HUMAN RESOURCES as a Post-Military Career Path By Paul Falcone When I began writing for Homeland Magazine and San Diego Veterans Magazine earlier this year, editor-in-chief Mike Miller was kind enough to include a full-page ad profiling some of my books, published by HarperCollins Leadership and the American Management Association. I’m a career-long human resources executive, and I write about leadership in all its facets: effective interviewing and hiring, motivation and development, progressive discipline and termination, and workplace ethics. I’ve been fortunate to work for high -profile companies, serving, for example, as head of HR for Nickelodeon, head of international HR for Paramount Pictures, and in senior HR leadership roles in healthcare/biotech and financial services.
and in across-the-table contract negotiations. And yes, in case you were wondering—employee relations deals with progressive discipline, terminations for cause, and layoffs (i.e., the not-so-fun side of the business). In comparison, if teaching is in your blood, training and development may have a strong appeal. You can work on instructional design and platform delivery for everything from soft skills to technical content and anything in between.
In many ways, I’ve touched most of the HR landscape: Fortune 500, start-up, union, non-profit, and global environments. All have informed my writing over the years. Which made me think. . . An article on HR—a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what the discipline is all about—might benefit readers as they consider transitioning from the military to the private sector at some point. So, feel free to join me to gain some insider’s secrets as to whether an HR career path might be worth considering for you in terms of your own career and professional development.
On the analytical side, compensation is fascinating but very subject to market fluctuations, depending on the current status of the economy: merit increases, promotions, and sales, executive, and international comp may all come into play. On the benefits side, the business can likewise be complex and challenging: healthcare benefits, Medi-Care, and voluntary benefits will keep you dealing constantly with vendors who will help you manage annual renewals, open enrollment, and so much more. Finally, HRIS is for computer lovers through and through. As an HRIS analyst, you’re the rudder that steers the ship because you provide the data intelligence on tenure, turnover, retention, and the trends and patterns in employee behaviors that drive future growth. You’ll also work hand-in-hand with payroll to coordinate and deliver paychecks.
The Structure and Appeal of the HR Discipline HR comes in two basic flavors: the people side of the business and the analytical side of the business. Here’s how the sub-disciplines generally fall out: The People Side of HR - Recruitment - Employee/Labor Relations - Training and Talent Development These sub-disciplines are fairly easy to explain: Recruitment and selection has to do with identifying, interviewing, hiring, and onboarding new talent. Employee relations has to do with managing and enforcing policies and procedures, the company’s code of conduct, and the employment laws affecting everything from discrimination and harassment to wage and hour compliance to COVID-related leaves of absence. On the “labor” side, you’d be working closely with unions in interpreting collective bargaining agreement provisions, responding to grievances, 20
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / OCTOBER 2020
The Analytical Side of HR - Compensation - Benefits - HR Information Systems (HRIS)
The 10-Year Growth Trajectory But where do you start? If you haven’t worked in Personnel in the military, learn more about an HR career path by visiting the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook at www.bls.gov/ooh. Further, you’ll find out a lot more about the 10-year growth trajectory by logging onto the HR page under the “Business and Financial” category here: https://bit.ly/2REMzGZ Click on the “Job Outlook” tab, and you’ll find that the HR profession, in general, is expected to grow 7% per year between 2019 and 2029. In comparison, “business operations” jobs will grow 6%, and all jobs within the economy will grow at 4% over this same time period. Good info!