Hiring an HR Manager: Is Experience or Potential More Important for a New Team?

Hiring for Experience: A Dilemma

Should I only hire someone very experienced, or should someone with only 3-4 years of experience be enough to start the team? What are your thoughts on this?

For some context, we are a leading online legal and regulatory education company with offices in Goa, Delhi, and Kolkata. We are primarily looking for the HR to be based in Kolkata. Here is our corporate website: https://ipleaders.in. We have 27 people across all offices and even some people working remotely from home.

Looking for your advice on the same.

Dear Ramanuj,

As per your description, it seems you have a less workforce and are based at multiple areas, operating offline and remotely as well. In that case, looking for a long-term hiring solution is my suggestion.

You can always depend on experienced personnel who can handle the core tasks. It also depends on your expectations from the person; if you want them to manage everything, it is ideal to hire a senior individual with exposure to all traits and areas.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any further assistance.

Best regards

Hi there, I would suggest the following:

Qualifications and Experience

First, look for a person with professional qualifications in line, preferably with some work experience in the same field. Prefer someone who has exposure to local laws of the region, mainly a person with a working knowledge of the local language, as they need to liaise with external government and non-government agencies. It is preferable to hire someone from the region or state where the requirement is.

Years of experience might depend on the position being hired. Since it is for a Manager role, I feel 6-8 years of experience in the same field is ideal.

Candidate Stability

If the candidate is married and settled, the likelihood that they will stay with us for a longer duration may be higher.

Work Flexibility

Providing a laptop will allow them to work on-site, off-site, and remotely as per job requirements.

Hope this helps.

Thank you

Mr. Vamshi and Ssrow gave good inputs. Don't look at the number in terms of experience; what matters is the level of exposure the candidate has in the same line of activity. Your establishment does not seem to need a large workforce, and your HR profile seems basic and generalist in nature.

HR Professional Requirements

The HR professional, as per the description of your business profile (a greater detail would have been better), should have fair exposure in the recruitment of legal professionals, salary administration, statutory compliances of key employment laws like the Shops and Establishments Act, PF, ESI (if applicable), Contract Labour Act, etc., and skills in drafting, communications, analyzing, liaising, etc. However, it would serve you well to prepare a list of your HR needs to zero in on the candidate that fits the bill.

Regards, B. Saikumar

If I were in your position, I would do the following:

a) Hire a professional in HR with about 3 years' experience. Reason? For a small staff strength, you don't need a highly experienced person. Even if such a person were to be hired, it is unlikely that a good candidate would make themselves available. Moreover, long experience would entail high remuneration. Such extra expenditure would not be warranted.

b) Occasionally, the need for more experience would be felt. To fill this void, I would seek the services of an expert consultant on suitable terms. The consultant could visit the company establishment once in a while and provide advice over the phone/via email as and when required. This will ensure that no gaps are left unplugged, and the cost would also be reasonable.

Regards, Ravindra