HR bolt-ons

January 21, 2009

I’ve been thinking recently about the range of responsibilities HR departments need to cover in the service that they provide. It might be because I have always worked for either relatively small organisations, or in a small head office for a larger company, but it seems that a lot of extra things can be bolted onto the role of HR.

For example, facilities. I actually quite like the fact that one minute you’re thinking about developing key HR plans to support the business strategy, and the next minute you’re sending emails about keeping the kitchen clean or finding carpet cleaners in London because the new office needs cleaning up before the London team move in! Another regular bolt-on is Health and Safety, probably because it is about keeping people safe, and therefore can be linked to people management.

This versatility and the need to change hats from one minute to the next is often a key requirement for HR Managers. My manager in a previous role had a background in HR but ended up looking after administration, facilities, IT and Marketing in addition to HR, and her ability to switch between different functions and bring the whole thing together was a real strength of hers.

I believe that the seemingly small and insignificant parts of the HR person’s role are just as important as the top level stuff. Whilst I may need to prove to senior management the strategic value of the HR function, at the other end of the scale people need the everyday things like toilets to be an acceptable standard or the fire alarm to be tested regularly.

Do your responsibilities stretch beyond the realms of HR? How do you manage all the different areas you need to take care of and how do you feel about it?

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Posted by hrgirl | Filed Under HR Practice 

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