How Can I Make the Most of My Free Time to Boost My HR Skills?

Good Morning to All,

I am working in a small software company where I have a lot of free time. I would like to know what important things I can start learning about HR during this time. I have one year of experience in the recruitment field, and I recently joined this new start-up company two months ago. My role here primarily involves core activities, but during my free time, I am eager to expand my HR knowledge.

Kindly provide guidance on what I can focus on learning during my free time.

Thanks in advance.

Utilizing Free Time at Work Profitably

You are fortunate to have free time at work, and here are some possible ways to utilize that time profitably:

Reading

Read journals and books relevant to HR. Focus on topics that you feel are especially important in your current job. Additionally, explore topics of personal interest and those where you seek more input or clarity.

Planning

Identify areas of work where you can standardize, simplify, and strengthen the existing system. Prepare formats relevant to your varied activities, both in physical form and Excel sheets. You can also plan ways to enhance administrative matters, make the reception area more welcoming, etc. Plan a welcome note for new entrants incorporating the do's and don'ts that form part of the corporate policy, including the leave policy, the outstation duty policy, and the different allowances.

Noting

Make a note of areas for improvement or new initiatives you can propose. Also, record frequent complaints or concerns of employees, as well as any suggestions they make in passing.

Don't limit your thinking. Be open to new ideas, explore avenues beyond your immediate job profile, and start implementing what you can initiate immediately.

Best Wishes

"I am working in a small software company where I have a lot of free time."

I hope your manager is not reading this. Anyway, make use of your spare time to read and update yourself. If you have unrestricted access to the internet, focus on your core job area and keep yourself updated. This spare time is a gift from God, so use it wisely to learn.

You can create job descriptions for various profiles and also learn how to develop HR policies that encompass leave, attendance, safety, harassment, terms and conditions of work, etc.

Establish an employee master if you lack all the employee details such as name, date of birth, current address, permanent address, PAN number, Aadhaar card number, family details, soft copy of a passport-sized photograph, blood group, contact number, email ID, marital status, qualifications, etc.

Ensure the deduction of PF from employees' salaries and ensure they have their UAN (Universal Account Number). Update all this information on the EPFO website (Aadhaar, PAN, bank account number) for KYC compliance. Also, verify the ESIC website.

Review various draft letters on websites (appointment letter, confirmation letter, warning letter, transfer letter, etc.).

Initiate an induction program for new hires to educate them about HR policies and complete the onboarding procedures.

Install a suggestion box in the company to allow employees to provide beneficial suggestions for the company, employee welfare, or any necessary changes within the organization.

Issue ID cards if they are not already provided.

Engage with employees to understand them and the working environment better.

Regards,
Lina

I echo all the measures suggested by our seniors. Please identify any area within HR that you would like to learn more about, such as Compensation or Appraisal, and learn it from scratch. Since you are new to the system, this study will help you explore the practices within your firm and then benchmark them with the industry. This will also help you gain respect from the seniors in the firm, as they will notice your keenness and effort to become an SME within your firm. Consider blogging here about all that you learn so that we too can learn from you and add if needed. Stay close to the core, and you will remain relevant. Wish you all the best!

My advice will be a bit different from that of my other learned professional friends. I find that you write English sentences without even a full stop in between, no punctuation, etc., where they are required. You cannot leave it to the reader to read and assume many things! An old joke goes this way: From the Palace, the King ordered an arrested person to be released. However, the person who prepared the note used the wrong punctuation and got hanged instead. The sentence was "HANG HIM NOT, LEAVE HIM!" The comma after NOT got shifted to the place after HIM! So, for an HR person, English language skill is crucial and vital.

Importance of Writing Skills for HR Professionals

As an HR professional, writing and drafting skills play a crucial part in your career. You cannot turn to seniors or others or to standard formats whenever you need to write a letter, memo, or even a simple plain communication to an employee or management on your own. Why not spend a part of your free time improving your English vocabulary, spoken as well as written English? Pick up some books and read; read newspapers daily so that your vision gets enlarged and you get to know what is happening in HR in other business segments, in and around the world. This will help you stay updated as well.

Best wishes.

You are very fortunate that you are having leisure time in your employment. Most people work for 12 hours or more, with an additional 3 hours for to and fro conveyance, totaling 15 hours. There is no time for proper sleep either. During leisure time, you can utilize it by reading HR journals, other books, and articles for the advancement of your career and prosperity. Everybody will say the same thing.