Are any other HR people feeling a bit lonely in all this :( - General - Our Profession

125 Are any other HR people feeling a bit lonely in all this :(

17 Mar, 2020 08:54

Sorry its a self indulgent one.

Just wondering if anyone else is feeling a bit lonely? I have streams of people coming in to my office concerned about it and asking what our plans are for WFH and sickness and about 101 other queries and being openly worried and I have to sit here and be the cabin crew and exude calmness. Yet I am just as concerned as everyone else.

Managers and Directors etc look to us for calm, measured guidance and practical advice, and being so close to the 'inner circle' and hearing first hand the impact on the business etc.....very worrying, I'm feeling a bit forgotten about and just wondered if anyone else is feeling the same? It just feels like sometimes people forget that we count as employees too?

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Lesley | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 12:14

Totally feeling the same, with the added complication I'm sat on a remote island 8000 miles from home, feeling very detached from my family and reality right now.

My husband is due to fly back out here from the UK tonight and we won't know if he will definitely make it until he's on the ground here - flight could be cancelled at any point, but I just want him here with me.

I'm not thinking straight and have made some stupid mistakes this morning already, but starting to feel calmer after a good cry.

We will get through this together.
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 13:34

In reply to Lesley:
Has the coronavirus made it to where you are?
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Lesley | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 14:11

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:
We have no way of knowing - no capability to test on island so we will not be able to confirm any cases. A few people in isolation as precaution, but could easily just be anxiety, flu or common colds at this stage.

It is highly likely it will get here if it is not already - we have had something like 10,000 cruise ship passengers in the past fortnight from all over the world, as well as other tourists, military and residents coming and going.

Any one of those could be a carrier and when it hits it will spread like wildfire as it is very hard to socially distance in such a tight-knit community where there is no infrastructure for home-working and most people are in critical service roles anyway.

The bigger worry is our isolation, as other countries close down their borders. We usually medically evacuate anyone with severe illness, but we are unlikely to be able to over the coming months. People may die, not necessarily from covid, but lack of access to other urgent medical care.
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Angie | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 15:36

In reply to Sarah:
this is exactly how I am feeling - threats of redundancy whilst trying to keep a workforce some of whom are working from home motivated and those that are not able to work from home also motivated as they are hacked off they cannot work from home.

People come to us for calm responses but forget we don't have all the answers and get the same information as everyone else does!

Stay safe and strong
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Stephanie | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 16:04

In reply to Helen:
Herding kittens made me smile!
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Stephanie | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 16:39

Not self indulgent. Personally, I feel worried about it all. Its natural when we get so much news coverage about what is going on and we don't know when this will all end. I am dealing with queries about this for the majority of the day. and it's worrying for us in HR too, on a personal level.

It's challenging on a professional level because things change all the time.

I am pleased that we have this forum to help us share thoughts like this.
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Samantha | 0 Posts

18 Mar, 2020 16:44

I'm pretty scared now, especially as my son coughed a few times before and I thought "this is it".......but now hes not coughed once in 30 mins, hes currently shut away in his bedroom for another hour and if he doesnt cough again I'll relax :D

We're all set up to WFH now and it seems to be going ok. Still struggling to bite my tongue at times but so far I'm doing very well if I say so myself. One of our senior managers had the brass danglies to ask me if he'd be able to claim money back for phone calls, hes lucky to have a job at the best of times IMO but that just takes the biscuit!! (I didnt even reply I just raised my eyebrow). Luckily most of everyone else is very much a team player and appreciating we might all have to take a hit on different things and we just want to get our little lovely company - I do moan about it on here sometimes but it is a genuinely lovely place to work - and Directors through this together and come out stronger and even more united :)

If nothing else I've noticed a very strong sense of togetherness in my community which is lovely given usually as soon as I say where I live I get sarcastic comments about Jeremy Kyle and wide-screen TVs <eye roll>

Stay safe everyone.
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Richard | 0 Posts

19 Mar, 2020 19:00

So with you on this. I am finding so many people are being extremely selfish and my HR team are feeling the brunt of the anger and frustration.

I genuinely believe a lot of people are naive in how serious this is going to be long term (economy wise).

I’ve had people say ‘it’s not my fault and the company should send us all home on full pay’ I’ve had a manager challenge current policy by saying ‘your policy doesn’t appreciate my operational challenges’ to which I point out ‘it’s a saving life policy!’.

I had to take the whole team out for a drink just to vent and let off steam. It’s tough!
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Nicola | 0 Posts

19 Mar, 2020 19:20

It’s been a hard week, starting off with various employees showing up on Monday despite showing obvious symptoms (and one father and son who had a confirmed case in their family show up), I’ve had directors disagreeing with each other about what to do, angry phone calls, loads of emails and I have done no other HR work this week.

It’s been helpful reading through all these discussions, and thankfully the H&S manager and I have been having daily catch ups to vent (over the phone of course!)

It’s a difficult time, but we all will get through this...somehow :)
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

19 Mar, 2020 19:30

In reply to Nicola:
We have to cultivate a different mindset now. People aren't heroic for battling on and coming into work when they shouldn't, they are anti-social at best and at worst putting lives at risk.
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Nicola | 0 Posts

19 Mar, 2020 19:39

In reply to Elizabeth Divver:
I wish I could have been as articulate as this when speaking to those certain employees line manager...

My version had a few swear words, I must admit!
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Elizabeth Divver | 0 Posts

19 Mar, 2020 21:12

In reply to David:

Hi David

This isn't poetry, it's a prayer by Bokar Rinpoche given to me by a Buddhist colleague and I thought you might like to see it. I've had it on my office wall for 20 years. There's something about the way it is written that appealed to me. Here it is:

Morning Aspiration Thoughts

Today, I will avoid causing harm through my physical activity,
I will avoid causing harm through my speech,
I will avoid causing harm through my thoughts.

Today, I will do my best to engage in beneficial physical activity,
I will do my best to speak useful pleasant words,
I will do my best to nourish well-wishing thoughts for all beings.
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Sienna | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2020 10:26

Hi, yes its difficult being in HR right now!! Wanting to balance the needs of employees against everything else we are hearing.

We are all set up to work from home now but have a couple of employees who are struggling as they have young children. We are trying to offer as much flexibility as we can with working hours but not sure what else we can do as well as offering unpaid leave/holiday etc. Money is an issue for one of the employees so they don'r want to take unpaid leave. The government have announced help for those who might be laid off but is anyone aware of any other help someone working from home having to take unpaid leave might get??

Thanks
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Helen | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2020 13:54

In reply to Sienna:
Hi Sienna, my employer is offering a special 3 months sabbatical for a limited time, where the employee will get half pay for six months so they still have money coming in but can focus on caring/staying well. Partly it's to push costs into later on this year when hopefully we will have more revenue coming in. Partly it's because we have so many facing the remainder of the school year juggling work and childcare. It won't work for all, and we can't let some people go, so we'll see. But some are seeing it as a way to manage through the next few months.
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Jules | 0 Posts

23 Mar, 2020 14:57

I had a major meltdown last week, when my printer cartridge exploded all over me leaving me looking like a Smurf, no one helped and it was the final straw. I did feel remarkably better for a cry though. Good news is that the printer is working again! and I am no longer blue.
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