"The mafia doesn't have HR - why do you need it?" - the author of the book "Mafia Manager" ironically invites us to figure out the motives for selecting an HR director for a company. What do you really want from this person? Why do you need him? The more honest and accurate the answer, the higher the likelihood that you will quickly find exactly what you need. And the motives can be very different: "So that everything is like everyone else's." This happens when a company has worked hard and achieved success: rapid growth, entering new markets. At some point, it becomes important to pay attention to the attributes: a brand new office, HR in a separate office. Sometimes in the selection requirements you can hear: "So that she doesn't gossip too much."

"Cheerleading". Big business, lots of emotions that you need to be able to manage. Attract fans to stadiums, support the team, soften aggression, not let it get out of control. "He's not interesting", - such customers explain the reason for rejecting a candidate.

"A top team needs a business development partner." This motive is also found, and not only among recent MBA graduates.

The question “Who is the HR director for me: “HR - what do you want” or “HR - a business partner” who influences the development of the company?” does not have a single correct answer; here, awareness of your own motives is more important than their apparent “correctness”.

Once you have sorted out your own motives, you can move on to describing the portrait of the desired candidate. Ask yourself two questions: "What is my ideal candidate for this position?" and "What is the minimum acceptable?" Most likely, the reality will be somewhere in the middle. When drawing a "portrait", it is important to be attentive to details: what competencies and knowledge should the candidate have? What tasks should he be able to solve? The more details, the better.

Very roughly, we can identify several typical stories of appointment to the position of HR director.

"From the Front Lines"

It happens that experienced top officials appoint the head of the sales department to the position of HR director. Or a regional manager. Or a manager responsible for business development. As a rule, these people have in common the fact that they were successful in their business areas. The same results are expected from them in the HR sphere. Why people from business go to HR is a separate intrigue. During the interview, be sure to ask such a candidate: what is his motivation? The answer may be curious. The hopes of the company's top official are quite understandable - to finally get something specific from HR.

At the same time, the risk that such a "combat" HR director will not be able to adapt to his new role remains high. After all, he is used to being at the "front line" of business (get ahead of the competitor, attack, increase results!), and here - "in the rear" - there are other, sometimes non-linear laws.

If such an appointment took place and you had reasons for it, then give the newcomer time, do not demand immediate results.

"From consulting"

Often, an offer to move to internal HR is made to consultants who have successfully implemented one or more major projects in your company. Their skill and knowledge of the business - that's what attracted them to you. An important factor is that they are also interesting. Traveling around companies organized in a variety of ways, they can tell you how a business is organized, similar or different from yours, they will bring a new perspective, fresh solutions, best practices, trends and market research. The main risks associated with appointing a consultant to the position of HR director are that he will most likely ask you the question: "Why?" for every wish you express or task you set. And if he does not systematically find answers to this question, he may lose interest in your project.

"Experienced HR Director"

One of the most logical and unoriginal solutions is to invite to your company an HR director who worked in a similar company, in a similar position. An experienced HR, who has lived through more than one crisis in his time, like Shakespeare's Polonius, will habitually navigate the intricacies of situations, divergent interests and tasks. After all, Polonius, when sending his son on a voyage, already at that time passed on to him all the basic HR technologies and the formation of a personnel reserve: "Rig the proven and best of people with steel hoops", and the principles of a corporate dress code: "Sew a dress as expensive as possible, but without fuss - richly, but not flashy", and the need for corporate surveys: "Collect all opinions, but keep your own." Well, what has changed since then? All the same processes - only on modern gadgets.

Let me make a reservation that on my part it is the height of simplification to reduce this entire cohort of very different professionals into one vague category of "Experienced HR Director". Of course, each of them is unique in their own way, each has their own chronicle of victories and defeats, which you will find in their resume and open sources.

The choice of whether to bring in an experienced HR director, consultant, or business unit manager will be a balance between your goals and your appetite for risk, as well as your willingness to manage those risks.

How to choose the right HR director