My Typical Day

There’s no “typical” workday for an HR professional, as our job functions are dependent on current employee concerns. Anyone who has worked in HR can tell you that no two days are the same, and adapting well to change is integral to succeeding in the HR field. The one constant is interacting with my fellow employees. I would spend the first portion of my day brainstorming ideas for employee appreciation programs before starting interviews with potential employees during hiring cycles. Depending on the time of year, I’d also research networking opportunities so I could point any employees facing termination in the right direction to find a new position and support them in any way possible. I’d also sit in on performance reviews, and I would spend portions of my day listening to employee complaints if they ever arose.

I also meet with department heads when needed to talk about their staffing needs, and I supervise the hiring process for all departments in my company. I also put together training materials, and I am constantly refining and improving our onboarding process to be as inclusive and instructive as it can possibly be. I also oversee employee benefit programs.

Pros

The positives came from the constantly changing environment, which I enjoy. I thrive under pressure. I also love working with the people in a corporation and getting to make sure that they’re feeling supported by management.

Cons

The negatives would be having to oversee terminations. I try to do what I can to support former employees when finding their next steps, but it’s always difficult to deliver bad news. Another negative I could see is in companies that suffer from dramatic internal politics and communication issues between departments, larger issues that make it difficult for me to do my job but whose solutions are often out of my purview. Luckily, I don’t have any such problems in my current organization.

I love my job because my passion is people. HR allows me to interact with the people in my company across all departments and ensure that they’re feeling supported and appreciated. It’s also great to be able to oversee diversity initiatives and mold the future of my organization through hiring practices.

HR Director – Dan Shepherd

VEI Communications

I’m Dan, the HR Director for VEI Communications. Working as an HR Director I work in the telecommunication industry as an HR and my job is about hirin … Read More