Tiffany A Broomes, an alumna of the Barbados Seventh Day Adventist Secondary School, is a Human Resources Manager who has worked in the field for the past ten years.
Broomes said during her final year completing a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (First Class Honors) at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus (UWI), she realized she wanted to pursue a career in Human Resources.
“I conducted research to identify what Master’s programme I would do next. I did not want to do a Master’s in the same area as my Bachelor’s degree, as I wanted to be more diverse on the job market. After I explored HR in great detail, I realized it was something I was passionate about, and decided to pursue it. I have not looked back since. My combined skills in social work and HR help me contribute to positive change and engage with people effectively. I especially love that I am able to assist people in developing and showing up every day as their best selves in a way that challenges them, fosters growth and enables resilience,” she said.
The HR professional, who is an MBA graduate of Edinburgh Napier University, said her journey towards becoming a senior HR professional was not without its challenges, but she is happy to be living her purpose.
“My very first job was in sales and through that job, I learnt how to deal with different personalities. It exposed me to the world of work in a way that contributed to shaping me as a professional. When I transitioned into human resources, it was initially difficult because I did not truly know how to transition into a new career the right way. After trial, error, research and a lot of prayers, I was able to gain a start. From there, I built on my experience, gained additional certifications and worked every day to make sure that I added value and lived in my purpose,” she said.
Broomes, who was one of the speakers at Disrupt HR Caribbean Barbados Edition 3.0, said people have a misconception that human resource managers only hire and fire employees. However, she maintained the role is far more encompassing than that.
“That is only a small part of what we do as Human Resources professionals. There is so much more to our work. Yes, we are responsible for recruitment and grievance procedures, but we are also responsible for engaging employees, developing policies, managing projects, creating and delivering training, strategic planning, performance management and even HR information systems, among many other things. This is what I love about HR, how diverse and exciting it is, which makes every day different,” she said.
Broomes had some advice for young people seeking to get into the HR field, which is to do in-depth research to determine if HR is something that they want to pursue.
“Often people mention they want to get into HR because they love people. If you are going to have a fulfilling career in this field, then it has to go deeper than that. I have also heard people say that they want to get into this field because it is easy. These responses make it clear to me they are not ready and need more time to truly understand the profession.
“Read up on the profession, ask questions, complete relevant certifications, and network, but most importantly, do not give up. I always tell people that one sure way to not achieve your goals is to give up on them. If you have a strategic plan and you are willing to work toward the goal, you will succeed. I also strongly recommend that you understand your WHY. That ‘why’ is what is going to keep you going every day, especially on the tough days,” she said. (Write Right PR Services)
