Harry:
There’s a quiet shift happening in the way we think about HR leadership.
It’s not loud. It’s not divisive. But it’s there, showing up in hiring conversations, job specs, and leadership assessments. It’s the subtle move away from what’s on paper and toward what’s been built.
I’ve noticed more and more businesses prioritising lived experience over formal accreditation. Let’s be super clear here, that doesn’t mean qualifications like CIPD aren’t important, they clearly are, especially in areas like compliance, employment law, and organisational design and beyond! But increasingly, they’re not the deciding factor, particularly when it comes to roles with a Talent focus.
We’ve seen this evolution firsthand. What started as “HR and Recruitment”, with Talent firmly sitting under the HR umbrella, has matured.
First into Talent Acquisition.
Then simply “Talent.”
And now, in many businesses, it’s expanded again into People, a function encompassing hiring, retention, culture, engagement, and internal mobility.
In these environments, TA leaders are increasingly stepping up into broader People leadership roles. Often, they don’t come from traditional HR backgrounds or hold formal qualifications, but they’ve delivered growth, scaled processes, and influenced strategy at the highest level.
Instead, I see leadership teams asking different questions: Can this person scale with us? Have they led through ambiguity? Can they balance strategy with delivery?
The data echoes that. According to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report, 65% of HR leaders now cite business acumen and adaptability as the most valuable traits in their function, while just 22% prioritise formal qualifications as a marker of success.
Like most shifts in talent, it’s not binary. It’s contextual. It’s evolving. And it’s being shaped every day by what’s happening on the ground.
I’ve asked, George Hardy, one of our TA Leader here at the rec hub, to share what he’s hearing directly from clients and candidates across the market.
George:
When I speak to Heads of People and Talent Directors, what’s consistent isn’t a position for or against qualifications, it’s complex.
For some roles, especially in complex, international environments, a strategic qualification like CIPD Level 7 is a clear differentiator. It demonstrates a high level of expertise in aligning HR strategy with business goals, driving organisational change, and leading through transformation. For others, particularly in fast-moving start-ups and scale-ups, the priority often shifts to adaptability, pace, and broad cross-functional experience.
That said, HR Business Partners and employee relations specialists often continue to rely on formal qualifications to navigate the legal and structural sides of the people function.
I’ve worked with several clients who’ve chosen candidates without formal qualifications, not because they devalued them, but because the individual had scaled a business, implemented new HRIS tools, or led through restructures. That kind of experience speaks directly to the challenges many businesses face.
Interestingly, a 2023 Gartner survey found that 57% of HR leaders believe “experience in high-growth environments” is now more predictive of success than any single qualification. That doesn’t mean credentials don’t matter, but it suggests we’re in a broader conversation about what readiness looks like.
We’re also seeing candidates themselves challenge the assumption that a certificate defines their credibility. Many are investing instead in short-form learning, leadership coaching, or deep specialisms like DEI and People Analytics, areas where traditional qualifications haven’t quite caught up yet.
TA is a perfect example of this shift. Many of the Talent leaders I work with have grown into strategic People roles through delivery and influence, not accreditation. They understand how hiring connects to retention, engagement, and internal mobility. In these businesses, “qualified” means something very different to what it did five years ago.
So what’s the conclusion?
Well, there isn’t one. At least, not a universal one. For some roles, qualifications will continue to be a must-have. For others, they may be nice to have. What’s clear is that the definition of “qualified” is evolving, and fast.
How are you navigating this shift? How do you balance formal qualifications with lived experience when hiring HR leaders? Are we doing enough to support alternative pathways into senior HR roles?