Vice President of Human Resources

Joan

Los Angeles, CA

Interview Date: 01/21/08

Interviewer: Kate Stanhope

URL: http://www.owlnotes.com/interviews/131/

job description

What is your basic job title and the responsibilities that go along with that?

My job title is Vice President Business Partner Manager Human Resources so it's kind of a long, hard-to-understand title. The 'business partner manager' piece means that I have a number of people that report to me that are called business partners. I'm called 'business partner manager' because part of my job duties is to manage, supervise and direct a staff of business partners.

What is the atmosphere like where you work?

One of the best parts about this type of job is that no one day is exactly like the next day. Every single day is different. I don't do the same things on any one day. I don't think ever in my entire time here has there been one day that was the same as the next. I would say that, compared to other jobs in other industries, it's a lot more hectic and it's just sort of the nature of the business. I think entertainment in general tends to operate at a faster pace. The culture and the environment is more on a 'When is the pilot due?' 'When is the series due?' It's a much more deadline driven industry, and often based on things outside your general control.

Do you normally work more with others within your department or with members of the various divisions of the company?

We have our human resources set up with these positions that are called 'business partners', which are assigned to partner with different divisions in the company. For instance, I have people reporting to me that partner with the television division, the Internet division and the finance division, so I have one business partner dedicated to each of those divisions. I oversee all of those groups. So a lot of the interactions are external to our own department. They are actually out in the business units working with the executives and the staff in those business units supporting their business.
We really are much more involved with the core structure of the departments that support the actual product, which would be television shows. We're heavily involved with the marketing departments, the sales departments, business affairs departments, and the programming and talent departments. We're more involved with the full-time day-to-day staff, and they're the ones out working with the actual production of the product.

education & career path

How did you find your way into human resources?

I've always been in human resources, even when I first started at this company. My job sort of just grew as the company grew. I came in at a time when the human resources department of this company was 7 people. It's grown to quite a bit more than that. I was lucky that I came in at a growth period. The best way to advance anywhere is to get into a group that is a start-up and just grow with it. Initially, I came in as an assistant, and then I moved in to doing some systems work in personnel. Then, I moved into compensation, determining pay packages, salary grading and those sorts of things. Then I moved from there into more of a generalist role which was involved with employee relations, investigations, coaching and counseling, hiring, firing, promotions, transfers, department restructures, organizational development and those types of things. I'm still involved with those things, but I'm also managing people who do those things as well.

Is that why you stayed with the same company for most of your career?

It's a combination of things. First off, the job has stayed challenging because I've always been given the opportunity to learn more and do more. I was never restricted to the mentality of 'this is the job description and this is what you do.' Whatever needs to be done, you take it on if you're willing. If you've got the motivation and the drive and the work ethic there's always enough work to do. I've been lucky that I've had people who are willing to give me more and more and give me that chance. I've respected every supervisor that I've reported to. I've learned tremendous amounts from every person I've reported to, and I've enjoyed the working relationships not just with all the other human resources staff, but also with the clients that we work with. They're all great people, so the main reason is really the people that work here that keep you coming back every day. It's a very long commute for me, so in the end, that's what it comes down to you. Do you like the people that you come in and work with every day? Both from the internal human resources perspective and then the clients that we work with, the executives and the employees out in the business are great to work with. That's what makes it rewarding to keep coming in, even though it's hectic and there are a lot of long hours It's not a 24/7 work ethic, but it's much more than just a 9-to-6 job.

Coming out of high school and college, how did you first find your way to human resources and to your company?

My major in college was psychology, so I had a huge interest in people and what makes people tick, what motivates them and those people-to-people interactions. Human resources fit right in with that sort of internal focus that I had. I had two careers that I was leaning towards: one was more in the psychology field, and the other was that I had always wanted to be a spy for the FBI. This job combines both factors because as part of my job, I'm involved in a lot of investigations concerning things like wrongful termination claims, harassment, and time card issues. Whatever it is, I get to do that piece of it, as well as coaching, counseling and helping people to find the right opportunity in the right department at the right time. I get to do both. It wasn't like I had this thought initially that I wanted to be in human resources. Back then, it wasn't even human resources, it was personnel. Over time, I just grew to realize that this was a really, really fun thing to do everyday.

my day

Can you walk me through one of your most recent days at work?

