Why I love working in HR

Working in HR can sometimes be hard and is a constant challenge – but it is immensely rewarding.

Day in, day out, I find myself juggling a whole range of spinning plates, constantly trying to make sure one doesn’t drop. Whilst at the same time, doing my best to support our people (our greatest asset).

Given Valentine's day has been and gone, I thought I would share a bit of HR love to spread a bit of joy and hopefully, it will get you to think about what you love too!

Meaningful and long-lasting relationships

I love that every day I am given a chance to create and build upon meaningful and lasting relationships. I feel lucky that relationship building comes naturally to me and I have been fortunate to develop some very good working relationships. Over time I have purposely tried to limit the number of transactional relationships I have and have invested more time getting to know the people that I work with.

The HR Impact

Quite simply I love the opportunity I get to make people's working lives better, even if in a small way.

The key here is that I like to get out of a transactional mindset so that I can react quickly to moments whereby I can make a positive impact. These are not everyday moments and sometimes they feel like they do not come round often enough, but when the opportunity presents itself I am ready to act. This gives me my ultimate job satisfaction and brings me to work every day with much enthusiasm knowing I can really make a difference.

HR is never boring

One of the things I love about HR is that it is constantly growing and changing. Since I started working in 2008 it feels that I have been in an ever-changing environment with changes to laws, legislation, compliance, technologies and employee expectations amongst other things.

I haven't always loved this aspect of HR and at times I must admit I have found it unsettling and often difficult to keep up with the pace. But I have learned to embrace the change and now I love that every day is a learning opportunity and for me, the journey is very much the reward.

I am kept on my toes!

I love the variety of work that I deal with on a daily basis. On a normal day, I can be working on everything from recruitment, benefits, employee relations, learning & development, compensation and administration. Being a true HR generalist certainly keeps me on my toes and I love the weird and wonderful questions that challenge me every day as this keeps me motivated to keep learning and growing. You can be sure that no day is ever the same!

Exposure

I feel that there is no other department in a business that is given such a wide berth. It is great that being in HR I am exposed to all levels of the business - from top to bottom and also in every function of the company.

I love the satisfaction I get from having a better overview of the whole company and how it works. I am right at the centre of the organisation and have such a big impact on helping it all run smoothly.

In summary, the key to my love of HR is getting past the transactional / policing aspect of the role which many views as a nuisance. I believe that HR's importance to a business is critical and if done correctly can form a competitive advantage, therefore its importance shouldn't be underestimated to the success of the business.

Happy Valentines Day!