To feel like my boss/company are taking the p*ss? HR related

[LivingInCheckedMidis]

I'm a HR Administrator in a standalone role. I provide HR support and advice to management across 3 countries (UK, Germany, America). I report directly into the FD (if I called him a hands off boss, that would be being kind) he does not provide much support at all.

When I was recruited, they knew I was a HR administrator but also knew that I was keen to progress. I am on £24k with no bonus etc. I know that's not unusual for HR to not have bonus.

I've been here a year and I'm proud of what I've achieved; I've benchmarked against our competitors and improved our maternity and paternity policy. I've led the COVID-19 policy and internal track and trace. I've implemented a probation review policy which quickly identified roughly 6 underachievers in the business which had to be put on a PIP and were managed out. These are people who, before me would not have been managed out at all as our managers don't know how to manage...

I've created and implemented training courses and delivered them, I've investigated disciplinary and grievances. I've built up strong working relationships with our Senior Management Team and they've all commented on the improvements we've made. These are just a few achievements.

My FD has called me today and said "the board want to see what you've been up to" and you "need to report on turnover, absence, recruitment costs" but not in a nice tone which has set alarm bells ringing. I know they've been looking at reducing headcounts wherever possible and my manager is so hands off, he probably doesn't know what I do but equally isn't interested in the slightest.

I do all of the above, I've reduced our recruitment costs by significant amount and I'm on £25k a year. Some of our admin juniors are on only slightly less and I have responsibility for 3 countries! AIBU to think my fucking FD could take some responsibility off my "HR ADMIN" shoulders.

Sorry, this probably seems like a stupid rant. I'm tired, sad, stressed and feel like they're taking the p*ss, quite frankly. :(

You know what? Your boss doesn't seem to appreciate hat you are doing. If youleave, someone will have to do what you did. If its sort of shared between the managers, you can be sure, its going to go to pot.
But that's THEIR problem.

In the mean time, I would

• look for another job and use that experience as an opportunity to get something much better paid
• use the opportunity of the review to show how brilliant you have been. aka talk about what they want to know and ALSO all the other things you have done.

And then leave as soon as you have found something else.

I always find it interesting to see that when a woman says what she has acheived and is proud of it, she is boasting/gloating/making it up. But if amn was doing the saem, it wouod be normal. There certainly wouldn't be anyone to tell him he didn't do all those things... Just saying.

Take this as an opportunity to show the board what you've achieved. It's an opportunity.

That's her job num-nuts.

Numb nuts, as in 'so stupid they lack even sentience in their testes'.

So, how much of what you've done is what you were asked to do?

It reads a little like you were hired as a HR admin and have decided "actually I'm going to be the HR manager instead" and now you're annoyed that you're being asked to do a normal function of a HR admin role?

@StormTreader

No that's not a fair assumption, I don't think.

I was given 3 objectives - 1) reduce agency spend. 2) work with management to tackle underperformance 3) streamline HR admin to make it more efficient.

I've done all 3 of those and then got on with some other tasks that management asked me to do to improve other bits and bobs.

As others have said, provide the presentation with the metrics you've asked but ensure you add the additional info re HR successes over the last 12 months.

Also, it seems to me that some of these projects you've overseen/implemented will in fact have had a bearing on the metrics they're asking for. So, turnover this year is x. Then sub bullet/explantory bullets to highlight that xx% of these were people managed out of the business for underperformance. Additional sub bullet/explanatory bullet to explain how you have implemented improvements for future (eg training, improved parental leave etc) which are expected to have a positive impact on staff retention going forward (if appropriate and helpful, demonstrate that turnover has decreased over the year as these policies take effect) etc etc.

The point is that you aren't doing these other projects for fun. You're doing them because they help the business to be more productive, reduce costs of recruitment because there is less need for recruitment, improve service levels as staff are in role, competent and comfortable with processes etc.

Well, congratulations on helping put half a dozen people out of a job during an economic crisis, I guess... you do seem rather proud of that “achievement”.

@AngeloMysterioso

Well, congratulations on helping put half a dozen people out of a job during an economic crisis, I guess... you do seem rather proud of that “achievement”.

These people will have put themselves out of a job. Why blame OP for doing her job?

You need to move to a company with a HR team or at least with a HR Director. I have experienced this kind of thing from working in HR.

Many senior and middle managers don't always know what HR actually does and because quite a large amount of the role is confidential they aren't even allowed to know plus unfairly, HR people tend to get the blame for a lot of things that aren't anything to do with them so you will probably always have to justify your role in a company like that.

