Michele Walls CMHRNZ

Please walk us through the journey that led you into your current role. 

My career has included HR and people leadership since 1992, across recruitment, organisational development, executive leadership, business ownership, consulting and advisory work. 

I spent many years as an owner and leader within a number of businesses, working at different times alongside other leaders and business partners. That gave me the opportunity to work across a broad range of people practice while also carrying commercial and organisational responsibility. Since selling the business, my work has shifted towards advisory, coaching, mentoring and governance. I’m also an HRNZ Awards judge and, more recently, a Charter Assist Coach, which has been a great way to stay closely connected with the profession and support other HR practitioners. 

What is the best part of your job? 

The people. I’ve always enjoyed helping people and organisations work through things that aren’t straightforward — asking good questions, bringing different perspectives together and finding a practical way forward. 

At this stage of my career, I particularly enjoy mentoring and coaching. I can bring experience and perspective to the conversation, but the real satisfaction comes from helping someone think something through, recognise their own capability and find the approach that works for them. 

What is a career highlight that stands out for you? 

It’s difficult to choose one. I’m proud of the businesses I’ve been fortunate to build and lead alongside some very good people, and particularly of creating workplaces where people, culture and commercial success were treated as interconnected rather than competing priorities. 

I’m also proud of some of the work we did around inclusive employment, particularly creating better pathways for neurodiverse, Rainbow and differently abled people. We worked with specialist partners and mentors to build our own knowledge as well as that of our clients. One of the things that work reinforced for me was the importance of recognising the limits of your own knowledge, seeking out the right expertise and continuing to learn. 

What does becoming a Chartered Member mean to you personally? 

For me, it was an opportunity to take stock of a long career and have my current practice independently assessed against the standards of the profession. 

I also liked that the process wasn’t simply about what I’d done over the years. It made me think about how my practice has evolved and where I’m still developing. That was particularly relevant to my understanding of Te Ao Māori. My learning has developed over many years through relationships, business and, more recently, environmental and community work with iwi and other stakeholders. I see that very much as an ongoing journey. 

Chartered Membership also brings with it a responsibility to keep learning and to contribute to the profession, which is important to me. 

What pushed you towards pursuing Chartered Membership? 

Becoming a Charter Assist Coach was probably the catalyst. I’d looked at Chartered Membership when it was first introduced, but at that stage the process didn’t feel particularly well suited to where I was in my career. The introduction of The Path changed that for me. It provided a much clearer and more relevant framework for reflecting on capability and how practice develops over time. 

Working with other practitioners through Charter Assist then gave me the final nudge. It seemed only right that, if I was supporting others through the process, I should be prepared to go through it myself. I’m glad I did — it gave me the opportunity to reflect not just on what I’ve done, but on how my thinking and practice have evolved and where I’m continuing to learn. 

Now that you are a Chartered Member, what do you see as being the next steps for your career? 

I’m not looking for the traditional “next role”. I’m at a stage where I can be quite deliberate about where I put my time and experience. 

I want to continue contributing to HRNZ through Charter Assist and the Awards, alongside selected mentoring, advisory and governance work. I’m also increasingly involved in environmental and community work at Waikawa Beach, which gives me a very different setting in which to use many of the skills I’ve developed over my career.

And I want to leave room for life outside work. Having spent a long time building and leading businesses, being able to choose where I contribute — and where I don’t — feels like a pretty good next step.

I also want to keep developing my own capability, including my understanding of Te Ao Māori and how I can continue to strengthen bicultural practice in my work in Aotearoa. One of the useful reminders from the Chartered process is that experience doesn’t mean you’ve finished learning.