My human resources role is becoming less transactional and more transformational since we upgraded the duties of the second person in my two-person department. I am spending more time on strategic planning and reporting, reading HR blogs and leadership briefs, connecting with other professionals and organizations, revitalizing and chairing a local nonprofit HR group, etc. I still handle most of our recruitment and also have the opportunity to handle plenty of hands-on personnel questions when our HR Coordinator steps out.
So life is good. I love my new role, but you know what? I’m surprised to realize I sort of miss the more transactional side. No, I don’t miss data entry. I don’t miss endless questions about pay rates, the weeks spent fixing open enrollment glitches, repeated lunchroom interruptions to handle ‘pressing’ concerns, or conducting new employee orientation over and over until my eyes glaze over and I can’t remember what I covered with whom and start to doubt my sanity.
I don’t miss the transactions themselves; what I miss is the human connection inherent in each transaction, the interaction with the person seeking my assistance. I miss connecting with each new employee as I welcome them aboard. I miss feeling like I make a daily difference in the lives of my employees. It is disconcerting to realize that I am no longer sure who the new faces are, and I don’t like that feeling of disconnection.
It seems that everyone wants to be strategic and transformational. We all fondly think of ourselves as leaders rather than managers; we would all prefer to be accused of being a big picture person than the opposite, and we’d all like to think that our roles are creative and dynamic rather than administrative and reactive. Yet I would imagine that the majority of HR professionals actually perform a combination of both roles. As Trish McFarlane said on HR Ringleader the other day, Transactional is Not a Four Letter Word.
Transactional HR has its place and maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to shun it and distance ourselves. Off the top of my head, here are several advantages of doing a healthy dose of transactional tasks along with whatever degree of transformational work your postion entails:
1. Roles can be more interesting when you have a variety of tasks, required skills levels and scope of responsibility. The more varied the job, the more you can match your energy and mood to the menu of possible projects. Feeling low energy? Run routine reports. Feeling pensive and introverted? Analyze them. Feeling creative and expansive? Use the data and your research to design exciting new programs that solve organizational obstacles and contribute to the bottom line. Feeling extoverted? Test your ideas with employees and do group work.
2. Being responsible for a wide range of duties from transactional to transactional (and often, perhaps, both at once) can help keep you flexible, resourceful, skilled and balanced.
3. If you handle both roles, you can use your relationships with employees and front-line managers as well as your hands-on knowledge of daily operations and challenges to inform strategic decisions.
4. Assisting employees and resolving their issues a great way to build rapport and gain trust with employees.
5. In this economy, doing both transactional and transformational work keeps your options open. Most of us don’t know what the future might bring, but you will bring a wider range of skills and knowledge to the table and be less likely to hear that you’re overqualified if you’ve [at least occasionally] submitted worker’s comp claims, compiled EEO and OSHA reports, or explained the offerings of your HMO, PPO and HRA.
6. Keeping one foot in transactional work helps you stay close to the heart & pulse of your organization.
Do you have additional thoughts? Or maybe you disagree? That’s why we have a comment section!
photo by visibleducts
