hr influencer
“YOU HAVE TO BE
VERY AGILE TO SHIFT
FROM THE TACTICAL
TO THE STRATEGIC
ON A DAILY BASIS,
AND I ENJOY THAT.”
Like many of her peers, Laura Randell
didn’t consciously plan to have a career
in human resources. But from
her first exposure to the field 19
years ago – followed by a series of diverse
and progressive positions – she has honed
a unique and very specialized skill set.
Those capabilities serve her well in her
senior role as director of sales, operations,
marketing and HR at York University’s
Schulich School of Business. Leading a
team of 20, Randell has a wide range of
responsibilities, not the least of which is
coordinating 325 faculty and instructors
who deliver the university’s full range of
executive education offerings.
HR Professional asked Randell to share
her thoughts on what it takes to rise up
through the HR ranks into a multi-faceted
senior leadership role.
Describe your first HR job.
Laura Randell: I worked as an HR generalist
for CIBC call centres, where I was
responsible for the teams in Toronto and
Moncton, with about 750 people.
When did you decide you wanted
a career in human resources?
LR: I didn’t really make a conscious decision;
it just happened. I took a leave of
absence from a job in the public sector and
I got a job in recruitment in banking, and it
went from there. I think I really decided to
pursue HR as a career when I was living in
Australia from 2003 to 2007. While there,
I worked for Woolworths and Rabobank,
a Dutch bank. That gave me global experience
and exposure, because I worked in
different countries, and I also had regional
exposure working for the bank, with responsibility
for all of Asia-Pacific.
Describe your current job. What are
your main areas of responsibility?
LR: My current job here at Schulich is
very unique. It’s like a COO position. My
primary job is to run education programs
for the public. We have 150 executive education
programs a year and I’m responsible
for overseeing all of those – the development,
making sure we have the right
instructors and that we deliver the best
programs to the public. I oversee all the
sales, so my team has to fill those classes.
I also have operations responsibility across
two sites: the Schulich School of Business
Executive Education Centre on the York
campus, and also the downtown campus.
That’s full operational accountability for
both sites, ranging from the strategic to the
tactical. So, it’s operating the sites but also
the programs – two very distinct areas. I
also lead the strategic marketing function
for the entire Executive Education business
and am the head of HR.
What do you love about your job?
LR: I like the variety. Every day is totally
different and I never know what is going
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HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MARCH/APRIL 2016 ❚ 45
