The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
From Change Practitioner (L2)
2-3 years as an L2Skills to master
- Moving from executing tasks to designing and owning entire workstreams
- developing stronger stakeholder influencing skills
- demonstrating independent problem-solving.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully led 1-2 smaller change workstreams end-to-end.
- Consistently delivered high-quality communication and training materials without heavy supervision.
- Received positive feedback on your ability to manage difficult stakeholders.
- Proactively identified and proposed solutions to project roadblocks, not just escalated them.
- 2
From Project Manager (with change focus)
5-7 years in Project ManagementSkills to master
- Deepening your understanding of human psychology in change
- shifting focus from technical delivery to adoption and behaviour change
- developing softer influencing skills over direct authority.
You're ready to move on when
- Your projects consistently achieved high user adoption rates.
- You actively incorporated change management principles into your project plans.
- You have a strong track record of managing project risks related to people and culture.
- You're passionate about the 'people side' of projects, not just the technical delivery.
- 3
From HR Business Partner (with project experience)
5-7 years as an HRBPSkills to master
- Developing stronger project management discipline
- understanding business process re-engineering
- mastering data analysis for change readiness and adoption
- moving beyond HR-specific change to broader business transformation.
You're ready to move on when
- You've led or significantly contributed to organisational change initiatives within HR.
- You have a strong understanding of employee engagement and talent development.
- You're comfortable working with data to inform decisions.
- You're looking to apply your people skills to a wider business context beyond traditional HR.