I was surprised to learn that while the most senior, experienced reward directors can find it difficult to move to an HR director role if they do not have some generalist HR experience (even if they have experience in several HR specialisms), on the flipside, compensation and benefits experience is not necessarily a prerequisite for becoming an HR director.
Given that reward represents a significant spend for most organisations and is increasingly becoming a board-level issue, this astounded me.
Reward increasingly has a key role to play in supporting many broader organisational or business objectives, such as cultural change, mergers and acquisitions, talent management and managing sickness absence, to name just a few.
Now, I am certainly not tarring all HR directors with the same brush because I know many that do have reward experience and are championing some great work around benefits, but I do believe this needs to be the case more widely.
So even if the board-level hierarchy cannot see the strategic business value of appointing reward directors to the top spot, here at Employee Benefits we believe that all the fantastic work carried out by so many benefits practitioners deserves celebrating.
This is why we established the Hot 100 and 100 Club. Find out who made this year’s list of the industry’s top movers and shakers on page 21.
We are looking to continue the celebrations at the Employee Benefits Awards 2014 on 27 June when we will crown this year’s Employee Benefits Professional of the Year 2014.
Employee benefits professionals of the year are individuals that have made an impression on the industry, be it publicly or behind the scenes. They are often the ‘go-to’ people for help and advice, as well as those blazing a trail through the industry.
So, watch this space.
You never know, you may even find you have been nominated by your peers.
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Deputy Editor
Employee Benefits
Tweet: @DebbieLovewell
TO ADD LINK TO HOT 100
