Emerging Members

Human Resources magazine caught up with Grace Coffey and Sean Mitchell, to ask about their careers, their paths to HRNZ accreditation and their thoughts about the role of HR in Aotearoa today.

Grace Coffey

What have been your career highlights to date?

I feel fortunate to have had so many highlights in my short time in the profession, so it’s hard to pick just one! My first highlight has to be being named as a Finalist in this year’s NZ HR Awards for Emerging Professional of the Year. I feel really privileged to be recognised alongside other practitioners in the early stages of their HR careers, and am very grateful to HRNZ for creating the space to recognise the mahi of practitioners at all stages of their careers. My second highlight has been stepping up and leading mediations and bargaining for Access, which was a big step up for me, and I’m proud of how far I’ve come with these skills since I started two years ago. Another stand-out moment has been the opportunity to work in the Diversity, Equity and Belonging space. Being able to contribute to positive changes in the workplace has been very rewarding.

What inspires and motivates you in your career and why?

One of my colleagues always talks about bringing the ‘human’ to Human Resources, and that human side is one of the main reasons I pursued a career in HR. I’m inspired and motivated by the people I get to work with, and being able to provide them with support when needed. I also love a good challenge, and with the ongoing changes in health and employment spaces, I’m never short of motivation when it comes to solving problems.

What do you see as the challenges facing the industry and HR profession?

Our whakatauki is “ka mua, ka muri”, meaning “walking backwards into the future”. It’s a fascinating time with challenges and opportunities that may arise with new employment policies under the new government. I’m hoping the new is the old but improved – definitely a space to watch. Also challenging more generally, are AI and verification of identity, and, when receiving applications for roles, determining what is real and what is not. I think expectations around flexible working arrangements and employee benefits are a growing challenge. There’s no doubt there are positives to flexible working, but there are also challenges in dealing with resistance to change, high expectations, as well as the implications for health and safety and workplace culture. We saw a massive shift during COVID-19 and another change since then, so it will be interesting to see how this progresses.

How has HRNZ membership helped your career?

HRNZ has been an excellent source for learning and professional development, and the courses have exposed me to topics I don’t typically engage with on a day-to-day basis. It’s also been a great way to connect with other people within the profession who are working in various industries, and I’ve found those connections to be really valuable in my career so far.

Please describe your journey towards becoming an Emerging Member. How was the experience?

I was inspired to start the journey of achieving my Emerging Professional accreditation after attending the NZ HR Awards, seeing what all the winners had accomplished, and seeing an opportunity for what I could achieve myself. I found using The Path and working through the accreditation process to be really helpful for my personal development and for identifying areas where I can improve.

Sean Mitchell

What have been your career highlights to date?

I am incredibly grateful for everything that my career has involved so far. I am always proud to talk about my personal journey into HR, following my experience working as a manager in a McDonald’s restaurant. It speaks to my pride in working for McDonald’s, where they offer world-class training and can support dream careers beyond making burgers. Within my current role there have been so many highlights, from seeing our employees successfully get involved in a national peer recognition campaign to stomping the curve on our previously concerning turnover trend on the back of COVID-19. One of my favourite memories, however, will always be back to the first time I completed filming in a restaurant. It was for New Zealand Sign Language Week in 2021, and I had the pleasure of working alongside Sharmila, a crew member from one of our Auckland restaurants, to create a series of videos with common words or phrases in NZSL. Sharing her story and seeing her joy in being able to help teach others in NZSL was so special.

What inspires and motivates you in your career and why?

One of the amazing things about my role is that my work has touchpoints with over 12,000 people who currently work within McDonald’s New Zealand. I know that within HR there can rarely be a one-size-fits-all approach, but I love knowing that, with my work, at least one of those 12,000 will benefit. This impact is what motivates me. Being based in a corporate office separate from the hustle and bustle of our restaurants means it’s important for me to take time to connect with our restaurant employees, not only to hear feedback on what could be done better but to refuel by seeing and hearing some of the impacts from both my and my team’s work in HR.

What do you see as the challenges facing the industry and HR profession?

I think one of the biggest challenges in the industry is the nature of HR itself. It’s clear that a positive employee experience cannot only be influenced by an HR practitioner. It is just as crucial for our business leaders to be versed in positive practices amongst every other part of their roles. At my level in my HR career, I try to prioritise simplification of resources, tools and initiatives in any task I’m doing to ultimately empower our managers in our restaurants to grow their people and culture. Where this becomes more challenging is with the fluctuating HR environment that we operate in and that we need our leaders to both understand and invest in. A great example occurred last year with the Fair Pay Agreements, which required our managers to be brought along on the journey to introduce this new legislation, for it to then be subsequently withdrawn and leave businesses wondering, “So what was the point of us doing all that?”.

How has HRNZ membership helped your career?

Entering the HR field after operational roles within the restaurant brought about some challenges for me. While I had completed some papers in employment law as part of my Bachelor of Commerce with the University of Auckland, I was lacking formal training and experience in this space outside of my responsibilities as an assistant restaurant manager. By offering HRNZ membership, McDonald’s helped to support me with this, with HRNZ resources, trainings, events, and more to further my knowledge and skills. As I continued in my role, I have seen the benefit of working towards the formal EPMHRNZ accreditation in 2023 to help improve my networking and experience within the wider HR industry. I’m extremely grateful that this has led to my nomination in the Emerging HR Practitioner category for the NZ HR Awards.

Please describe your journey towards becoming an Emerging Member. How was the experience?

The process for becoming an accredited member was great. It was a little daunting at first, but then when I went into the details of what was required, it became apparent that a lot of this work (primarily in completing activities to obtain the necessary CPD points) had already been completed through my development and training with HRNZ and other training organisations. My team was really supportive of the process, and it was great to reflect on some of my and my team’s achievements when completing my application. I’m looking forward to continuing my journey with HRNZ towards Chartered Membership.