Humans of HR: The story behind the leading lights – their career, motivation and achievements.
With a background in media production Caroline Roberts' less than traditional career path has powered her HR work in a wide variety of organisations.
04 September 2024
Story by
Simon Kent, Head of Content – The HR World
Currently serving as an Associate Non-Executive Director at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust Caroline Roberts has had a varied and thorough HR career. From Head of People & Talent at VisitBritain and Zaha Hadid Architects, to Director of HR & Marketing at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) to Executive Director of People and Culture at housing and social care organisation Octavia, her ability to deliver for such a wealth of organisations may not come as a surprise for someone whose background hasn’t been purely HR. Throughout her early career, Roberts has gained experience and insight from management and other positions, perhaps therefore earning more insight into how people work and how their actions interrelate with the wider agenda and work of an employer.
The double edged sword of non-HR
However, while clearly being a strength, Roberts feels that not having a traditional ‘through the ranks’ HR background can be a double edged sword. On the one hand the difference in background can mean there is a degree of suspicion from some in the organisation – that you simply don’t have the right understanding or knowledge for the role. On the other hand, HR professionals are sometimes advised to ‘stay in their lane’ and that’s not such an easy thing to do when you have an appreciation of how the business works on a wider basis.
With a background in media production, Caroline Roberts’ career has certainly taken in diverse industries from a range of perspectives. Working at the BBC for 25 years (including stints on Steve Wright in the Afternoon and the World Service) she found herself dealing with a wide range of people and challenges within her production roles, always needing to respond with calmness and professionalism whatever the situation and whoever was involved.
She undoubtedly built a range of skills in this scenario, although her experience of pure HR here was more from a receiving end rather than a doing end. She admits she never went to HR or experienced their work unless there was a problem and although she moved around the organisation extensively, she didn’t immediately feel drawn to the people management side of things.
Where people meet business
That said she was intrigued by the points where business and people agendas met: “I was on the periphery working on development programmes, business management and career coaching,” she says, “and while you see people at a certain point in their career through this you do get to address the issue of how people relate to the business around you.”
A secondment scheme gave her the chance to use her transferable skills in the HR context as an HR Business Partner and she consequently became a chartered member of the CIPD, learning more about the role and how to apply her knowledge to the challenges around her.
Following maternity leave she took a HR role in the commercial sector, and found the switch between public and private sectors to be less of a shock than she imaged: “value for money and profit are quite similar,” she observes. That said, her experience within other public sector organisations has led her to feel that dealing with regulation can be a particular challenge for HR, sometimes slowing down decision making and change. In her experience, the need for change can be more pressing than government or regulators allow and it can be too easy for initiatives to be ‘kicked into the long grass’ – particularly concerning when some change is so important.
That said, there are some aspects of HR in all sectors that remain consistent: “If you don’t have a good line manager or colleagues around the table – people who can deliver and who will support you – you can find your ideas are torpedoed before you even bring them to the table,” she says.
This pragmatic approach also lies behind Roberts’ attitude to issues such as the advancement of AI In the workplace – “you have to consider how people will adopt it practically” – and her view on the handling of new generations in the workplace:
“There is wider talk around generational differences but in my experience a lot of what people want is no more than what I wanted at their age.”
Listening to your employees
She also believes that listening to the employee voice is crucial for success in every organisation: “Your employees are effectively your consumers,” she says. “They’re also on the outside looking into the organisation and that gives you a good source for market research and a moral compass.”
She advocates a ‘consultancy’ approach for HR, certainly a view that the work is greater than the role. This means that while there may be some scenarios where organisations are happy for HR to stay ‘under the radar’ and not make a fuss, Roberts would rather ‘put yourself to one side’ in order to act in the organisation’s best interests. “I think the approach to the role is you have to look at it dispassionately,” she says.
By taking this entirely professional approach, which considers other priorities and actions within the organisation, Roberts’ HR work is always delivered within the wider context of the organisation and for the good of the organisation. As such her non traditional HR background is directly contributing to a highly valued HR service for the organisations she serves.
Caroline Roberts
Board-level People and Culture Leader
