Explore: Human resources

Senior HR Manager
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

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I’m Shivanni,

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I’m a senior HR business partner for URW

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and I am based at Westfield,

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Shepherd’s Bush in London.

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My role within HR at Westfield involves looking

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after all of the shopping centres.

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And so a HR business partner would be looking at ways in which –

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how can you hire people? How can you develop people?

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How can you get the best out of them and make them work together as a team?

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I would say the best things about my job are

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just being around people.

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I think the amount of people that you meet is just incredible.

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And just

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making them all work together in a team and knowing that they’re all so different,

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but actually when they come together for one business goal,

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they just find a way to work together.

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I would say that

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communication is a really important skill. So within my role

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I have to speak to so many different people.

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So I would have my employees,

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I would have my managers, I would have the directors of the business.

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I’d have sometimes the owners of the business.

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Sometimes you have to deliver news that you don’t necessarily agree with

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or maybe it’s a difficult message,

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and so just knowing how to deliver that in a pleasant way,

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I think is probably one of the toughest parts of the role.

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I loved school.

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I loved being there, I loved

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being with my friends, and I look back on it so fondly.

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I loved anything that was creative and imaginative,

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so art, English literature.

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My dream job at the time was actually to be a set designer.

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I didn’t end up doing art at university – sorry,

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at A-level – I actually ended up doing psychology, sociology and English.

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Now when I look back on it, it all makes sense.

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And I think you naturally gravitate towards things

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that kind of utilise your skill set with things that you’re good at.

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I studied psychology at university eventually as well.

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And now I use it every day in my role.

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So my first ever summer job was with a summer camp where people would

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kind of leave their kids over the summer and we’d do activities with them.

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I think at times it was really challenging just because I don’t think I’m really

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that great with children.

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So it really tested my patience sometimes.

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And that was whilst I was at university.

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And then I’d also do Christmas holiday jobs as well.

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My first ever Christmas job was actually in Harrods as a temp.

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And I think that’s where

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it ignited my passion and love for retail.

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When I graduated I started my career as a PA,

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and that was in a technology firm.

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I then moved on to Harvey Nichols

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and I joined as an HR assistant,

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and that was to really tap into kind of my passion around fashion and retail.

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I then progressed onto a fashion designer and joined as a HR assistant,

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but then progressed up to a senior HR business partner.

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Following that, I worked across publications in interior

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design in an HR manager capacity, and I’m now a senior HR business partner

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at URW.

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I only really kind of leant into HR

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and progressed within this field after I graduated.

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But up until that point, I didn’t even know that this was a career option.

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I think looking back on it now, I can see how specific subjects

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have led me to this point, and I think I naturally gravitated towards them.

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And you will naturally do that.

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You will naturally gravitate towards things

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that you’re either good at or you enjoy. So carry on doing that,

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and it will all slot into place, I promise you.

“Now when I look back on it, it all makes sense.” Shivanni hires and develops people, and helps them work as a team. At school she wanted to be a set designer, but took a different path at A-level and went on to study a psychology degree. After university, she worked as a PA, before joining Harvey Nichols as an HR assistant. She’s had a number of roles since and now works for Westfield shopping centres.

More information about Human resource managers and directors

Data powered by LMI For All

£57,200

average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

34% male

66% female

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description

? Human resource managers and directors plan, organise and direct the personnel, training and industrial relations policies of organisations, advise on resource allocation and utilisation problems, measure the effectiveness of an organisation’s systems, methods and procedures and advise on, plan and implement procedures to improve utilisation of labour, equipment and materials.

Qualifications

There are no pre-set entry standards, although entry is most common with a degree or equivalent qualification. Off- and on-the-job training is provided and professional qualifications are available. NVQs/SVQs in relevant subjects are available at levels 3, 4 and 5.

Tasks

Determines staffing needs;
Oversees the preparation of job descriptions, drafts advertisements and interviews candidates;
Oversees the monitoring of employee performance and career development needs;
Provides or arranges for provision of training courses;
Undertakes industrial relations negotiations with employees’ representatives or trades unions;
Develops and administers salary, health and safety and promotion policies;
Examines and reports on company and departmental structures, chains of command, information flows, etc. and evaluates efficiency of existing operations;
Considers alternative work procedures to improve productivity;
Stays abreast of relevant legislation, considers its impact on the organisation’s HR strategy and recommends appropriate action.