I spent fifty-six minutes on the telephone, yesterday, speaking with a very unlucky ‘benefits specialist’ who was tasked with the job of fixing my health insurance problems.
Holy crap, dudes. I felt for this woman because she clearly drew the short straw in life.
- If you want a difficult job in life, become a corporate benefits specialist who deals with enrollment issues.
- Then talk to Laurie Ruettimann, a woman who thinks she knows everything about HR stuff.
- When you’re done with that, please put a gun in your mouth and pull the trigger.
I was very patient with the benefits specialist and demonstrated appreciation when she fixed my issue; however, I was reminded of something my CFO told me back in 2002.
HR is the only career where you get praise for doing your job right the first time.
Wow. That’s harsh, punk rockers. Is it true? What do you think? Do HR professionals ask for an award when we simply show up?
I hate this reputation that besieges HR. I’m not looking for special attention at the office. I don’t need praise or adulation. I just want some donuts and a cup of coffee.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
HR is lucky if it gets praise EVER.
I think it is more true than false for HR. Compared to the rest of the organization though, I don’t know how often other departments fail to over-deliver (or even just deliver). I’ve heard of times when sales or marketing has failed to meet their marks and they get the “well, you tried” speech. I don’t keep a scorecard to compare though. It seems that the focus is on HR because HR is very important to the organization fulfilling their objectives.
I think that you get praise for doing it right the first time because HR is a job that by definition deals with a ton of “exceptions to the rule.” People are used to getting the wrong answer (because their situation is different/special/unique/whatever–even if it actually isn’t), so they’re disproportionately thrilled when it works right the first time.
And HR isn’t the only field where this happens. University academic advising is another one.
Seems like around here, we only get noticed when we do something wrong. No one notices the 100 times we did it right before that. And even if you do it right 100 times after the fact – they’ll still remember that one time it wasn’t perfect. I spend most of my time on payroll, and I can say without hesitation that if their check is right (or wrong in their favor), they don’t even know I exist. But the one time their check is short by $0.12 (yes, that’s 12 cents, and yes, that’s a real-life example), and they’re at my door in the blink of an eye. Not to mention the times something’s wrong because of something the employee did, but they still march into HR to complain. Do you think they turn up and say thanks when everything goes exactly as it should?
The funny thing is, it doesn’t bother me that they don’t notice when things work correctly – I take pride in doing my job well enough that employees don’t even realize I’m doing it. It just irks me that there is no patience for even the slightest of mistakes, and no forgiveness for what ultimately boils down to being human. Maybe my employees are just particularly petty… or maybe I just need a vacation!
@Breanne I used to get a little praise but that’s because, in retrospect, I believe that I was indifferent to it. Just pay me. I don’t need a certificate of achievement.
@Lance It seems that the focus is on HR because HR is very important to the organization fulfilling their objectives. That’s really well said.
@Geoff That’s insightful, especially the comment on academic advising. HR is the department of exceptions, yo!
@anonymous It just irks me that there is no patience for even the slightest of mistakes, and no forgiveness for what ultimately boils down to being human. Maybe my employees are just particularly petty
You know what always knocks me over is when people tell me:
1. Wow, you’re the NICEST HR person I’ve ever worked with.
2. Wow, I totally understand my benefits/manager/job description/etc now.
3. I’ve been with this company for X years and no one has ever been this helpful with Y before.
I mean, I’m not some HR superstar…I’m just calm, I listen and offer the simplest solution possible. Yet in doing so, I apparently shock the crap out of people. Weird.
I agree with Wenchy. In addition, I am blown away by:
~ “I don’t want to bother you,” “You’re so busy,” and “This is a dumb question, but…”
You’re not bothering me, you’re the reason I have a job, I’m not too busy to help you because I would like someone to help me (although professional psychiatric help may not be your field), and the fact that you came to ask means you’re brilliant as far as I’m concerned because no one asks me until it’s a crisis, and then they just go sorta apes***.
I think that some of the bad HR rap comes from an expectation that we’re out to screw the people we work with, and for, and that we don’t represent their interests. I’m not saying that there isn’t some truth to that in the HR scene, but I don’t believe that truth represents the majority of us and I think there is a warm and fuzzy business case for customer service. Call me Pollyanna Sunshinebutt if you must, I believe it. Further, good hr customer service balanced with the needs and goals of business is no easy task, I don’t give a flying kruller what anyone says.
I don’t think we ask for or expect praise the first time we do it right, but I do think we should expect something once in a while for all the times we make the little (and big) wrongs right.
Can I have a doughnut now?
Jackbuilt