All in a day’s work of an HRBP

Those who have grown up in the era of the Reader’s Digest will be familiar with the “All in a day’s work”. I have spent many a summer vacation in my ancestral home in Guruvayur, reading the old copies very meticulously maintained by my grandmother and the issues ranged from 1950 to about 1980. Humour in Uniform and Life Stories were also my favorites. Today sitting and musing about work I remembered many happy incidents, funny anecdotes and the painfully frustrating interactions and thought I would pen them down.

HR, for the people and of the people but not necessarily by the people but it is indeed an addictive work that pervades an HRBP’s waking hours. What looks simple and common sensical can become excruciatingly complex putting us in a dilemma on many a day at work.

When you join the company, its magical “now that you have joined, we will have so much peace and things will get done” and that is directly translated as “here is what I used to do, now manage”!! Thus we start managing…..

We start with either making a process or implementing an existing process and the soulful moan of everybody is like “oh! but we never used to do it like that, we just had to ….”, well things are getting done now.

If employee interactions are like hitting your head on a wall then managing your stake holders (includes our managers) is like trying to flock together a running herd of sheep. It is with a chuckle that I share some examples of such intense drama that plays out on a daily basis.

Induction of an employee and at the stage when you take them through the health insurance piece –

Employee: “Oh, I don’t think I need health insurance. I don’t fall ill very often”. HRBP: “Think about it, you never know when you will need it”. Employee: “Even when I am ill I manage on my own, never go to a doctor”. HRBP: ….counts 10…. “okay, it’s really your decision” Employee: 2 weeks later, on chat “Hi” HRBP: “Hi” Employee: “I am not feeling well” ….”I have a toothache and I need to see a doctor” HRBP: (biting tongue in cheek remark of – “I told you so” ……counts 20 and) “how can I help” Employee: “Can I enroll for health insurance”? HRBP: (a corner in the heart melts) and the HRBP calls the agent, calls the employee, connects the 2 and hopes that the employee gets some help. The agent manages somehow to get a special rate at a special dental clinic and the employee is cured. HRBP: Phew….

Then there is this almost everyday requests for letters, of employment, of address confirmation and many more and that goes as follows –

Employee: on email, “hey, can you give me a letter for my employment verification” HRBP: replies “sure, may I ask the purpose for which you need the letter” Employee: “I need it” HRBP: “Sure, but do let me know the reason for which you need this letter” Employee: “oh, its just a part of documents that I need” HRBP: “Of course, so why do you need it”? Employee: “For the submission of documents” HRBP: “Can we speak so that we can resolve this quickly for you”? Employee: “I am in a call, can you call me after 3:00?” HRBP: is by then at wits end and this “can you call me back”? Really? my need? Anyway, the HRBP needs to help so calls back at 3:00 Employee: Hey such a simple letter, and you need to know the purpose? smirk …. smirk. I am applying for a loan. HRBP: “Okay, I will prepare it and will send it by today evening or tomorrow morning” Employee: “Thanks, what are you so busy with”? He he he!!\

Each day is eventful, what we plan for the day is never what actually happens and the plan or at least part of it moves to the next day. Between making sure that the employee needs are not compromised to meeting the expectations of all stakeholders, an HRBP learns over time to prioritize and its almost always what the employee needs. We learn early in our careers that the policies and processes are there to assist and support us and that we should not feel locked by them. While making an exception, we need to look at the situation, the need, the consequences and what precedent it leaves and the HRBP does try to look at all the parts and makes sure that all of them are taken care of.

For an HRBP, an exit is painful, be it voluntary or involuntary. When it is voluntary, the HRBP looks back, from the time they inducted the employee to the time they submitted the resignation and its like a flashback and we often ask ourselves “what could I have done differently”. The HRBP also forms a connection, however, small with each employee and when an employee leaves there is a sense of loss, a sense of one individual leaving the group. There are days when an HRBP has to do the “letting go” of an employee and there are always, always a couple of nights where sleep escapes the HRBP after such an event. One of my first managers at Eicher Goodearth, saw my pain when I made the first termination letter, way back in 1992 and his words ring true every time and took me aside to his room and told me……….”Preeti, when you let someone go, if you do it with love, compassion and deep, deep regret, you will do just fine”. I have followed that ever since and it has always made it easier on my soul.

The HRBP has happy moments too, when an employee turns around after feedback, when an employee gets a role that they deserve, when they conquer a problem and breeze right back to the place they deserve, when someone says thank you for something we do. And there are many more, policies implemented, changes implemented, new experiments at work that are successful, a shy hard working employee getting their chance to shine. When an HRBP keeps the boat floating, well, they are supposed to do it but if something goes wrong there is always an impact on the employees, big or small. So its a balancing act.

Most managers of HRBP understand the dilemma and the worries and the stress that goes with the role and are very supportive. However, the game is won when the business leaders work closely with the HRBP while making decisions for the business such as hiring, training requirements, using tools we are certified to use, listening to our “2 cents” when we provide feedback on your team and team members, allowing us to take some calculated risks to develop people. Most of all it helps if we are the trusted partners for the business leaders. Our roles have a controllership function so we need to keep that in mind in all we do. and last but not the least, an HRBP also makes some mistakes once in a while but we talk about the mistake made, inform the concerned people, correct the errors and find the root cause to avoid making the same again.

And then of managers who only reply to updates with “ok”, “yes”, “fine”……sometimes I think if I say “the sky is falling” the reply will be “okay”……….