What do you do?

My niece asked me the other day what I did for work. Keep in mind, my goal in life is to inspire young girls to do great things so I wanted to give her a really great answer. I smiled back at her, and I said I do human resources, I am the people person. She asked me what that even meant. I laughed and said I am responsible for all of the people that work in my company. She then said, “so are you the boss?”. I really laughed this time and said I have a boss and I tell him what I think and usually he does it or something close to it. She continued to look puzzled. I said I do lots of different things. I help people when they are upset, I teach them all kinds of different things, I give them advice, I find people to come and work for us, and I make sure they get paid. That seemed to satisfy her. But it didn’t really satisfy me. I’ve thought about this question before. I hate saying I’m HR because I feel like people get the wrong idea. Yes, I can answer your benefit questions and look at your timecard but that isn’t really what I do. But what do I do?

I have a giant whiteboard with four topics written across it: People First, Safety, EBIT, HR Strategy. Under each of those is a list of three or four goals that align with that topic. People First, for example, includes my HR newsletter and the leadership academy training program I put together. EBIT includes an OT tracker and SG&A monitoring. These are all actionable items that I am working on throughout the year to help the organization reach its goals. So how on earth do I put that into a ten-word sentence? It makes me giggle really. Like I said to my niece, I am the people person. I help my organization reach its goals through the employees. There, ten words. ?

I wanted to write this short blog for all of the HR people out there that feel like they are just HR and for the people that are looking to break out of the typical HR role into something more meaningful. We are so much more than payroll and benefits. It is the work that we do that helps move organizations forward. Right now, more than ever, is our time to shine. The world is changing, and we are the ones that will have to help our people through that change. Some of it may be hard and ugly but with the right attitude and planning, we can all get through it. Don’t be afraid to say that you are the people person, you tell your boss what to do ??, and you aren’t afraid to speak up for what is right. You are an advocate, a friend, a professional, a coach, a teacher, and so much more!

A very easy way to begin your move towards a more strategic role is to think about what your company’s goals are and figure out how you can align your projects to those goals. For example, my organization wants to have 12% EBIT growth year over year. Payroll is usually the biggest cost an organization faces. You’ve also probably got salespeople that are responsible for driving growth. As an HR person you can control some of these things. You can monitor payroll and recruiting costs. You do an analysis of your recruiting efforts and see if there is anyway you could reduce costs. For your salespeople you could arrange for sales training or hold focus groups to collect information on what they think would be of value. Just because sales isn’t your department doesn’t mean you can’t help them work through some of their bottlenecks. You are the people person after all!

Think about what these goals might be. Be realistic about timing. And when you complete them, share it! You must advocate for yourself. Very soon your organization will start to see your value and you will quickly find yourself in a more strategic role. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, learn new things, make mistakes, and talk about yourself. In the end, you will be helping your organization succeed and giving yourself some really great opportunities for growth. You got this!