Stephen Moir, director of people and policy at Cambridgeshire County Council, has built his profile internally by taking on more general management tasks outside HR and externally, via his position as vice president of the Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA).
As well as being responsible for HR at the council, Moir has made efforts to broaden his role to include corporate policy, strategy partnerships and diversity. He has also taken responsibility for finance administration and facilities management on a temporary basis from time to time.
As a consequence of his willingness to take on extra responsibilities and his ability, he has been promoted to the council’s equivalent of an executive team.
Moir has decided to remain an HR generalist but has made sure that he has picked up experience of benefits and other disciplines along the way in order to advance his career. He says: “I’ve always been quite clear that I’ve stayed fairly generalist in all the roles that I’ve covered and actually, in terms of career progression, it gives you a broad overview of all the specialisms within the HR arena but it doesn’t necessarily hamstring you with only having expertise in one area.”
Moir has also maintained a high profile externally by becoming a regular on the conference circuit and will next year embark on a 12-month term as the PPMA’s president. His work with the PPMA ensures he is involved with numerous national initiatives and has a part in influencing the shaping of public sector HR policy. He says: “If you are perceived to have good worth within your own profession, that feeds its way back into your organisation as well, so clearly external reputation is also important in terms of how your organisation perceives you.”