Well, two weeks into the new job and I can definitely confirm- I am busy. It's chaotic and fabulous, and I'm exhausted every night when I get home, but I do seem to be settling in ok. It has been rather more chaotic than I expected, and, in fact, rather more chaotic than my boss expected.
I've been learning the ins and outs of their payroll system (seems not bad,) recruiting for at least a dozen positions, most of which are high skill, and desperately trying to reorganize the HR office, which is certainly a bit of a mess.
Not-exactly-highlights include three terminations in the first two weeks, and an employee mental health crisis on day four. Makes for an intense two weeks, but on the plus side, it considerably upped my knowledge of our crisis counselling program and benefits.
I think it was the third day there that my new boss informed me that they needed a completely new employee evaluation system in place- by November 19th. I present the basics of it tomorrow. So I've definitely been busy, but it really is fabulous. I said I wanted a challenge, and there you are, I most certainly got it. Right now, most of what I'm doing is putting out fires, but as that begins to calm down, I will have more of an opportunity to develop the more strategic programs we're looking to implement.
My biggest handicap is that I don't know very much about the jobs I'm hiring for. This is a completely new industry for me, and so, while I'd love to develop new job descriptions, at the moment, I know very little about the jobs themselves and don't have the time to do an intensive study of each position before I get recruiting. So that's something else that will probably have to wait for a bit. I am currently strongly reliant on the hiring managers to help me find candidates, but I'm learning about each position, little by little.
So far I've managed not to feel too overwhelmed, though I do worry a bit that I'm not accomplishing everything that I need to. And my poor blog is certainly feeling a bit of the neglect, but I'm so burned out when I get home that I suspect that's going to continue for a bit.
No worries, though, because I'm loving this. There are so many things that I love about HR, but I think the biggest one is having the opportunity to make things better for the people I work with, and what better opportunity is there than in an organization that is in crisis mode when it comes to their HR?
Bring it on, I say.
