Many people have the initial career goal to achieve a leadership role in Human Resources. Oddly enough, they start their Human Resources career and do well in it, or stay in it for quite some time, because “that’s all that they know”. Being a Human Resources professional is an attractive role.
Some benefits are: having access that is not open to the entire organization, implementing changes for the entire organization and working a pretty straight forward schedule. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that all senior-level human resources professionals are aware of the Human Resources career ladder or how to navigate it.
The Human Resources career ladder is important to know or you may miss out on some amazing opportunities that may leave you far behind. I went through each level of the Human Resources Career ladder in this video. Use this as a starting point to not only see which positions are available in the human resources career field and to see the compensation for each. Use it to see where you can position yourself to grow your career or pivot into Human Resources.
The most common leadership roles in human resources are:
- Human Resources Manager
- Human Resources Director
- Vice President of Human Resources
- Chief Human Resources Officer
Human Resources Manager
As a Human Resources Manager, you are leading a team. As Human Resources continues to evolve, a lot of companies are now calling this role “Human Resources People Manager”. In this role you are leading a team within the Human Resources department, managing workloads, distributing and delegating work across the Human Resources team.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the median pay for Human Resources Managers to be $126,230 per year (or $60.69/hour). It continues that this position requires a Bachelor’s Degree, 5 or more years of experience, does not provide on the job training and 161,700 people filled this role in 2020.
Human Resources Director
As Human Resources Director, you will hold a very tenured position where you not only lead a team, but also lead a department. This means that in addition to all of the duties that the Human Resources Manager does, the Human Resources Director also manages department goals, keeps them aligned with company goals, and creates strategies that gain success for all employees that work for the organization where you are employed.
HR University says that the Human Resources Director is the most senior Human Resource professional in the department and is responsible for taking executive Human Resource decisions regarding policies, practices and strategies. This is only the case when there is no Vice President of Human Resources or Chief Human Resources Officer at the same organization.
HR University has reported a salary range for this position which came from Glassdoor. It states that range is $77,000 – $266,000 per year. Payscale shows the salary range to start at $57,000 and go as high as $102,000 per year.
In this video, I shared my experience as a Human Resources Director, which was a department of one. I did not supervise a team or had direct Human Resources Assistance with daily duties.
Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer
In the roles of Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resources Officer, it is not common to have both positions in one organization. Typically, if there is one, then there is not the other. Both positions are common in very large organizations where the employee count is above 1,000 employees.
Payscale does a great job explaining exactly what the Chief Human Resources Officer does. In this role, they hold a key administration position that reports to the Chief Executive Officer and advises senior staff. They supervise all human resources administration for the entire company, as well as the Human Resources department.
Payscale shows the average salary range for the Vice President of Human Resources to be $89,000 to $200,000 per year. Payscale shows the average salary range for the Chief Human Resources Officer to be $93,000 to $233,00 per year. Both salaries may include not only the base salary, but also bonuses, profit sharing, commission and other perks and benefits.
Tons of Options with Leading a Human Resources Department
To be successful in any leadership role, Resources for Employers suggests that you get ahead of the problem by establishing a proactive management strategy. In this article/blog, “Get Ahead of the Problem: Establish a Proactive Management Strategy”, Resources for Employers explains how to:
- Set very clear expectations
- Give proper training
- Answer questions cheerfully
- Have a zero tolerance for bullies
- Communicate
- Get your procrastination under control
- Avoid the “wait and see” method
That was a lot to unfold! Tell me your first thought. Meet me in the comments below.