Tracy W.
About me
| Tracy W. | |
| Sociology | |
| Sociology | |
| Undergraduate | |
| 1988 |
My employment
| Head of Strategic HR and Organisational Development | |
| City of York Council | |
| 2012 |
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A day in the life of a Head of Strategic HR and Organisational Development in
My career history
I started working life in the third and voluntary sector, and then taught in Adult Education and FE for a couple of years before starting work in local government. I have worked in HR for 18 years, across local and central government, and I was based in London until May 2012, when I returned to York to take up my current role.
Courses taken since graduation
I also have an MA in Social Policy from York and I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I took a backward step to move to York when I took up my current role, so I want to move to a more substantial role in the next year or so, something with more stretch.
My advice to students considering work
Network .... get along to networking events, get onto LinkedIn and make contact with people working in jobs you want to work in. Get relevant work experience, not just any work experience but experience which relates to the skills you need for your chosen career path. And finally, dont be afriad to start small - smaller organsiations often "grow" their staff more quickly than large corporates. I started my career in a tiny local charity which gave me the room to spread my wings and I really benefitted from that early responsibility.
My advice about working in my industry
Get a CIPD qualification, you can't advance without it. Make sure you get a good grounding in all the key HR disciplines ie, Employee Relations, HR Policy, Casework, Equality and Diversity, Learning and Development, Pay and Reward, Health and Wellbeing, Staff Engagement. You won't advance unless you understand the basics of HRM. Future trends will focus on Smarter Working (helping staff to work remotely), Flexible Resourcing (having a workforce which can flex to meet the needs of the organisation) and Innovation (instilling a confidence in staff to be more creative and innvoative in the workplace).
What I do
I lead three teams, including Strategic HR, Health, Safety and Wellbeing and the Workforce Development Unit. On a day to day basis my job involves line management of the team, managing a budget, helping the team deliver on their workload, I liaise with elected Members and members of the Corporate Management Team, as well as other employers in the city. I also work on a number of cross council projects. The work of my team involves, pay and reward, equality and diversity, employee relations, developing HR Policy, Health and Safety, promoting the wellbeing agenda among staff, managing the council's Occupational Health Contract, performance management, training and development, senior/leadership development, staff engagement and talent management.
Skills I use and how I developed them
My degrees gave me confidence, they opened doors for me, and they still do. But what employers look for now isn't my degree qualifications but my work experience and a record of achievement.
Degree skills:
Skim reading! I learnt to skim read at University and it came in use at a number of times in my career but particularly when I worked in the Senior Civil Service.
What I like most
I have a high level of autonomy, my role offers me variety, and it is valued by my organisation.
What I like least
It's a very difficult time in local government, with cuts to our budgets we have to make savings.
What would I change? I didnt plan my career, but have been happy with most of my career choices. Like many people I have stayed in a couple of roles for too long, and had worked for a couple of managers who I wished I'd never met (!), but generally it's been interesting and enjoyable.