HRNZ Member profile

Human Resources magazine caught up with Celena Harry, Chief People Officer for Mitre 10 (New Zealand) Ltd. We asked her about her career and her thoughts about the role of HR in Aotearoa today.

What are the highlights of your career to date? have been privileged to work

I for some incredible brands, work with talented people, and contribute to significant projects and transformational challenges.

Starting out in retail as an HR graduate at Farmers had an important impact on my career. I found my sweet spot in the pace of retail, and I only realised that years later when I moved to support a B2B sales team. It turned out I missed retail. Many HR professionals move across industries; however, I’ve managed to remain connected to the sector I love.

My time as a stay-at-home parent was also valuable to my career. I learned how to multi-task and have patience for a start! Playcentre involvement gave me a level of empathy and curiosity about what is important to people. Playcentre uses a consensus-based decision-making model, and in some situations it was extremely challenging to get agreement. Having a clear and unified purpose often proved invaluable. People understood it was okay to disagree and commit for the greater benefit of the Playcentre or other families. I still draw upon this experience regularly.

More recently, working with the Spark and Vodafone customer channels teams was incredibly career-shaping. I saw so many examples of frontline people shining, bringing their knowledge of customers as a critical advantage to decision-making. I saw leaders develop the confidence and capability to lead transformational change at scale. And, of course, they were extremely fast-paced and high-energy teams, making work an absolute pleasure.

Now, working for the much-loved Mitre 10 brand, I feel very humbled to be Chief People Officer. The nature of our cooperative is unique: we have exceptionally talented business owners who work in their stores and take pride in their store’s customer service and people experience. It is more challenging than a corporate but in all the best ways. Where I am right now is, without a doubt, my career highlight to date, working alongside simply brilliant people!

What inspires and motivates you in your career and why?

I love people! As HR professionals, we have the privilege and challenge to be part of the best and worst times for people in our organisations. It is a privilege that brings enormous responsibility because we make daily decisions that impact the working experience of the folks who invest their time and energy here. And those experiences have widerreaching impacts on whānau and communities. I take that responsibility extremely seriously, always mindful that our team makes the choice to work for us, and our profession has the gift of making that experience even better for people. There’s nothing quite so rewarding as seeing a leader confidently support their team, or a team member reach a goal.

What do you see as the challenges facing HR right now – your perspective?

For Mitre 10, we are in a privileged position to have weathered COVID-19 well and grown in our performance over recent years, and we’ve been able to offer work to folks in our local communities with team sizes growing in most of our stores.

Our challenges are operational at this time of the year in retail. Recruiting great people to provide brilliant customer service continues to be a challenge. Filling our seasonal roles as we approach the busiest retail period of the year is a crucial focus for us. The good news is many of the students who work for us return each year, and continue to work part time as they study. Many go on to complete the retail qualifications we support and develop the start of their careers with us.

We are also challenged to keep our people safe, with significant increases in retail theft events and abusive customers. These events pose risks in terms of both physical safety and significant emotional harm. As an industry, we are working together with Retail New Zealand to find ways to improve safety for our people and provide training for de-escalating situations. Mitre 10 is proudly supporting the Shop Nice campaign once again.

Lastly, sustainability is an opportunity for retail and has become a focus for us in Mitre 10. We are focusing on minimising waste from our operations and making a real and sustainable contribution to our environment.

How has HRNZ membership helped you fast-track your career?

I was delighted to receive Chartered Membership earlier in 2022. Being proud of our profession and the value we add to organisations is essential, so I encourage everyone to consider applying.

The Mitre 10 team was also privileged to receive the HRNZ 2022 Learning & Development Capability Award. Recognition for the crossfunctional team was so brilliant to see and be a part of.