Episode 36

August 19, 2021

by Melanie Reed

I talk a lot on this podcast about the positive aspects of my profession and how to get the most out of an HR career. Mostly, because I really do love my profession and what I do, but also because I believe a lot of emerging HR practitioners would have more positive experiences in their organization and more career satisfaction if they receive some guidance, coaching, and mentoring on how to navigate some of the things they will face. That said, this profession is not without some major pain points!

So, in the interest of having a healthy mix of optimism and realism, I want to flip the script a little and talk about some of the biggest challenges of being an HR professional. I know, every profession has its challenges, but I believe there are some that are unique to an HR role. I also believe that if you anticipate that these are on the horizon or if you are in the middle of some of this discomfort it might help you see your way through.

Regardless of where you are in your HR journey, there are five major challenges that I see in our profession. None of these are insurmountable, but being aware of them is the first step to overcoming them.

Here are the five challenges you can anticipate in an HR career:

People are complicated and unpredictable.
Different organizations value the role differently.
Your role often lands you in the middle.
Not everyone will like you.
It takes time to change people and organizations.

Here is a summary of this episode:

[00:41] - I begin this episode comparing work pain to child labour. Yes, I really did! :)
[04:05] - The first challenge in the HR profession is that people are complicated and unpredicatble. I use the example of the current vaccine debate to illustrate this point.
[07:26] - The second challenge is that the role of HR is valued differently in different organizations. This is important to understand so that you can decide if an organization is right for you and you can manage your expectations. It can also be motivation to push for change.
[11:07] - The third challenge is that your role often puts you in the middle. Sometimes you advocate for Management and sometimes Employee needs are paramount. Our profession is all about dancing this line and working in some very grey zones. Recognizing this is important as is understanding as much about a situation as possible.
[14:44] - The fourth challenge is that not everyone will like you. Trust me, I've tried to change this and it doesn't work. Yes, build relationships and connections, but for your own sake, know when you can't win them over.
[17:27] - The fifth and final challenge is that changing people and organizations take time. If you are impatient like me, this is the biggest pain point. Check out Episode 13 to learn more about how to understand your organizations and find places and people that you can influence.

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