By Dawn Papandrea
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"Priorities in a family are constantly changing," says Deb Shigley, human resources director for the research division at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), "and that is very similar to the constantly changing priorities in a company. Both small and major emergencies can happen at any time, and you have to have the flexibility to go with the flow."
Just think about a time when one of your kids became sick, or your spouse left an important document at home and needed you to retrieve it, she says. "You pretty much have to juggle all of your priorities while dealing with those emergencies. Same thing in HR - if there's an employee issue, you have to rearrange your schedule to deal with that and still meet your deadlines."
And, Deb should know. As a married mother of two adult daughters and a grandmother of four, she's seen first-hand the parallels between her human resources career and her family functionality.
"Organizational skills you learn as a stay-at-home mom are imperative," she says.
In fact, most human resource responsibilities revolve around taking care of and nurturing the family members of an organization. Think about it - HR professionals manage an organization's employees' physical (HMO plan management, wellness programs), financial (retirement planning, salary negotiation), and mental (tuition reimbursement administration, life insurance planning) well being.
Using her life experience as a foundation, Deb was able to move up the ladder within Cornell's HR department over a 16-year period, starting as an entry-level HR assistant, and slowly inching her way to her current directorial position. Along the way, the Dryden, N.Y. resident incorporated the only missing piece of the puzzle ¬- a formal education. After taking more than a decade to complete her two-year degree in 2001 because of family and work commitments, she decided the flexibility of an online program would allow her to earn her bachelor's degree in four years or less. The 55-year-old is just finishing up the last course for her bachelor's of science major in human resources from Empire State College.
Deb says her coursework has helped her improve communication and mediation skills. "They call it a lot of different things - it can be dispute resolution, organizational development, psychology, but it all comes down to being able to seeing things from more than one perspective, all different sides, and helping people see that they have different options. Anyone who has dealt with two teenage daughters who don't agree about anything and don't respect each other's property knows what I'm talking about."
Similarly, Deb says employees approach her when conflicts arise with co-workers. "Just as it's better to help our children learn to fix problems themselves rather than do it for them, [HR professionals] must work out a solution that's acceptable to everyone."
Learning the HR Ropes
So you've organized successful family camping trips, enacted change in your child's school's homework policy, and managed the family's retirement investments. Does that mean you can be successful in an HR career?
It's a start, says Sandy Taylor, the department chair of the Graduate School of Management at Kaplan University, but formal business training will solidify your qualifications. Kaplan's online MBA program newly created human resources specialization track was created in response to the popularity and demand for the school's undergraduate HR offerings.
"The MBA covers all of the basic processes that a business has, and that's important for someone in human resources because they'll know each aspect of an organization," says Taylor. The students who choose the HR specialization take courses in training and development, managing change, quality management, and employment law.
Since its inception last fall, Taylor notes that the program has drawn a mix of mid-career professionals, stay-at-home moms, and career changers - all of whom, she notes, are benefiting from the online flexibility.
"Earning an education in the field really helps to tie all of the aspects of HR together," says Christina Tschantre, who earned her bachelor of science in human resource management from Empire State College. As the current human resource coordinator at Corning Incorporated, the 28 year old already had some HR experience under her belt before pursuing her degree. "My education has given me the opportunity to realize a number of different approaches to real-life situations at work," she says.
In addition, Christina applies her HR skills to her home life. "The operation of a household involves setting goals and finding new, innovative ways to reach those goals. This is similar to the performance management process in the HR profession," she says. "You need to have a flexible and organized approach to managing your workload."
A Caring Career
Beyond the business knowledge and life skills that can propel an HR career, success also comes from having a caring nature, says La Rhonda M. Edwards, human resources manager for a major food distribution company in Atlanta, GA. "HR has afforded me the opportunity to help lead and develop the next level of professionals," says the Walden University online MBA in human resource management graduate. "Knowing that I helped steer someone's career is very satisfying."
Ann Levinstim takes that concept to an even deeper level, by calling her colleagues at First Commonwealth Funding in Baltimore her second family. "I love human resources. Everyone here is very important to me. When I go on vacation with my husband, I also think about the people at work and how they're doing," she says.
Shortly after becoming the company's office manager, Ann was promoted to her current position as the director of human resources. "The opportunities for growth and advancement in the company were just huge. That set it in stone that I wanted to go back to school for human resources," she explains.
With the support of First Commonwealth Funding (she was reimbursed for 80 percent of her tuition) and her then-fiancé, she earned an MBA with a concentration in human resources management through University of Phoenix, beginning on campus and then switching to eLearning since she was simultaneously planning her wedding and needed flexibility.
Now that she's a newlywed and a graduate, Ann's dedication to her "family" is two-fold - her HR family and her marriage. She's also recently been spending time researching educational options for her husband - in true HR fashion.
"My husband's looking at online programs for a master's in chemistry. I went online and got all the information for him, and I'm helping him to get everything together by June," she says. "When you're in a union, it's about working together as much as possible."
Likewise, says Taylor, HR professionals should realize that employees working together for a long time become like a family. "The more familiar [coworkers] become with each other, the less gracious they can become. Sometimes you have to remind them to talk to each other and communicate in a professional manner." That, she says, is what HR is all about.
Think you've got what it takes? Think about it the next time you diffuse play-date drama, maximize family money management, or coordinate a camping trip.
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