Marcus Walters CFHRINZ

How did your career in HR begin, and what was the journey like to get to where you are now? 

I am Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand’s largest cycle tourism business. We’ve got almost 100 staff working across NZ South Island and the south pacific. Whilst my work is now focused on strategy, finance, operations and technology, we’re still very much a people business. My 20 plus years in Human Resource management has given me a solid appreciation of leading people well and remembering it’s people that deliver our services, make things happen and generate value.

What do you love about having a career in HR? 

I started my HR career as a consultant and worked through manager and General Manager positions. The things I’ve enjoyed most in my HR career have been shaping the HR strategy for organisations, building HR plans to help drive the business forward and get best from its people. I have also really enjoyed coaching, training and mentoring staff within my teams. From leading small teams to large teams, I have invested effort into the development of others. It’s when, years later, that a few of these professionals have expressed their thanks I’ve felt a warm glow of satisfaction. 

What advice would you give to someone early on in their HR career? 

Try to work for or gain experience in an organisation with good HR systems and processes. Learn the foundational HR pillars in an organisation with best practise - good recruitment systems, remuneration structure, industrial relationships, Te Ao Māori practises, etc. These best practises are often in larger organisations that have the resources to invest in good systems (but not always). Learn what good looks like. Try to find a mentor, maybe someone who works for a different organisation (you may be able to find someone through HRNZ). Learn from others that have been there, done that. HR is contextual, what works in one organisation may not work for another. By learning the best practise principles of people management and gaining experience across a variety of situations you’ll develop insight and start to recognise what HR approach is going to work best in your organisation. Go to the HRNZ meetings and grow your network of HR professionals. 

Why is HRNZ important for the HR community? 

Having a professional body that is focused on raising the standard and quality of HR practise across NZ is important. Being able to find resources, get some advice and develop and grow your career is great. Also having an organisation that advocates for the profession and represents the profession’s interest is also positive. Perhaps the most important thing that HRNZ does, however, is enable HR people to connect with each other through forums and networking. For people working in smaller organisations or coming from our regions, having other HR professionals to talk to and get information from ensures the organisations they work for are well served by their HR functions.

What was your path to Chartered Fellowship like? What did you enjoy about the process? 

In 2017 I moved into a GMHR role and felt an obligation to give back to the profession. I joined the Southern HRNZ branch and then after a couple of years I joined the HRNZ Board. I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Board and felt we set a good direction and made some quality decisions. Becoming a Chartered Fellow has been something of a 20-year journey, each role building on the skills and experience of the previous. The application process made me reflect on my experience, mistakes made, and lessons learnt. Over the few years I have assessed HRNZ members wishing to become Chartered members. It’s been good to see so much interest from HR professionals wishing to have their knowledge and skills recognised through Chartership. It’s testament to the maturing of the profession and hard work of the HRNZ team.