Meet Sharifa Parker, Vice President of People at Moogsoft, an AIOps software company dedicated to helping people and machines work in harmony. They have 20 years of experience as a senior people leader in high-growth tech start-ups, helping to create and sustain high-performing organizations. For the last decade, Parker has been a key asset in growing Moogsoft’s people, shaping its culture, and collaborating closely with the company’s executive team to drive engagement that mirrors its mission.
We recently connected with Parker to discuss how they got their start in the industry, their biggest influences, and how HR can most effectively demonstrate its value to leadership. Their advice? Rethink your position in the organization.
“Although the HR department may sometimes feel like an island, it’s important to remember that employee and company culture impacts every organizational initiative from product to marketing and communications,” Parker shared with HR Daily Advisor. “So, it’s a symbiotic relationship; HR impacts business, and business impacts HR. One way to tangibly demonstrate this relationship is to show interest in what the organization is accomplishing in other departments. HR leaders can do this by scheduling meetings with executives and crafting people strategies that reflect the organization’s values and direction.”
In our latest Faces, meet Sharifa Parker.
How did you get your start in the field?
Growing up, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. Shortly after graduating college, I began working as an HR temp at Citigroup, where I began to learn the basics of HR. During my 5 years in that role, I garnered a great amount of experience and knowledge, introducing my passion for people and starting my career in the HR space.
After my time at Citigroup, I moved into the gaming tech space and started as a true HR generalist at Betfair, an online betting company. After spending 7 years with Betfair, I met Phil Tee, who was just starting Moogsoft and needed help growing the HR department and hiring a team. Today, we have employees across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Ten years later, I’m still here!
Who is/was your biggest influence in the industry?
My biggest influence in the HR industry was my first manager at Citigroup. When first starting out at Citigroup, I wasn’t aware of the sheer number of responsibilities the HR department has. He took me under his wing, allowed me to shadow him in meetings, and taught me a lot about the industry.
What’s your best mistake, and what did you learn from it?
My biggest mistake happened at Citigroup as I was shadowing my boss. After expressing my interest in interviewing candidates, she let me interview a prospect on my own. At the end of the interview, I offered them the job because I thought they were a perfect match. However, I hadn’t consulted with the hiring manager, and in fact, there were better-matched candidates. I was tasked with informing the person they didn’t actually get the job. Having to let someone down like that has stuck with me through the years.
What’s your favorite part about working in the industry? What’s your least favorite part, and how would you change it?
My favorite part of working in the industry is how varied the profession is. As I mentioned before, there are so many responsibilities HR deals with daily, from benefits and hiring to learning and development. This variety allows us to experience and get involved in so many different projects.
Sometimes it can be frustrating to ask employees and even managers to follow strict processes and procedures. Of course, there’s always reasons for these processes, but communicating those reasons can be tricky. To improve communication across departments, I think leaders need to prioritize training about transparency and honesty in the workplace, even and especially when that honesty is leveraged during conversations with executives. I’ve tried to implement these values at Moogsoft, and it’s helped tremendously with change management.
It sounds like, through your experience, you really care about people, and you want to help them feel safe and comfortable, which is important in the industry. Please elaborate here.
The average person spends 90,000 hours working over a lifetime, which is roughly equivalent to 10.2 years, according to Andrew Naber, an industrial-organizational psychologist and data scientist. So, it’s safe to say our working conditions impact our mental well-being throughout life. I’m passionate about ensuring employees spend those 90,000 hours feeling valued, satisfied, and happy. Additionally, I want them to feel that work is a place where they can develop personally and professionally.
Where do you see the industry heading in 5 years? Or are you seeing any current trends?
Artificial intelligence (AI) has obviously been a hot topic in the tech industry for the past few years. And there have been many discussions about how AI is going to impact HR. Personally, like many other HR professionals, I don’t believe automation will ever completely replace the HR department. We often discuss the importance of “the human touch,” and while it may sound trite, it’s true: Nowhere is human nature more important than the HR department. I do see enormous progress being made in AI- and machine learning (ML)-backed human resources information systems (HRISs). Intelligent automation in the HR tech stack will certainly make a big difference in years to come, enabling HR professionals to focus less on rote tools-based tasks and more on human-first processes.
What are you most proud of?
Being able to help those early in their career develop into confident, well-rounded HR professionals. One of the things I really enjoy is taking everything I learned over the years and passing it along to those who are just starting out.
Do you have any advice for people entering the profession?
Get involved in all aspects of HR until you find the one you love. HR generalist roles are rising in popularity, so more likely than not, you’ll have the opportunity to try your hand at several responsibilities. But if that’s not the case, consider informing your manager you’d like to try new responsibilities. A well-rounded understanding of the profession is the best way to be a successful HR leader down the line.
Spend time getting to know your people and the business. This goes back to my earlier advice. When you demonstrate interest in other areas of the business, you cement yourself as a rockstar in HR.
It’s OK to say “I don’t know. Let me look into it.” No one has all the answers all the time. But as HR professionals, we often feel pressured to provide answers in the moment. It’s OK to inform your people that you’ll look into their question and provide a better answer down the line. In fact, they’ll probably have a better experience as a result and be thankful for your patience.
Challenge your managers. The workplace is a collaborative environment. In no department is this truer than in HR, in which management decisions impact every single employee. Don’t be afraid to give your opinion, especially if you have a different perspective from your leadership team. For example, Gen Z employees have been instrumental in pushing the needle toward more people-friendly practices.
The post Faces of HR: Sharifa Parker on AI and Symbiotic Relationships appeared first on HR Daily Advisor.