Hi all,
I started worked in HR for a luxury retail business (head count of 270 people in the UK as well as a HR Manager and x 2 HR Officers)on a FTC as a HR Admin for 1 year. During that year I also self funded my CIPD L3 course which I passed. After my year was up I was offered another 6 months extension however had found a role that was better money and local. I was 24/25 at the time, I’m now 26 and still very much aware I have very limited life experience.
Fast forward to nearly a year later and I have gone from a very basic HR Admin mainly assisting with paperwork and 1 investigation to now being responsible for a incredibly
diverse workforce nearing 700 employees in the UK. My day to day can involve varying severities of ER casework, grievances, dismissals, redundancies consultations/dismissals, reporting, OH referrals, absence management, stakeholder management, matrix work, payroll assistance as well as dealing with all of the issues and uncertainly that COVID brought about. We are a lean business with each department only having one person, I am lucky to have a Employe Law consultancy to refer to at any time however, I am the first point of contact for 99% of all issues and processes and communications for my responsibility. This also can be anything from commercial cleaning operatives to office senior management.
I am lucky to have an understanding manager who is the finance director, however my role is new, they have never had someone as a dedicated HR person and therefore in some ways I have been able to mould the role into what suits the business and a small element of my L&D. It’s safe to say I love my job, but with no one to talk to about my role and the stresses it can bring is there any one who is able to relate to what I am going through?
I’m thankful to the business for letting me have a say on what I want the role to be, in some ways being thrown in completely at the deep end and all the experience I honestly don’t think I could have gained from not working within a pandemic. But my gosh I am exhausted, it’s chaos for lack of a better word, always someone wanting to ‘urgently’ speak with you, always an employee threatening to speak to ACAS/citizens advice over something small which a Line Manager failed to mention or proactively manage in some way or another. Am I crazy or can anyone else fairly new to HR relate? Funnily enough though I love it and despite the bad days I don’t think I would change too much....
Thanks
Hi Grace and welcome!
It sounds like a typical standalone HR role, although with looking after 700 employees, you will need to be very careful about how much you take on and get done. Being thrown in at the deep end can be a good way to learn but do take care that you don't burn out. I have found this community invaluable to check my own thinking and (occasionally) let off steam. Good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy your job - it sounds like you are a good match for the role! Just take care about your workload. I had cause to review notes I made from a course on negotiation several years ago and the first three items I noted down were: 1. It does not have to be a confrontation. 2. There is always a solution. 3. No one is going to die. This doesn't only apply to negotiating sales with someone - I do try to apply it to the rest of my working life when I get stressed.
It sounds as if there is a lot being thrown at you and the question that occurs to me is whether some of it could be handled differently. You have been in the role long enough to have a good idea what the needs of the business are. I would write your own HR plan. Identify the priorities, the things that absolutely have to be done and the thinks it would be desirable to do, then think about how it can all be done. If you get your plan signed off, there might be some projects you could park as not being priorities in this year’s plan.
However, from what you say it is not strategic pieces of work that are the problem but the mass of small things that are constantly cropping up.
I would definitely think about up-spilling the managers with the aim of them picking up more at source and stopping it before it escalates. If there are some issues that keep coming up, could you get a slot on the agenda of a management meeting to give them a briefing on that point - if they haven’t had in-house HR before, giving you 20 minutes on a management meeting to cover a single issue such as what to do if they get a flexible working request (if that is an issue for them) might be welcomed by them.
If managers are not mentioning things to staff, then as well as training, perhaps you could create some simple checklists and present these as a way of helping them to do their jobs. If the answer to a question is contained in a policy or information that is available on your intranet, then get into the habit of telling people “ that’s in the x policy in the y section of the intranet. Just click on such-and-such and you’ll find everything you need. Come back to me if you have any questions it doesn’t cover.”
Handling interruptions is difficult. I have always felt that as a support function, then if someone needs to speak to me and asks if I have a moment, I will try to be available for them. But it isn’t sustainable to be available to everyone all the time. Don’t feel bad about telling people that you are in the middle of something you have to get finished and will get back to them later.
I wonder if you could start to bring some of this this under control by setting up regular catch-ups with managers. Then, when one of them pops up with a query, you would have the option of saying you will add it to the agenda for the next catch-up.
I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of you situation but I hope other people will chip in with different views.
Do come back to the Communities. If you’ve been reading them for a while, you will know there are a lot of people who make them a great resource by sharing their experience, some people who have been around for a long time and others who are closer to the start of their profession. I hope you have seen that when we disagree, we do so respectfully. I really enjoy posting and learn a lot from our debates. We are here for you.
Oh Grace I feel you! I think it's about sitting back and thinking about your workload. Can it be shared elsewhere in other teams? Can most questions from staff be covered in better policies/management toolkits? Are managers doing enough? Also set your own SLA's, if it's about welfare, I'll prioritise, if it's recruitment I'll aim to get back to you in 5 days etc. When you get a minute (!), try and think tangibly. If it's really too much, then put in a case for another staff member? I'm in the same situation but I think my problem is I'm too helpful/ready to work through lunch to help and you need to set your own boundaries. Good luck!
