Terry McCaul CFHRINZ

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

My first role in HR was when I was recruited via search in 1997 from my role as Head of TQM Consulting at Telecom into Trustees Executors Agency Ltd. A small subsidiary of the Tower Group of companies. My title was Manager Organisational Development.  OD was a very new thing in those days so we basically had to discover it all for ourselves. HR was included in my responsibilities as we recognised that the key to building a culture was the deliberate design of supporting HR processes and practices. I had some knowledge of HR from having recently completed my MBA where Strategic HR and Strategic Information Systems were my majors. My previous role at Telecom was about building a culture of Quality into the organisation so OD was probably a natural fit. 

The role I moved into was all about building the organisation around Values. It was a very exciting period and we became quite a case study in NZ. 

We were really quite successful and after a couple of years I was promoted to head up OD and HR for the whole group across NZ and Australia. I learned an enormous amount over this period as we readied the business for demutualisation and public listing. It was a fairly deep restructuring and redesign role as we consolidated 7 or 8 separate businesses into two. Tower NZ and Tower Australia, with Tower Group as the Holding company. 

Working mostly at a strategic level it was a very satisfying role as we created a whole new brand and internal supporting culture for a leading financial services company that once was a Government Department. 

Since then I have been lucky enough to have been appointed into significant HR and change roles in many sectors, Science and Research, Tertiary Education, Energy. I have been the head of HR/OD at Treasury, Dept Prime Minister and Cabinet, State Services Commission and Chief People Officer at Stats NZ, where I ended up as Deputy CEO and Chief Operating Officer.

I have been able to experience quite a lot of variety over my career as I have also had other really interesting roles such as Chief Advisor to NZ Chief Justice, Interim CEO of the Royal College of GPs and I even set up and continue to run my own consultancy. 

What do you love about having a career in HR? 

Working in HR is hugely intellectually stimulating.

It is an opportunity to work with people from all across organisations, at any level, to understand and resolve curly issues affecting performance. No two days are ever the same and you could be negotiating a CEA one day and the next, facilitating culture and strategy sessions with the Board and Senior Executive team. The variety of what you can do is immense. 

HR is a very rewarding and interesting sector with new people challenges presenting themselves every day. The biggest buzz I found though has been getting the chance to work with other professionals who are just as committed and driven to make the world of work a better place.

I love working with a team who can contribute and add real value with their efforts combined in a way that complements each other. When this happens, the positive effects on the whole organisation are hard to ignore. 

What are some defining moments from your career journey so far? 

This is a really difficult question for me because I feel that there has been so many. I have been privileged to have gained deep, hands on experience in every single aspect of all disciplines within the HR remit over the years. I believe that only by doing a thing can you truly understand it. 

Firstly though, being recruited out of an organisation where I had spent my entire working life at that stage, (23 years) into something completely different. It was a brave step and I have never looked back. 

I would have to say that the experiences at Tower Group were fundamental as they set me on a path that has shaped not only my career but who I am today. Most especially the pioneering work at Trustees and Executors where we created a truly unique organisation around Values and Culture at a time when virtually no one else was doing such things. 

Being invited to Oslo(2018) and Geneva(2019) to speak to the UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) on building high performance cultures and organisational resilience, respectively, were definitely highlights for me as I also received the awards for best speaker and thought leader at both of the conferences. It vindicated much of my propensity to be a bit of a maverick when it comes to breaking away from the standard HR thinking of the day. These events gave me the confidence to author a book on those subjects. 

The appointment to Deputy CEO and COO for Stats NZ were defining in that I was able to constantly call on my base of strong HR and leadership knowledge and experience to effect significant change within the organisation. This actually led into my next role as interim CEO of RNZCGP for a time before my retirement.

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

Another difficult question. Especially since I haven’t had the same kind of career progression experience that perhaps most HR professionals have. I’d already been a tradesman, trainer, project manager, quality manager and even CEO on loan from my parent company before I entered the HR arena. This meant that I had formed a much wider strategic view of organisational life than a lot of university educated HR Grads. 

My advice would be to try and take as many chances as possible to learn and understand the world of organisational life from as many different perspectives as possible. This will hugely help you to understand how your work will impact others. And remember, HR is really about enabling others to do their best work. Seeing the world through their eyes will help you to make more effective HR decisions. It will hugely enhance your critical thinking skills before you recommend solutions that may end up on the cutting room floor. In that sense then, always be wary of the ‘next popular trend’ in HR. HR credibility has often suffered as a result of poorly researched and thought out initiatives. Try and research widely and look for truly credible and scientifically sound approaches. 

Why is HRNZ important for the HR community? 

We are very fortunate to have an institute such as HRNZ. The chance to learn from others and gain knowledge and skills is critical for serious HR practitioners. You don’t learn HR from university study. Experience is the most effective learning strategy and so I would counsel any HR professional to be active in the institute and take opportunities to get involved as much as possible through volunteering. I have encouraged (and funded) all of my teams from all of the organisations I worked in, to become members and to enjoy the available learnings and experiences that they could. I would not have done that if I thought there wasn’t any value in it. 

I was lucky to get involved early in my HR career and had some really great career development experiences as I got deeper into the organisation. I became an elected Board member and executive committee member, I sat on the editorial board of the HR Journal, I was a judge for the Awards, several times. I was a speaker at a number of HRNZ conferences and wrote many articles for the magazine. For a short time I was even a member of the Chartering Committee. All of these experiences enabled me to build a network of friends and colleagues with whom I gained lasting relationships that I enjoy to this day. 

HRNZ provides credible support and credentialing for you in your career. 

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

I’ve already outlined the variety of roles that I have had over the years but having joined the Institute in the early 2000’s (I think) and having been very active as a senior HR executive across industries I considered that moving into a Chartered Membership was important to add credibility to my support for young and newer HR staff to aspire to. I believe you should be prepared to do what you ask others to do. The process of achieving Chartered status was quite reflective and forced me to think about how I had actually developed as an expert and as a leader over the years. It is an important thing for anyone in senior roles to engage in. 

I felt honoured to have been awarded Chartered Fellowship in 2017 and quite enjoyed the process of once again reflecting on the experiences that had brought me to this level. I truly believe that self reflection is the most critical factor in developing as a leader. 

What is next for you in this chapter of your career?

I have actually retired from full time work after a 50 year career. I have published a book in which I have tried to convey some key learnings and thinking around designing and leading contemporary sustainable high performance organisations in the hope that HR/OD leaders and other senior leaders will get some inspiration from it. I am keen to write more and share as much of my learnings as possible. 

I think this is the time for me to actively advocate for HR/OD and senior organisational leaders to deepen their strategic thinking and impact in a world of work where pressure to implement shallow interventions is driving much current practice around organisational life. 

I am currently enjoying short advisory/coaching roles to senior leaders around the world who are interested in breaking out of their paradigms to redesign their organisations to be more contemporary and innovative in achieving sustainable performance. I would love to do more within NZ in this space as I believe that we have an opportunity to excel and become a real exemplar in innovation and work/life leadership.