I'm pleased to welcome Caroline Hackney to the 'Hot Spot'. Caroline is the UK HR Manager -Onshore for Cape UK and has written her first article for Hot HR on the balancing act of HR.
A little bit about Caroline - Caroline has worked in HR for 12 years and joined Cape plc over three years ago and now holds the position of UK HR Manager for Onshore operations, which usually peak at around 3000 directly employed personnel. Cape is an international leader in the provision of essential non-mechanical industrial services, principally to plant operators in the oil and gas, power generation, chemical, minerals and mining sectors and major Engineering and Construction (E&C) contractors.
Their UK operations are heavily unionised and they work to various National and Local Agreements. Caroline's role is demanding, interesting and very varied from policy and systems to generalist HR. The UK HR team is purposefully lean to ensure they have a very focused and operational approach to HR in the business.For Caroline, the old cliché certainly rings true – no two days are ever the same!
The Balancing Act
Human Resources, Personnel, People Management, Employee Relations.....whatever you call yourself or whichever speciality you find yourself in, as a HR professional ‘people’ are at the heart of everything we do, aren’t they? But, as businesses buckle down and focus on the bottom line I sense a more ‘operationally led’ shift in the direction of HR; so how do the two reconcile with each other?
I have spent the past 12 or so years working predominantly for engineering companies, with a brief stint in the public sector. I consider myself to be an operationally driven HR Manager who can consider the bigger picture of the corporate situation whilst still thinking about the impact of those business decisions on the individuals. But how true is this in reality? Can we ever be all things to all people?
I’ll give you my musings on the subject but would love to hear your viewpoints and experiences – it’s great to get input from all perspectives, industry sectors and it’s impossible to cover all angles in this ‘Hot Spot’ without it turning into ‘War and Peace’.
Most businesses have seen redundancies and restructuring over the past few years as they evolve to meet the changing economic climate. We all know that this has to happen for the ‘greater good’ but how do we balance this with knowing we are ultimately going to see people lose their jobs?
My mother asks me very little about what I do for a living; in truth I don’t think she ‘gets’ HR in the least! However a little while ago, when I was in the midst of national consultations relating to a closure of part of the business and refocusing resources elsewhere, she asked what I was busy with at work. When I told her she looked horrified and said ‘How do you sleep at night knowing you are going to be telling people that they have lost their jobs?’. It wasn’t something I’d really thought about in those terms previously and caught me a bit off guard. When I sat back and reflected I concluded that the reason I hadn’t been losing sleep was because of the manner in which we were tackling the issue. It had been considered, planned and communicated well at the ‘at risk’ stage. We were then taking the time to travel the length and breadth of the country to spend as long as needed with individuals ranging from labourers to managers. They appreciated the time, effort and thought that was being expended on the process and despite being a large plc we were treating them as individuals and with respect. It wasn’t a ‘nice’ job but I took pride in handling the situation with sensitivity, whilst still keeping the business priorities in mind.
I’ve worked in teams that are so wrapped up in the people issues that the HR department has no business credibility and is actually seen as a ‘blocker’ to operational activities. I think that this achieves nothing but frustration on all sides.
To be an effective HR department or manager we need to have robust systems and procedures, fit for purpose, and of an appropriate level of detail. They need to be backed up with common sense HR advice where required. I believe in empowering managers by imparting knowledge and then providing a safety net if they need it. I think that the HR function should be the conscience of a business – a sounding board for the fairness of decisions and a problem solver for the ‘difficult’ situations businesses of all sizes inevitably find themselves in. If we do all this effectively then I think it is possible to balance business and people priorities. Nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes and errors of judgement, but if we work with other parts of our businesses, make informed and sound decisions and then treat people with respect we can achieve harmony.....at least most of the time!!
So, that’s my two penneth’s worth. What’s yours?