First thing today, I had a budget meeting with the head of one of our divisions, along with the CFO for that division and myself. We sat and reviewed the head count needs for each department within that division, and determined who needs additional staff that we need to budget for since right now we're in budget season. We talked about the merits of that the requested position, the duties for that position, and what would that position would need to pay. The human resources part of that is to put together a package of justifications to try and get head count approved. That was the start of my morning. Then, my staff, which is much more involved in the hiring of candidates, will bring an offer package to me to review. This is to get approval to offer a certain package to a person for an open position. I had to review and approve several salary offers. Then I also reviewed several requests for positions to be upgraded and people to get promotions so I reviewed job profiles: What are their merits? Do they deserve this promotion? What level should they be promoted to? Then I recommend a proposal for a salary for the job level. Then, I got called into emergency meetings regarding a crisis employee situation that required some sort of immediate action.

Any one typical day can include any of those things. I also sit on work place security committees, where we do job analysis and reviews all the time and restructures. We help propose the proper structure for a department which involves the full analysis of every job in that department, what the job duties are, what the levels are, what the right structure should be. Then we put together the right compensation package, for which we use our compensation department to go out into the market and conduct marketplace surveys and bring those back to us to help us determine if we're setting the right salaries. We have a lot of union employees here, so we also get involved in a lot of union issues and other such things.

Are there certain months or seasons where you have longer hours, or is it more week-to-week and unpredictable?

I haven't found any slow time here yet. There are times that are heavier than others, such as around budget time or around bonus time when we go through the whole process of evaluating and determining employee bonuses, employee merit increases when you're reviewing the entire organization at one time of the year, for pay increases that's a heavier time of the year. In television, there used to be one set pilot season and one series season, and now with cable and digital distribution and all those things, it's year-round work. Shows can be started and piloted year-round instead of during one particular season, so there's not really any slow period in this industry. There used to be but not really anymore.

salary & lifestyle

What is the typical salary range for someone in human resources? Does it depend on the company, since working in the entertainment industry might be more demanding than another industry?

It depends on the amount of experience and it depends on the industry. I think human resources in the entertainment industry pays higher than human resources in something like the insurance industry, just because of its different dynamics. It's a very different sort of demand, so I'm not certain on what human resources pays for markets outside of this industry. It's a field of where we have a number of different levels within human resources so there are job opportunities at almost every salary level. However, I can't share specific salary information. We have some positions that are listed as more junior, so we bring them in on this level, and then after we've given more extensive training and development internally, we have another level above that that we could move them into. That way, there's a clear path for someone coming into the organization where they know where they would be heading.

How much does your job affect your personal life? Is there a good balance?

It has not been that easy to find a good balance. Part of it is the unpredictability of the hours and part of it, for me, is that it is hard to shut it down and walk away at the end of the day when there is so much more that needs to be down. It's always there waiting for you the next day so you should be able to shut it off. It's easier now with the advanced tools we have, we've got the cell phone, and in particular the Blackberry, so it is easier for me to walk out the door at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. If something is still really a hot topic or something, I'm reachable via the Blackberry and I can respond and work via the Blackberry, so you're not really cut off because you've left the office. It does make it easier to do more of your job without physically being at the office, so that's been a nice turn of events. The bad part about that is that even when you're on vacation, people can still access you 24/7 with that Blackberry.

Is it also harder to leave the office and leave your work behind when you're in charge of so many people?

If you've hired the right team underneath you, it is much easier to be away from the office, because you are able to delegate and you are able to have the confidence that it's going to get done and get done right. If they really need you, they're going to reach out and get a hold of you. That's been the nice part about being in a position to select my own team because I look for those qualities. I look for people who have that work ethic, because then I know that I can take a long weekend if I need to do so, and be gone and be comfortable. That's the nice part of having been in an organization for a long time and having that experience and knowledge to be able to be at that level where you can start delegating, and you don't have to be the one doing everything yourself.

pros, cons & trends

What is your favorite thing about your job, and what is the most frustrating?

