becoming a Chartered Member?  

Over the past ten years or so, since becoming a Chartered Member, I have taken on the role of Chief People Officer in two different organisations.  In both of these roles I have had accountability for sustainability/ESG, an area where there are a lot of transferable skills from human resources.  It has been encouraging to see more HR professionals stepping into this space, especially around social sustainability.  I was a bit of an anomaly when I first took on this accountability but it is an area I find hugely interesting, rewarding, and of growing importance to all business stakeholders.