A Day in the life of an HR

There is nothing more satisfying on earth, than someone coming to you, with a “Hey Nazia, I have a problem…”, and leaving with a smile. That pretty much sums up the essence of a day in the life of an HR.

As an HR, we are expected to don multiple hats. Strategic, operational, and sometimes softer ones like that of a listener, care-giver, a mentor and of course that of a good friend too. And many a times, the lines demarcating all these sections get blurred. When you are spending over 12 twelve hours at work, most of your colleagues would end up as your best buddies too. You hang out with them over weekends and they are the first ones, to know whenever something good or bad happens in your life.

There would be many employees, who would not be in your direct line of interaction as they would be belonging to different units, but still they would approach you with problems related to their professional or personal life. And officially speaking, you are not supposed to cater to them, but you end up doing exactly that. Because at the end of the day, you are human and you have to take up the “Humane” aspect of your job profile seriously. The fervor comes from within and it is impossible to say “No”, for me at least.

Recently I got a call from an employee, “Hi Nazia, I want to meet you to discuss something.” I said, come down and told him my co-ordinates. (I sit in different buildings, in order to be accessible to most of my people). He happened to be from another unit. And wanted to discuss, whether he should resign or not, as he had been selected in a B-School. Seems like a pretty simple decision. But with the plethora of people friendly policies like Sabbatical for higher education, one has to weigh the pros and cons very meticulously. We had a hearty discussion for about half an hour and personally speaking, it was one of the most satisfying days for me. There is nothing more satisfying, than an employee seeking your guidance and advice for such crucial life decisions.  My own unit folks keep on doing that all the time, but a person from another unit doing it, was really the icing on the cake.

Interacting and spending time with people is very crucial for an HR. Coming out of your silos or comfort zones and connecting with stakeholders at informal platforms really helps. You might have tons of Skip levels or Coffee with HRs, but ultimately the thing that will bring you to closer to people is informal connects. Random chats on the floor, hanging out with them when do late-nights or tea breaks. But to do all this, you have to be genuinely interested in their lives and be a people’s person. Candid and extrovert.

If you do it just as a part of your check-list, this will not last long. If you feel, this is a chore and it needs to be completed, then definitely you are in a wrong profession. So, to be an HR in the true sense, its time to get out of those excels and be truly “Humane”.