Want to land the best paying jobs in HR? Be a Domain Expert.
You will be called a domain expert, if you have:
- Spent a significant time in the same domain (TA/L&D/C&B/Ops).
- Experienced the domain in more than one industry/Organization Type/Geography/Environmental Complexity.
- Provided effective solutions to domain problems.
- Coached, mentored, guided or trained a team in your domain.
There are many benefits of being an Expert:
- You get strategic roles & exciting problems to solve.
- You’re ring-fenced by your employer.
- Your demand in the market is higher.
- You command higher perks & benefits.
- Your ratings & increments are consistently better than the average.
Longevity of employment tenure in that domain is needed, however there are other crucial factors that can make you a domain expert:
1. Know the Science of your domain
What theories, research, & study is proven in this field? What rules are defined by law of the land?
2. Know the Art
What’s the cause & effect of a particular practice? What are the best practices? What is my employee demographics? What do they need?
3. Know your Organizational Needs
What does my Organization need? What problem do I need to solve? What aspects of Science & Art can I implement? What has worked here before? Why did this not work?
4. Get into Depths of Tasks
Why are employees coming to the HR seat to ask for appointment letters? Why is there low response to this job posting? Why is the attrition of that team so high? Keep asking questions, keep peeling off layers to reach to the root of the problems.
5. Provide Options to Stakeholders
Never go with just one solution to the stakeholder. That’s the beauty of being in HR- you always have options to reach the same goal. Provide pros & cons of each approach & collaborate with stakeholders to arrive at the best possible approach.
6. Be on top of your Data
What’s the attrition rate? What is the offer drop out rate? What was the attendance %age of last training? How many appointment letters pending this month? The Dashboard of your area of work should be the first and last thing you see on every work day of yours.
7. Ideate & Learn
Build a network of mentors & colleagues with whom you can discuss thoughts & understand trends. Remain a student, even if you are aiming to be the master.
Strive to stay at the Top of your game!