From the article: Memorable Firsts in Human Resources Management
Whether you are a manager, a business owner, or a Human Resources staff person, you have to start somewhere in your firsts with people. Your first hire, your first disciplinary issue, your first loss of a valued employee all leave a memorable impression. Share your memorable Human Resources Management firsts. See More Reader Responses. Share yours...
Memorable Work Moments
- I joined a manufacturing organisation and they had been holding off on dealing with a character who was selling contraband goods on the shop floor. He was huge, nasty and very threatening, he had a very charming name though which I can't put up here for obvious reasons but think February and love! It was so intense that I had two body building security guards standing outside my office while I dismissed him, just in case he went for me. We then had to get them to march him off the premises. Having admitted that they had purposely left this guy to me, my manager then proceeded to bully me out of the organisation saying that I was miserable, aloof, standoffish and morose and a whole range of other similar words (none of which could really be applied to me, I hasten to add) and my entire employment with him in an HR capacity lasted only 9 weeks. So much for Personnel Directors practicing what they preach!
- —Guest Linda Kitson
First Impressions as Personnel Manager
- Interviewing for a clerical receptionist, a candidate reported at 8:00 am, knocked on my door and was invited in, This is what I saw: her hair was like bed head, her mascara was running down her face and looked like a racoon, her lipstick was uneven and down on one side up on the other, she wore a camisole which showed that her bra was over one arm and under the other arm therefore showed crooked breasts, she wore hooker hose which had elongated and stretched larger holes with the black seam running crooked down the thigh and across the knee, and last of all, flops on her feet! I asked her if she had any questions about the position, she stated NO and I told her we would advise her of our decision. The interview lasted about 15 minutes at most. All the while I was interviewing her all the men in the outer office were laughing as they could see through the glass windows separating them from me. As she walked out, they all just broke down laughing and wanted to know if she was hired?
- —Guest Ed Nangle, MS, SPHR
First/Most Memorable HR Experience
- My most memorable HR experience is when I received a horrendous yearly performance review. The suggestion was made by the HR representative to me to re-write the review given to me by my supervisor AFTER I said I could provide documentation to dispute the performance review. That absolutely tickled me (And, I'm really serious--it really tickled me.)
- —Guest Murphy1579
First Union Contract Negotiation
- Net yet recovered from my first involvement with Union contract negotiations. Though not responsible for decisions, I was at the table as a management rep. Passed through rows of yelling employees when leaving at the end of the day. Lies about my work behaviors were given to boss and Board. Multiple grievances filed against me. "Behind the scenes" stories about this have been told to the new Big Boss, who has, in essence, isolated me, and removed me from nearly all HR functions. I am to train a Union person to handle benefits administration. I am kept in the dark about upcoming changes in policies being planned that affect HR. I have other duties also. Interesting that, having already lived through "the worst," it seems my experience counts for nothing. (Susan's comment: It sounds as if you need to arrange a meeting with the new big boss and thoroughly discuss the history and events. I've not seen a union-represented employee, at least not nonexempt or hourly, doing benefits administration before - maybe others have? )
- —Guest Patricia Emerson
Is he really in the parking lot with a..
- I was in a managment meeting in a conference room that overlooked the parking lot, when I saw one of our supervisors walking through the parking lot with a rifle. Calmly I interupted the meeting, turned to my left and asked his boss "did you know that John is walking through the parking lot with a gun?" Apparently, I must have looked quite white, because everyone, but his boss stood up and ran over to the window to see. His boss, however, looked at me, apologized and said that the employee was just returning a hunting rifle he had borrowed and that he had asked him to transfer it to his car as opposed to bringing it inside. I was very happy he had a good explantion for that!
- —Guest Sharon
Not Right to Cheat About Work
- An employee from a different city came to me to report a coworker who was cheating on her timecard with the hours of her work. I asked her for proof; she showed me the hours and days she had written down versus those that her coworker wrote down - even the days she didn't come in to work. One day I showed up to see if she was really at work on the day she recorded, I saw with my own eyes that she never showed up and cheated on her time cards. I had to let her go.
- —Guest Vartsana V
The first time I experienced a pandemic
- Some time ago the Swine Flu appeared in Argentina, so we started to take some measures at the company. But the problem continues and the panic was everywhere. That means, now I am an expert in Swine flu! We had to restructure the work, so half of the employees are working from home and the other half are working with masks, washing their hands all the time, etc. I've never imagined that an HR position involves: being a doctor, a mother, an assistant...But I know one thing, I love my work, and there is no pandemic that could change it.
- —Guest marinap
Different Countries - Different Laws
- An employee from another country came to me to report that she knew that several of her countrymen were stealing our products. She wanted me to call the police and go to their homes to put them in jail and take back our products. She said that if I searched their house, she was sure we’d find our products. I explained that in the US, we need to have proof that employees are stealing to go to their homes and arrest them. She said that in her country, they’d already be in jail. She became very angry and laid down on the floor howling and screaming and kicking the wall in frustration. The entire company came running to see whether I was in trouble (or what I was doing to torture this poor employee) and face after face peaked in my window. I waved them all away and was able to comfort the employee who went back to work. (We were able to prove the employees were stealing and they were all eventually fired.) I’m happy I live in the US, even if some situations are more difficult.
- —Guest Marie
The first time I let someone go..
- I hired a guy for a remote, free-lancing job. He submitted a great writing sample and the phone interview went well. But a month in, he hadn't done any work at all despite repeated reminders. I anguished about it -- and sent many more emails -- for the next month, then finally made the decision that he had to go. I called him up and he was very nice about it, especially when he learned that he wouldn't have to return the small amount of money he'd already been paid. I look back and marvel at how green I was, and I can see how much I've learned along the way about what's right versus what's nice.
- —Guest SusanH
