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

I think a bit of self indulgence is quite appropriate at a time like this and only sorry I didn’t get to this thread earlier. I think what being an HR Manager has helped with is keeeping a focus on what we do know rather than what we don’t. As a school we very quickly took hold of our absence reporting and asked staff to clarify whether they were sick or fit to work when self isolation began and that we would support them in any decisions they needed to make. I learnt more in the last few weeks about people’s health and child care arrangements and consistently reminded staff that as a non-medical specialist I was not qualified to tell them whether to stay at home. That all changed with lockdown and other than a skeleton staff all are now WFH. The new challenge is keeping people occupied and with different groups of staff that brings new challenges about what is achievable. After Easter we will be looking at performance for support staff wanting to ensure that there is fairness and equity about what people are doing during this time. There still feels like a lot of plates to keep spinning but I think our biggest ability is our flexibility and adaptability to change. I am personally hoping to use any time I have (if it ever arrives) to complete the CIPD online courses. The sense of community has never been more needed and I for one am grateful to have the CIPD one to call on.

I think a bit of self indulgence is quite appropriate at a time like this and only sorry I didn’t get to this thread earlier. I think what being an HR Manager has helped with is keeeping a focus on what we do know rather than what we don’t. As a school we very quickly took hold of our absence reporting and asked staff to clarify whether they were sick or fit to work when self isolation began and that we would support them in any decisions they needed to make. I learnt more in the last few weeks about people’s health and child care arrangements and consistently reminded staff that as a non-medical specialist I was not qualified to tell them whether to stay at home. That all changed with lockdown and other than a skeleton staff all are now WFH. The new challenge is keeping people occupied and with different groups of staff that brings new challenges about what is achievable. After Easter we will be looking at performance for support staff wanting to ensure that there is fairness and equity about what people are doing during this time. There still feels like a lot of plates to keep spinning but I think our biggest ability is our flexibility and adaptability to change. I am personally hoping to use any time I have (if it ever arrives) to complete the CIPD online courses. The sense of community has never been more needed and I for one am grateful to have the CIPD one to call on.