Great news - this week we have another addition to our Hot Spot writers - Alison Mulholland from nef.
Alison has worked in HR for the last 12 years, 7 of which were looking after recruitment at Shelter but has also worked in Education and Retail HR departments. She holds a post-graduate qualification in HR from the University of East London and is qualified in psychometric testing. Her previous roles have seen her take on a variety of HR challenges such as how to interview 40 applicants in one day, how to engage with staff that work in 80 different locations and, most nerve-wracking of all, standing in front of a group of 17 year olds giving a talk on how to succeed in HR.
Alison's role at nef sees her involved in all aspects of HR including recruitment, employee relations and training. She is very passionate about HR making a real difference to organisations and enjoys working alongside the professional and friendly staff at nef.
Being a HR manager doesn’t make me a better parent (but being a parent makes me a better HR manager)
I was listening to radio four the other day and heard a fascinating show with two child psychologists. While I didn’t agree with everything they had to say – they were a bit sniffy about someone who seemed to over praise their child and if that’s the worst thing you’re doing as a parent or even a manager then you’re probably doing okay – one of them did say something that really struck a chord with me. She was asked how much her job had influenced her parenting style and she said that it hadn’t made her a better parent but had made her aware of issues parents faced and infinitely more flexible in her approach. It really made me think – how has being a parent affected the way I have done things?
My 4-year-old son is, in most ways, nothing like a challenging employee. For one thing, I can’t use ‘the naughty step’ on a member of staff (however tempting) or apply a well timed nose rub. But in some ways the techniques that have surprisingly worked with him have proved even more successful when dealing with the ‘grownups’. The single most effective phrase that I have applied at home is “what do you think will work?” Some of the ideas he’s come up with have not been what I might ideally go with, but then I can choose to try it out – turns out we could fit in a game of Lego Star Wars before nursery if we agreed a time limit. Or, I can use it as a starting point for a discussion: - “that’s interesting, – how about I come up with an idea and between us we can see what might work best?”. It’s made me realise/remember what a difference for everyone having ownership of a task can make. When managers now come to me instead of saying, “what you should do is XYZ”, I’m applying my new found empowerment strategy to great effect. Of course sometimes you have to lay down the law (whether that’s bedtime or working time regulations) and part of my learning curve is knowing when to be a little more ‘hard core’. But so far so good.
Other seemingly unrelated tasks have also taught me a lot about ‘doing HR’. In my traveling days I cooked pies and chickens in a supermarket for the hot food counter and learnt more about juggling tasks then any time management course could ever teach me. It also taught me about marketing. When pies where marked “surprise pies” they sold ten times as quickly as those just marked as meat – I guess everyone likes to take a chance every now and then!
So over to you – how have you learnt new tactics in a surprising way?
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