HR Insights - The Podcast. Series 3: Becoming a Strategic HR Professional

This week on HR Insights – The Podcast, Stuart Elliott chats to Andrew Bartlow, CEO of People Leader Accelerator, a preeminent development program for start-up HR leaders.

Andrew has 25 years of Human Resources and Talent Management experience across a wide spectrum of organizations varying in size and industry. He is also the co-author of ‘Scaling for Success: People Priorities for High Growth Organizations,’ and leads Series B Consulting, which helps businesses to articulate their people strategy and accelerate their growth, while navigating rapid change.

In this episode Stuart and Andrew discuss how HR Directors: can take their career to the next level, how to partner with the CEO and strive to work at the strategic level of an organisation, operating in effect as a management consultant.

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Key Timestamps:

6:56 – What Andrew likes about working with HR Professionals

8:50 – How HR professionals differ from those in Finance/IT/Sales

10:34 – The coaching and guidance Andrew typically gives to HR Directors

13:45 – Do CEO’s care about HR? Is HR ever at the top of the agenda?

16:17 – Do CEO’s know what ‘good’ looks like in HR?

19:35 – How long it takes to get the CEO to start thinking strategically in partnership with their HRD

23:33 – What do small companies or start-ups tend to get wrong in terms of growth?

30:40 – Work environment changes as a business grows and appreciating the seasonality of tenure

32:22 – Common flaws demonstrated by CEO’s who are trained into the position, not the founder of the business

34:49 – Key advice to senior HR professionals looking to step up and work at the strategic level with a CEO or board