Thinking About a Career in HR? Here Are 5 Hard Truths You Need to Know

HR work isn't easy. For any young person who thinks HR work mainly involves booking fun events and being the cheerful "people person" in the office, you would be wise to rethink if this is the right career move for you.

Here are my 5 scary truths about HR:

1) You will see the best in people, and you'll feel grateful for the times you get to work with the best humans in your career. You will also see the worst in people (but no one will really know what the worst looks like because it's hidden by confidentiality). Don't let the behaviors of the worst people scar your views of the great ones.

2) The work you do will be mostly uplifting because you can help change someone's career, develop them to become greater than when they arrived, and be the change catalyst for great things at work. You will also go home on some days that will make you wonder how you can get up and go to work again tomorrow. Some days, the "brutal" work that lives in the realm of HR can be hard to swallow. Find your destress motivator and keep it handy for those dark days.

3) Working in HR, you'll learn quickly to become solutions-oriented. Fixing problems becomes the number one skill at the top of your resume. But that often comes with the expectation that HR becomes the complaints department. You must form strong partnerships with your leadership team—you're not the service station, and your job isn't cleaning up the mess of others. You're a business partner like everyone else—your contributions matter.

4) Working in HR, you've got to be objective. Making difficult decisions and having sound judgment is something you've got to be great at if you want to succeed in HR. That means you can't take things personally when people don't agree with your decisions. Not everyone will see things the way you do, but in the end, you'll have to make the best decision and move forward. There will be many days that you'll go home feeling depleted and alone.

5) Every organization has a way of doing things, and they will also partner with HR in vastly different ways. Choose the company you work for and the leadership that comes with it wisely. Depending on the environment you choose for yourself, HR can provide you with extremely rewarding work. Or it won't.

For those of you who want to get into HR, I would highly recommend you talk to those who are in the field and can share with you what reality might look like on the job compared to what you might read in textbooks. The unvarnished truth will either scare you away, or it will be your calling. And for those of you who are really good at it, I can bet it wasn't an easy road to get here. Because HR work isn't easy.

Dear Mr. Ashok Pai, On reading your post, one gets the feeling that these are your views. However, they are not. Upon checking Google, I found that Christine Song has written this post on her LinkedIn wall. The link is as follows: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/songc...member_desktop

Well, gentleman, let me not get into the contents of the post regarding whether HR's work is easy or not. However, the originality of the content creator must be respected. There is nothing wrong with posting content from a book, web resources, a newspaper report, etc. However, propriety demands proper disclosure of the source of the information. Otherwise, passing someone else's content as one's own is nothing but plagiarism.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

HR Responsibilities in Managing Workforce and Compliance

Many companies are responsible for managing manpower movement, payments, and related legal aspects of EPFO rules and other labor regulations according to state laws. Generally, owners oversee company operations and determine the necessary workforce, recruiting directly through advertisements or known channels. Subsequently, agreements are passed to HR for record-keeping and managing workforce activities within the company.

Role of HR in Larger Companies

In larger companies, an HR department exists to allow technically qualified owners to focus more on their core business, delegating initial recruitment tasks. They may request assistance in drafting advertisements, reviewing, and approving them before publication. Some companies engage external recruitment agencies to recommend candidates, who are then screened by the agency before proceeding to company interviews. During interviews, HR and technical personnel collaborate in assessing candidates, with HR either actively questioning or observing the process.

Importance of Record-Keeping and Workforce Management

Maintaining cordial relationships is crucial, alongside accurate record-keeping and data management for future reference. In our contracting sector, management occasionally seeks a comprehensive overview of the workforce, including contract labor and subcontractors engaged in various projects. Details on the current workforce distribution are submitted, prompting discussions with project Team Heads to assess potential workforce adjustments. Subsequently, individuals may be reassigned to different projects following direct communication or instructions from the Head Office, ensuring proper pay allocation based on project involvement.

Dynamic Role of HR in Workforce Transitions

This dynamic role involves managing workforce transitions akin to a supermarket, where products (employees) move based on demand and operational needs. HR plays a pivotal role in liaising for recruitment of additional manpower when new projects emerge.

HR has its challenges and pitfalls. It depends on how you take it as an HR professional. You can take a low profile and be content with a generalist role, pushing paper from one end to the other. Or be the proactive change agent viewing your role as a business partner endeavoring to bring out the potential of the people. It depends on how much one takes it seriously. One thing is sure, there will never be a dull moment.

As to whether the HR profession is easy or difficult depends on the mindset of individuals, their perception, attitude, and way of looking at things. The rest of the matter contributed by others is significant enough.

Thanks