Left Alone In Department With No HR Experience

Dear Seniors,

My situation is such that I was recruited by a very senior HR person of the company who was excellent in HR/OD/Policies, etc.

When I joined the company, he told me, "Look, you are a fresher, but I am selecting you because I feel you can do what I ask you to do."

He was also handling other production and sales responsibilities, and he got busy there. He was hardly able to give attention to HR, and I was left with no task.

I wish to inform you that I am a very creative person. My MD used to like my presentations, leaflets, and branding ideas that I used to give. In short, my MD was impressed with my work, but the work was nowhere related to HR.

On the other hand, my HR boss suddenly resigned, and I was left alone.

I thought my role was over, but no one removed me from the job. However, I am really left with no work.

My company is not that keen on making any investment in Human Resources.

I really don't know what to do; I am left all alone.

Can anyone suggest what I should do because I am really feeling DEPRESSED? I want to work, learn, and grow. I am totally confused.

Regards,

Mrs. Vichare

Hello,

Well, the situation is exactly in your favor right now. It's the time when you should kickstart your HR career and take initiative. As you mentioned, there is no one in the whole HR department, and you are the one with the knowledge appointed as an HR person in the company. So, with your interest, you should do the basic things. Obviously, it cannot be possible for a company to run without an HR department. Sooner or later, they need someone who can look after the responsibilities.

So, my suggestion to you is to gain knowledge of HR terms from here; you'll get a complete guideline. Also, you can sharpen your skills with your friends who are working in HR profiles. But don't let it go. The advantage is that your senior people are happy with your work. So, start learning basic things about recruitment, HR policies, employee relations, salary structures, compensation and benefits, PA; you can start from anywhere. It's only you now. Whenever you get time, try to involve yourself in HR terms.

I am telling you to continue this because here you have time to perform, redesign, and learn. The only thing you are not getting is guidance, so you can learn it with practice. People get hired in new organizations, learn things, and set up the whole system. It's your time to perform. Any necessary help you need, you'll get from here time to time, or you can directly get in touch with senior people of this forum through emails.

Let's see what others will suggest in this.

Mrs. Vichare,

Your profile makes no mention of your basic or any other qualifications. Atul has given you great advice which you will find easier to follow if you have an HR qualification. Make no mistake, this is a great opportunity for which you will have to slog your heart out. There are many sites available with useful information - the trick is to translate the information into action. Not so difficult, but not so easy. All the best.

Regards,

Hello Atul and Ryan,

Thank you very much for the encouragement and the advice. After reading your replies and thinking over my situation, I have decided that before I quit, I should at least give it a try once. It may happen that I will fail because learning to do is very easy from informative sources like this forum, books, etc., but the biggest challenge for me is to IMPLEMENT whatever I have learned, which is not that straightforward. However, I will surely try my level best.

Thank you.

Vichare

Hi,

If you have a supporting qualification background and knowledge (even if only theoretical), the current situation might turn out to be "a blessing in disguise" for you. As you mentioned, your MD appreciates your creative tasks, it means management's trust and support would be there if you take some meaningful HR initiatives aligned with the company's business strategy.

Dear Mrs. Vichare,

Don't lose your self-confidence and take it in a positive way. Very few people are there who get an opportunity like you, and moreover, you have direct support from your MD. So, start working and wherever you need support from the MD, talk directly with him.

You can start working by implementing whatever is needed in the plant from the HR side. You can definitely find all materials related to HR on this site or email me for any HR-related materials at the below ID. All the best.

Dear Vichare,

Greetings!

It's a godsent opportunity; grab it with both hands, and you will go a long way in your career.

I am not sure whether you are from an HR background academically or not, but that hardly matters. What matters is your smartness and agility in learning.

You first need to understand that Human Resources basically deals with the human motivations of your employees. Your first task is to try to understand the motivations of your employees by interacting with them. For as long as you do not have your policies in place, treat an issue with a layman's logic, i.e., do what a rational person would do in given circumstances. Be friendly but firm with your employees, and if you are confused about something, tell the person that you will first think and then decide on that. Never let your colleagues know that you are lacking confidence because you are unsure; let them realize that you think through before making any decisions. Use this time to reach out to forums like citehr to clear your doubts.

Now, when you are comfortable handling day-to-day affairs with laymen's logic, start making policies. Start with small policies, such as the attendance policy. There are many templates available on citehr; go through these templates, decide what is best for your organization, tweak templates accordingly, and seek approval from top management to implement them. You should have a few policies ready in a fortnight, which should act as your guiding light in deciding on an issue. Some necessary policies are:

1. Attendance policy (you may include a policy on late coming)
2. Leave Policy (Look into the shop and establishment act of your state to determine the minimum number of days of leave)
3. Code of conduct
4. Policy on salary issues (If you are not well-versed in compensation, you may limit it to salary disbursement date, loss of salary cases, overtime cases, and rates)
5. Policy on travel for company purposes
6. Policy on office asset management
7. Policy on employee engagement

Once you have drafted a policy, start implementing it. Send a soft copy of the policy to each employee's email and inform them that they must adhere to the policy. Listen to your employees if they have any doubts and also listen to your management for feedback and make relevant changes. Keep learning in between.

As you gain experience, you will be able to draft more complex policies such as policies on performance assessment and appraisal.

Best of luck!

Hello Atul and Ryan,

Thank you very much for the encouragement and advice.

After reading your replies and reflecting on my situation, I have decided that before I quit, I should at least give it a try once.

It may happen that I will fail because learning is very easy from informative sites like this forum, books, etc., but the biggest challenge for me is to implement what I have learned, which is not that straightforward. Nevertheless, I will surely try my level best.

Thank you.

Vichare