I think it sounds like you have grown a lot in this role - you are really missing the support of a mentor - there's no shame in that at all. You have achieved great things, continue with your CIPD level 5 training and get prepared to move jobs. Make sure you have a more senior colleague who can support your growth in your next job...a good one can make all the difference.

These people will have put themselves out of a job. Why blame OP for doing her job?
Exactly. These are probably the type who just think turning up is deserving of a wage.

@AngeloMysterioso

Well, congratulations on helping put half a dozen people out of a job during an economic crisis, I guess... you do seem rather proud of that “achievement”.

And what if 6 other people get a job to replace them - who are competent? And what if 6 people already in the company don’t get stuck working extra hours dealing with the consequences of their incompetence? And what if still 6 more people in that company keep their job because it’s now more successful as it’s full of competent people?

And what happens when the consistently underperforming staff impact on the profitability of the business, putting everyone's job at risk?

[quote LivingInCheckedMidis]@StormTreader

No that's not a fair assumption, I don't think.

I was given 3 objectives - 1) reduce agency spend. 2) work with management to tackle underperformance 3) streamline HR admin to make it more efficient.

I've done all 3 of those and then got on with some other tasks that management asked me to do to improve other bits and bobs.
[/quote]
so you've delivered all 3 objectives plus additional stretch. Do NOT refer to it as bits and bobs.

You need to make sure that report to the board plays back those 3 objectives and confirms them as achieved, plus all of the other work you've done, as well as updates on the standard HR metrics requested. I would be suggesting that you join them monthly to provide an update.

your FD isn't giving you loads of attention, I suspect, because he doesn't understand what you do and/ or can see you don't need help and/or because at director level you don't expect to be very hands-on with your direct reports.

You need to mentally promote yourself because you are already doing a much more senior job. Don't be afraid to ask for what you're worth.

But - do also look elsewhere because if they haven't recognised you by now there's a risk that they won't ever.

[quote tectonicplates]@ReadySteadyBed Give it a rest. It's well known that HR people aren't very popular, and this thread is a perfect example of why. Bragging about making people lose their jobs, and then complaining about their work not being recognised. I'll stay here on the Internet, thanks.[/quote]
Hey num-nuts, you again, oh yay. She wasn’t bragging....she’s explaining a part of her job. It’s a skilled area of HR to manage people out of a business. Her explaining that was setting the scene.

Ok you can stay. It’s quite fun seeing what you’ll come up with next.

@ReadySteadyBed Spoken like a true HR professional. I'd expect nothing less from you.

Most people who have to let someone go from their job tend to feel bad about it. We've all heard people say how much they hated making people redundant, how guilty they felt. Only HR people phrase it like an achievement to be proud of.

Is "num-nuts" supposed to be an insult, by the way? Did you learn it from a child?

There's a difference between making people redundant and making sure there's a robust and effective performance management process in place. The latter doesn't mean getting rid of people for the sake of it - noone wants to let people go because of underperformance because it's a waste of everyone's time and effort in recruitment, onboarding and training and development. A good employer would always rather help the individual to improve to good performance.

Both are critical aspects of good HR.

You are doing what an HR practitioner should do, albeit above your pay grade.

Start producing monthly reports, but also quarterly reports on all the changes and feed them into the board. If you don’t sing your praises, no one will in this case.

You are still ‘junior’, so take 5his as a learning experience if no one is going to guide you.

For those taking issue over the six people managed out, it happens, that is a pretty core part of HR. So many organisations have people that are negative, add no value, cost money and do virtually nothing. Those are roles that could be filled by keen beans desperate for the job.

@tectonicplates you've clearly experienced some negativity or focus from HR or don't really understand what we do. Either way, I hope you manage to let go of some of the bitterness towards people like me. Everything we do is to make organisations better and a happier place to work.

Thank you for the lovely comments. I'm in front of the laptop now drilling data... I don't really know what sort of metrics they won't as my FD won't tell me but hey ho.

I agree that I probably suit a team set up better than standalone. I have come from big corporate organisations that have a big team of HR and I do miss it. Time to update my CV ready for when things get back to some form of normality.

Thank you

You sound efficient, proactive, a fast learner, and a real asset to your organisation.
The only thing I can say is that you need to start being much more vocal about your achievements.
Use this opportunity to showcase them, any chance you can present some of it? So you get the credit?
Agree with the other posters, you should be paid more for this sort of work.

And we wonder why women struggle so much to progress in so many environments and this highlights perfectly the ability of women to be pretty unkind to other women.

OP - you aren’t bragging or being boastful and it sounds like you have made real progress in the past year and you should be proud of that. It is about time we stopped apologising for the brilliant things we go - men don’t do this! It isn’t being boastful at all. I hope you get the pay rise and progression you deserve.