Client Case: Career Advancement

Sheryl* is a HR Officer working in a manufacturing firm in Barbados. There are 5 people in her HR team and 500 people in her firm. She has been in the role for 2 months and is doing primarily Training and Development, liaising with the trainers and different stakeholders to coordinate trainings.

Barbados is a small Caribbean island with a population of 300,000. It’s primary industries are manufacturing and tourism. Unemployment on the island is around 10% at the time of coaching

Coaching Issue

Sheryl has spent a lot of time prior her current role on acquiring certifications and training. She has a Masters in Human Resources and a number of other HR qualifications. She was previously in a different role and has also worked in a small HR firm for 4 years. However, her peers in her team are not as qualified and yet are in similar roles to her. She wants to find a HR manager role either in her current firm or elsewhere that will be better suited to her qualifications.

Coaching Process

I examined these factors thoroughly in the 45 minute coaching session.

1. Opportunities for a HR Manager job in Barbados

A HR manager role in Barbados requires minimum 2 years of HR experience in a large firm. The HR manager role would need to be a people person and relate to people well. There is limited progression from a HR manager role to a more senior position on the island. The firms on the island are not big enough to support a VP in HR or a HR Director role, and these roles are few. The only possibility of advancement after she becomes HR manager is likely to take on cross-functional roles.

She also realized during the coaching session that she would likely not become a HR manager in her currently firm as her team has only 5 people and she will only be promoted if her current manager leaves – which is not likely going to happen. So she can only get a HR manager role outside of her company.

2. Her current level of skills and qualifications

She has all the required certifications to be a HR professional. In my interactions with her, she came across as friendly, professional and has very quick turn-around response time, so she has good people skills. She also mentioned that she has good conflict management skills. She realized in the session that she was missing the leadership requirements of the HR manager role.

3. Alternatives to the HR Manager role

One of the reasons why Sheryl wants the HR Manager role is the pay associated with the role. Alternatives such as moving out of the island was discussed but she is not keen on leaving the island. The only alternative right now would be to offer her skills and services on various online platforms.

Why this process was adopted

This is a 45 minute session and it is the first time that I coached Sheryl. I spent some time researching the background of the country before coaching this coachee. I knew that she wanted to work on career prior to the coaching session and it is essential as a coach that I have a realistic idea of what opportunities are available in her country. My cultural background is very different from hers and I wanted to make sure that I was not projecting my biases on to her.

One thing of value that I brought of value to the coaching session was my experience in coaching many different levels of HR professionals – officers, managers, VPs and Directors. I have an understanding of what each level of the hierarchy would require as skillsets. In a managerial position, leadership skills are key - an important component of the job is to make sure that people are motivated, and jobs are properly delegated. I questioned the coachee on how she intends to get the necessary experience to be a HR manager and the majority of her responses was to get more certifications and to do well in her job. She omitted the leadership aspect experience required of the job as this is her blind-spot.

As better pay was something that she wanted, and there are limited opportunities for her to get promoted on the island, offering her services on different online platforms was explored. I gave her some feedback on her online profile to better position herself and gave her some tips on what are other online platforms she can explore to market her services.

Results from the coaching session

Sheryl understands that at the moment, it is unlikely for her to get a HR manager position. Sheryl will make use of opportunities to develop her leadership skills. She will take existing processes and make it better. She will make her online presence better so as to get free-lancing opportunities with her skills.

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