Memorable First Moments in Human Resources
I remember also having a boss who constantly hobbled my ability to accomplish my work by making me seek permission for almost every decision I made. I'd put questions and memos in his mailbox or on his desk and they showed up in my mailbox every day with "see me about this" scrawled on a sticky note. "See me" was the problem. Managers in my then company were in meetings most of the day, playing court to the plant manager. So, I often had to wait for our weekly meeting to get the feedback I needed to proceed.
I finally reached the boiling level of frustration, decided I didn't care if he fired me, found an ounce of professional courage, and responded. I took every "see me" piece of paper I received one week, clipped them all together and scrawled on a sticky note: "see me." I put the stack in his mailbox and held my breath. A few hours later, he was standing by my desk with the pile in his hand - laughing.
Okay, so my story has a happy ending; they don't all end this way, I know. But, our most memorable experiences at work shape a lot about who we are and what we believe. My ideas about employee empowerment, employee involvement, and delegation are a result of this experience with a manager I actually liked a lot. See my new article to find tips about building an effective relationship with your boss.
Today, though, I am hoping you will share some of your most memorable HR moments, the moments that you and others experience that are the moments you most remember. I am writing a piece that will feature some of the most memorable, universal moments and could really use your thoughts.
Comments
My memorable HR moment doesn’t have the happy ending of yours. I was working for a state agency, fairly high up, and was expecting my first child. I was very sick throughout the pregnancy, but still went to work 99% of the time, accomplished a lot, got a lot of great feedback from other department mangers and appointees. One Monday about a month before my due date, I was at work and started feeling funny. I finished out the day, and left, only to awake at 3 am in full labor. My son was born in the late afternoon, a month early, and in need of several surgeries I was terrified. My husband let the office know. Two days later, my boss called. “You left your office a mess. You didn’t even wash out your cup. And I think there are too many personal things in your desk. I had your secretary go through your desk and cabinets and box them all up. Come get them, along with your dirty tea cup.” I was in tears. He continued. “And don’t use having a bay as an excuse. My neighbor had a baby and she was out gardening the next day, so I know it’s no big deal.” I returned to work after my 6 weeks unpaid leave, but I could no longer work for this man. I quit 4 weeks later.
Here are a few memorable HR moments:
I had a young manager come into my office and told me that he was fed up with his staff and was ready to start disciplining them and wanted me to place an ad for new employees. I asked him why he had waited until now to start disciplining the employees. He responded, “becuase I only discipline the employees I’m going to fire.” Needless to say this led to a long conversation regarding discipline philosophy, coaching, and the cost of replacing employees.
2. An applicant came into my office to apply for a graveyard position. She asked if there was security at night or it she could come armed. When asked what she meant by armed she stated that she had a shot gun. Then she got to the section on our drugs and alcohol policy. She wanted to know why we were bothered if someone would was using illegal drugs, she was on legal drugs that were far stronger.
3. On Monday a manager gave me an application to check references. On Tuesday the same manager told me not bother with the application and handed me the newspaper. Last night the applicant had stabbed her boyfriend to death and was now in jail according to the article.
Some time ago I was a relocation ( mobility) consultant working with multinational organisations moving people worldwide. Some policies worked on the basis of the employer arranging the sale of the property at the home location freeing up cash for the employee. Now anybody out there who has ever had to deal with relocating employees will no doubt have stories to tell about previously perfectly reasonable employees turning into demanding, unreasonable prima donnas when they are moving to a new location. I am sure it has something to do with fear of the unknown. Anyway my “moment” came when the HR Manager at the client company called me for the millionth time to ask how the sale of a property was going and when the proceeds of the sale would be available. I had explained many many times how the (legal) sale process went and the timescale attached but this did not stop the daily calls. On one occasion after I had explained it yet again my boss was within earshot and when I hung up he said “Don’t take on her panic”. He was right. Each time the employee chewed her ear about getting his money she called me – we were whipping each other to a frenzy. Next time I called I said that I would call her when I had news for her – not before. She was taken aback and did not like it but she started calling me only every second day. Luckily the house sold within the normal timescale!
I had started as the first ever HR Director at a booming tech company where I was reported to the CFO. I had had only met the owner/CEO for about 10 min in the interview process at which time he informed me that we wouldn’t see each other much because he didn’t use HR – it was there to help employees. Obviously this was a HUGE red flag, but I really needed a job and I believed I could make a difference so I went ahead and joined the company.
In my first month as I got a handle on things, I completed a turnover analysis – I wrote a 7-page report with my findings and included a 1-page executive summary cover page showing how much unplanned turnover had cost the company in the past 24 months. I also included a few bullets about how key HR initiatives (with leadership support) could strengthen staffing and retention and thereby help the org hit meet business goals more effectively (basically HR 101, right?). I left it on the CEO’s desk.
My memorable moment came when I was invited to the next leadership meeting. The CEO stood in the front of the room and told the practice leaders that 1) For the first time in his career he had “drunk the koolaid” on HR and could see value in it; and 2) from now on I would be at leadership team meetings.
Within a few months I received a promotion and reported directly to the CEO – we did a lot of good HR work at that company!
My most memorable moment came just a few months ago. I just joined a new company as HR/Office manager working in a tech industry with a bunch of low social computer guys. I gave one of the employees his benefit paperwork. when he returned it i was looking it over to make sure he completed everything. keep in mind, only a few hours earlier he threw a stink over having to name a beneficiary for his life insurance policy. so when i was looking over his life insurance form i was pleased to see that he decided on someone for his beneficiary…unfortunately after reading the rather odd name i looked below and it said relationship: cat. I couldnt believe my eyes. this guy was serious about it too!! WAIT…it gets better…guess who he named his contingent beneficiary?? HIS MOTHER!!! he put the cat before his mom on his life insurance policy!! hahahaha!!
The most interesting candidate that I have interviewed was an ex-police officer who opened his own international bodyguard business. He had such known customers as Jackie O’ and the royal family of Saudi Arabia. This man had been on the Johnny Carson show twice in his life. First, for being the youngest sherrif in America when he was 21 years old. Then, he was on the show again later in life for having received a massive ivory tusk from a wealthy customer as a token of appreciation for his excelent bodyguard services.
There was also a female applicant once who asked me to provide my own specimin for her drug test.