My favorite thing about the job is the people and again, the variety. A nice part of the job is the variety. I can really say I learn something new everyday. I've been here almost 30 years and I still learn something new every single day. That's just something that I need. I need the stimulation of learning and the variety. The difficult thing is the juggling. You want to be able to be of good service to everyone with the volume and the pace, it's just impossible. Having to make those decisions about which things are just going to have to wait is the most frustrating part. I'd rather nothing have to wait but it's just the reality that it does.

What would you say are the biggest factors of change in your field in the past 5 years or so?

The incredible growth in the technology field has been the biggest factor, because it has put an increased demand on talent and on finding talent who have the experience and the knowledge of all the new technologies, particularly in the areas of digital distribution and in financial security. Everyone in the major companies needs that talent. Everyone is out there seeking the same talent, so it makes our jobs that much harder when everyone is competing. So that's been a huge change in the last five years is the fast growth of technology. You can start a whole line of business to focus on one thing and a year later, that's outdated and now we're on a whole new technology. Now we have to sell our product into a whole new line of technology. A big sign of that is if you look at consumer electronics. There are now just as many as content developers there as the technical hardware companies. My company had a huge presence there showing that all of our products can be sold, used and displayed on all of the new technological tools whether its cell phones, over the net, etc. It's that convergence that has changed not just the pace but has created the need to find the top talent with that knowledge and skill set.

What aspects of your personality or your work ethic do you think have made you successful in your field?

Patience. I'm a very, very patient person, and the strong work ethic. I think part of the reason that I've been given a lot of opportunities and moved along was because I had that work ethic where I wasn't going to leave something critical undone at the end of the day. I try not to do that, and that goes a long way. When people know that you really care about the work and care about the people that it affects, you become invaluable. It can be exhausting at times, but again, the thing that does not work here is people that have sort of that 9-5 perspective. If that's what you're looking for, the entertainment business is not the type of business you will find it in. You have be a person that's willing to go above and beyond. Then, the rewards that you get for it are really tremendous.

advice

Is there a standard path of promotions now that the company has grown so much, or is it really still about determination and drive?

It's very different these days than it was when I first came in. Human resources has a lot of specialty areas or what they sometimes call centers of expertise. A lot of people can choose to concentrate on a certain specialty, like organizational development, and there's a whole series of training and education that you would go to if you wanted that to be your focus. Benefits and compensation is a whole other specialty area, and there are separate training and educational requirements that we would look for to hire someone like that. A lot of people come in the human resources field with a law degree. There are many different areas of human resources that you can choose to specialize in. The area that I am in currently in is more of a generalist role, so you have to have a level of knowledge in each of the human resources disciplines within that. Sometimes it's easier to start in human resources, pick a particular discipline and then get extensive knowledge in that area. Then you can expand and transfer into another area where you can get more extensive knowledge about that area. Eventually, you've got enough knowledge in a few different disciplines of human resources that then you can enter into more of a generalist role where you're involved with all of them within your specific role.

For someone looking to get into human resources, what path would you recommend from college on?

There are now a lot of programs in college specifically geared towards human resources management that didn't exist 15 or 20 years ago. There are now a lot of great college programs that focus on the field, and there are a lot of really great college certification programs. A lot of people who have come to us with a communications degree or a business degree and then decided that they wanted to focus on human resources then go back and get their human resources certificate.

Generally, there are some two-year programs you can take while you're working. I've had one woman who reported to me who went back and got her masters, but the focus of her masters was on human resources in business management, so they even have programs that are geared towards that. There a lot of specific industry certification programs, like through the Society for Human Resources Management, which has a whole certification program that takes 3 or 4 years. Those are things you can do while you're already working in the field to develop yourself.