My Love story with "Human Resources"

It was an accidental career.

I wanted to be a doctor, pursued biotechnology as a graduate and postgraduate, got distracted by MBA and instead of marketing, fell in love with organizational psychology and HR.

And it was the beginning of a long-term relationship … with Human Resources.

In the first few months at work as a Management Trainee in HR in my first company, I was enthralled by everything- punching, stapling, filing papers in Personal folders, analysis of demographics, trying to connect dots of different events, incidents, meeting employees, hearing complaints, finding solutions and a lot more.

I felt and I still feel that HR is a combination of being a social worker, counsellor, agony aunt, event manager, advisor, empathetic listener and of course an employee champion and a management representative, all rolled into one. And the trick is to know how or try to balance all of it, without dropping any ball.

It is unpredictable, it’s the easiest profession to blame when things go wrong in an organization, it gets a lot of brickbats in toxic organizations (and in balanced organizations, a lot of love with constructive feedback) but it also gives a lot of satisfaction when employees achieve their goals, grow with the organization, and become exemplary leaders and experts.

And it requires courage. Courage to call a spade a spade, courage to speak up and give a point of view which could be contrarian or controversial. It also requires the courage to admit when a mistake has been made.

It requires resilience. As HR professionals, we need to not only look after the employee’s careers and emotional wellbeing but also our own sanity. And believe me, it requires a lot of inner strength and poise to remain positive and optimistic. Quitting is easy but carrying on in an organization during challenging times, through the thick and thin, requires another level of resilience, especially in HR.

And it requires technical knowledge of HR, which many may disagree. In my opinion, HR is a combination or art and science in equal proportions, the balance may change due to situations.

All this and more, keeps me on my toes in my professional life and gives me a lot of satisfaction, proud moments and sense of achievement too.

So, after 25+ years, the love story with Human Resources as a profession continues for me…