Hi guys, I am totally new to this area, after dedicating 10 years of my life to Scenes of Crime I am currently working my notice period after which time I will be going in to the family business (only a small business 30+ employees) in the role of HR advisor.... And it's just going to be me... There is no one there at the minute doing the role, there is no current HR structure so I'm a bit worried on where to start, what's to be expected of me... All sorts of things are going through my head. Is there anything you would recommend I do as basically they are going to look at me as being the oracle when really I'm still halfway through E-lesson 1!
Am I out of my depth or is this something that I will learn and develop as I progress through the course alongside working in the role?
I welcome and appreciate any help or advice anyone is willing to impart!
Thanks
Laura
Replies
Hi Laura
I just came across your post and was wondering how you are getting along?
Kind regards
Lynette
Hi Laura
I would be more than happy to help in terms of advice. I think you need to start by reviewing what is currently in place from an HR standpoint. Maybe carry out a SWOT analysis of the HR function and then pick the area's where you feel that you can make some quick wins. Like developing policies and procedures, which you can get some templates from ACAS etc. I would suggest you also look to do a round robin with key stakeholders in terms of looking at where they feel improvements can be made from an HR standpoint, it is imperative you have key stakeholder buy in to enable you to succeed. Additionally it would be useful to put together an HR plan for the next year, once you have collated all the information above. That would set out your key objectives from an HR standpoint and the timescales in which you wish to achieve them, making the quick wins in quarter 2 and 3 and anything which is a longer term prospect in quarter 4, giving you time to achieve. You then in the background want to look at longer term plans for the function.
HR is something that can be learnt over time and can be learnt from experience day to day, however building a network of HR professionals that you can connect with who can talk you through and share knowledge and experience is vital. They may have lesson learnt that would save you time and learning lessons the hard way.
Happy to have a discussion offline it that would be useful..
Hi Laura, thank you so much for taking the time to reply, sorry I haven't got back to you sooner, I'm still working my notice at the police, working shifts and trying to keep up with this!
Anyways as I'm so new to this could you tell me what you would describe as a stakeholder... I'm still getting used to the terms used! Sorry it's probably such a basic thing to know as well!
Your advice is brilliant and I will definitely check out ACAS.
Thank you so much
Lau
Hi Laura,
Congrats on the (brave) move and agree with everything Sarah has said below in terms of developing your support network or PLN (Personal Learning Network). These networks are invaluable to keep abreast of things that are relevant but also to feel connected with other HR professionals and have a network around you to share ideas and ask questions. So important when you're the lone HR wolf in an organisation.
Don't worry about it feeling new and daunting, you'll be supported throughout and feel free to keep asking any questions. Definitely build up a reading list of blogs and resources - the HR Zone is great for this where people share what they're working on and also we have a few feeds from other sites that share great content. Explore and don't be afriad to use the forum yourself to post any questions or to get ideas.
ACAS is also a good website for resources and guidance. Good luck and keep us posted how it goes.
Hi Mike, so sorry I did reply to you but it appears it didn't send!
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me, I have signed up for a few CIPD events locally to try and build up a local network, I am on linked in but as my current role which I will have to change very soon! Is there anywhere else you would suggest I try to built up a network of lovely like minded people?
Thanks
Lau
Hi Laura
Congratulations on the career change and the new role.
The first thing I would suggest is to see if you can get a support network around you, by this I mean network with other HR professionals, attend your CIPD branch events, join HR user groups on LinkedIn and also of course you have the HR Zone here at DPG. Also with your CIPD membership you do get access to the Legal Helpline, albeit only 12 calls a year I think. Also of course your learner group will also be a great source of support as will your facilitator. Which group are you on?
The next thing I would do would be to see if you can get some external support perhaps to come and undertake an audit or review of where you are starting from. I would recommend looking at compliance aspects initially e.g. do you have up to contracts and basic policies and procedures. This may be because areas of the business may not currently be compliant and of course you don't know what you don't know if you know what I mean.
Then you need to look at where is the business going and what it needs from an HR perspective to support it with its goals and overall strategy. e.g. the business may be growing and need resource of a particular kind in a given area. This way you can put together a high level plan of what you want to look at over the short term and also the longer term.
Finally just take a deep breath and keep calm and carry on, without sounding like I am oversimplifying things a lot of HR is about applying practical common sense, so if you have this you will be fine. What always works for me is I think if this was me how would I want to be treated and I take it from there.
I hope this helps
Sarah
Hi Sarah thank you for replying, some very wise advice here! I am on the Birmingham spring programme so I have really only just started!
I like your advice on getting an external audit done, who would I approach for this?
I must admit I have been reading through the course so far and been thinking really...Don't people just behave like that in general?! I think I'm over thinking things a lot of the time as well as it turns out to be really simple!
Thanks for your help
Lau