Feeling Lost as a New HR in a Small Company: How Can I Be More Productive and Useful?

Dear Officials, I am a new HR personnel in a company that deals with the sale and implementation of Business Solutions Software. I have no experience in the field and am confused about what to do as an HR because HR duties do not occur on a daily basis. For example, recruitment, appraisals, and many more. The company has a staff strength of about 30, although it has been in existence for a long time. Sometimes, I come to work and practically find myself doing nothing for the whole day. I feel guilty when I see people working and I am doing nothing. I feel like I am not performing and not contributing to the growth of the company, thereby not seeing the essence of my presence in the company.

Please, how do I make myself useful, improve my performance, and be productive to the company? Please help me.

Thank you all in advance.

Dear friend, you mention that you do not have experience in this field. Could you please clarify whether you lack experience in the HR field specifically or in the industry you are currently working in?

Preparing a Manual of Job Descriptions

At this point, it might be beneficial for you to begin preparing a Manual of the Job Description (JD) for your company. This task will keep you occupied for a few weeks.

Establishing Performance Metrics

Subsequently, you can work on establishing performance metrics for each department or job role. However, this is much more challenging than it sounds and will require a significant amount of time.

Creating Individual Career Plans

Another task you might consider is creating individual career plans for your employees. Yet, if your company's staff count has remained stagnant at 30 for several years, I question whether the company is experiencing financial growth. In the case of reasonable growth, you could proceed with career planning for around 50% of the employees.

Conducting Organizational Surveys

You could also engage with senior management to propose conducting organizational surveys on aspects such as interpersonal relationships and employee satisfaction. This initiative will likely keep you occupied for the next few months.

I trust you find the above suggestions helpful.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar