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paddykeeble  
#1 Posted : 03 June 2024 13:00:07(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
paddykeeble

Afternoon to the wonderful IOSH Forum Hive Mind! I've recently submitted my final unit of the NEBOSH National Diploma and instead of being riddled with anxiety for the next couple of months waiting on the results, I have decided to channel this elsewhere. I'm at that part of the journey where I need a break from NEBOSH etc. However, that's not to say I won't want to get back into the "qualification" side of our profession. This leads me back to the initial topic of conversation: Senior/Director/Head of Health and Safety roles and further progression. Given that I am where I am regarding training and that one day I'd like to be a "Head of" etc. I asked myself a question and that was: "is a formal management qualification outside of health and safety a good idea for future aspirations and if so, which qualification?" To that end, is there anyone out there currently at this level or in the process of, who have asked this same question and have any suggestions or answers or tell me to calm down! Appreciate any feedback on this as I've been looking around at business management courses as the additional "string to the bow" but I am overwhelmed by the amount of providers and courses available and if this is a good idea to be even looking into? Thanks in advance all 🙏🏻
peter gotch  
#2 Posted : 04 June 2024 14:38:20(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

Hi Paddy

I opened up the Career Forum to find that Roundtuit had "Reported" another spam posting (though that appears to have already been taken down).

Then I opened your lengthy, single paragraph posting and wondered whether this was the work of AI, so I checked your profile to make sure you are not a bot.

Then I looked at your posting history to find posts which were constructed WITH paragraphs and concluded that you CAN write in easy to understand text.

So, my first advice is to agree with your suggestion that perhaps you should "calm down".

Next, one question you should ask is whether you actually want a job with a title such as Director or Health of Health and Safety. The immediate implication of the title is that doing H&S is down to the Safety Bod, rather than being owned as an integral part of the job function from Board level to shop floor.

Now, if you want to be the person who acts as the Safety Policeman and issues yellow cards to those who fail to comply with some rule and follow that up with dismissal for persistent offending, then may be that title is for you.

In contrast if you want to be the trusted Adviser, then such a title should perhaps be altered so that it implies that you might be responsible for managing an H&S (or perhaps HSE or HSEQ etc) team, but not so as to be the fall guy when line management fail to deliver.

Next, promotion internally or by changing job is about a mix of skills, knowledge and experience and much more. Certainly not just about accruing yet more qualifications whether directly H&S or broader.

So, my advice is to take stock of your career to date and think about ways to further what you do.

That could be about expanding the breadth of your role with an existing employer, looking at other sectors to get a better mix of understanding and many more options.

My last employer had a rule for its Corporate CVs. Each item setting out someone's experience should be completed with some words about the Value that the person had Added to what was being done to help the TEAM deliver.

So, may be, time to look at your CV, check each job and think. "in what way did I add value when doing that?"

By now you should be used to doing "reflective accounts" for your CPD record. Why not apply a similar process to look at how your career has moved forward, which, in turn, would let you think about options for the future.

Edited by user 04 June 2024 14:38:58(UTC)  | Reason: Typo

thanks 2 users thanked peter gotch for this useful post.
Martin Fieldingt on 04/06/2024(UTC), paddykeeble on 04/06/2024(UTC)
paddykeeble  
#3 Posted : 04 June 2024 14:59:55(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
paddykeeble

Hi Peter, 

Firstly, thank you for your response. I'm glad I managed to pass the Turing Test! 

I posted yesterday using my Mobile Device opposed to my laptop which maybe the reason for the total lack of adequate formatting, my apologies.   

With regard to your advice, thank you. I really appreciate it. Solid advice, of which I shall take on board. I am prone to "over-thinking" and this appears to be an instance of this exact characteristic. 

The idea of reflective thinking and reflective accounts is a good method and one that I didn't consider. 

Additionally, my topic subject was merely reflecting the nature of the senior position of an OSH Professional in an organisation, I'm not one for job titles and agree with your "Trusted Advisor" approach but wanted to set the rationale for my question relating to management specific qualifications. 

Thanks again for your valuable input and advice, it's greatly appreciated. 

thanks 1 user thanked paddykeeble for this useful post.
peter gotch on 04/06/2024(UTC)
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