“No, I’m not a support function.”

I’ve never heard the word ‘support’ used so many times in conversation until I started working in HR.

“Your role is to support me/my team/what we want to do/my crazy life choices/my wedding venue/my reasons for breaking up with my (numbskull of a) boyfriend….”

The list is endless.

Just to clarify, I’m not a support function. For me, HR is not a support function. I have no doubt that there are many HR departments in many companies that are more than happy to be a support for everyone and everything, but that isn’t for me, and it isn’t why I chose to work in HR.

I’m a realist. I say it how it is, and I’m not afraid to have a viewpoint, say it out loud and stand my ground when it’s right. I’ve learnt that things aren’t always fair and right in the company you work in, but I do believe that part of my job is to try and make a difference, whether that’s to the bottom line or to the bottoms on seats. Both preferably!

For me, that means not standing on the side lines or ‘doing the do because they told me to’. It means constantly educating myself on the business, the commercials, the people and the politics and actively looking for change and trying to deliver it, for the benefit of everyone. I want to drive the agenda, not just be a passenger. Really, I want to write the agenda.

Call me power hungry, or some kind of Braveheart style oddball, but I’m up for the fight and I want HR to be more than running payroll and shit shoveling. I want it to impact businesses to the point where no-one assumes we are a support function (or the Grim Reeper!) any more and instead sees something more. Something good.

So, hopefully through this blog I can share with you (whoever ‘you’ are!!) the good, the bad and the ridiculous life of an HR professional and maybe make you think twice about those dragons/grim reepers/party poopers/busy bodies you think you work with over in HR.

And for all those in HR, it’s no surprise we’re the first to the bar after work on Fridays!