Many of us know the traditional “human resources” and many of us have many more assumptions on what People professionals do.

It is known that they deal with new hires as well as those leaving for other places. Sometimes they even deal with bonuses…

 A lot of it can seem nebulous, but before writing them off, let us journey through a typical day to truly understand their importance in the organization.

9:00AM
For this first hour, HR deals with all those that call or e-mail about how they are out sick and will not be coming in to work. These e-mails and phone calls are then recorded, and each employee’s PTO record is modified accordingly.

10:00AM
Time to hold the morning meeting. Pulling out notes they’ve made throughout the past week regarding company events, birthdays, reminders, and other tidbits, they make sure each employee has a chance to ask questions or offer their own thoughts. Once this is over, it’s time to start going through e-mails ranging from employee concerns to tasks that need to be assigned.

11:00AM
While in the middle of taking care of new hire paperwork, there is an employee that needs to speak with HR. Apparently, there has been some harassment occurring, and the employee wants to find out the best way to stop this.

12:00PM
Finally, it is lunch time. The lunch is ordered and then delivered directly to the office because it’s one of the few times of the day they can close the door to get some work done.

1:00PM
Time for the weekly meeting with all of the heads of departments to go over weekly progress, new ideas, and plans for the future. A lot of this meeting includes making sure the employees are being taken care of and determining their goals within the company.

2:00PM
Time to do payroll. This involves a lot of numbers and calculations to determine bonuses, extra pay, or vacation pay. Some departments have different incentives, and it is up to people management team to ensure these incentives go through properly when the goals are met or exceeded.

3:00PM
Monthly party planning. Because the company exceeded its prime objective, the employees need to be rewarded in order to thank them for their hard work. A budget has been determined and now HR has to figure out what they can do for everyone that will be the most fun for the most people and won’t be yet another pizza party.

4:00PM
The craziest hour of the day, HR is now working on a myriad of little tasks to ensure business wraps up at a good spot for the day so tomorrow won’t open with a project that is half finished. E-mail responses are sent out, employee issues are catalogued and course of actions are determined, and any last minute phone calls are made.

and the future for HR is now….

© New To HR