Through HR’s Eyes: A Day in the Life

Navigating the hiring process is a tricky thing.  You have likely spent what feels like an eternity perfecting your resume and cover letter and tirelessly spent hours applying online.  You’re eager, and hopefully excited, but feel like you've been waiting a lifetime to hear something…..anything!  You may feel HR makes the process more difficult rather than better for you and wonder what they could be doing all day and why you haven’t heard anything.  Understanding what a typical day is like for an HR professional may help shed some light into the job seeking process for you.  Here’s a pretty typical day in the life of an HR professional:

8:00 – 9:00; Begin and plan the day

In today’s world, emails saturate our in-boxes (and also our time).  Typically, a significant portion of the morning is spent going through the emails that have built up and responding to internal clients.  Some matters an HR professional must respond to require deeper research or in depth decision making.  These items may require us to consult another party or take additional time to mull over issues that are less than cookie-cutter.  Most HR professionals have a variety of responsibilities and tasks they must complete.  This also requires significant planning to ensure proper time management which needs to be done early in the day.

9:00 – 10:00; Meetings

Like other business professionals, there are various stakeholders that require our regular attention and meetings are a common fact of life in most businesses.  Many of the meetings may also require substantial preparation on our part.  “People” matters are rarely black and white, and we dedicate time and resources to every decision and recommendation we make.

10:00 – 11:30; Paperwork

HR is at the core of much of the administrative work in an organization.  We spend a substantial portion of each day dedicated to our administrative and transactional responsibilities (FMLA, unemployment, worker’s compensation, employee and benefits paperwork, etc).  We’re always trying to become more efficient in this area to reduce this portion of our jobs, but it remains a necessary evil.

11:30 – 12:00; Emails

We’re back to the emails in an attempt to make the evening load easier to manage.

12:00 – 12:30; Lunch

You’ll find many HR professionals eating lunch alone at their desk.  This is for a variety of reasons.  It’s difficult for HR to regularly eat with employees in other departments.  We’re often privy to information that can inadvertently put us in uncomfortable situations with other employees.  Additionally, it is HR’s job to remain an unbiased and consistent presence in the organization. 

12:30 – 3:00; Recruiting 

We will spend a significant portion of our day dedicated to finding talent.  Despite how plentiful you think the candidate pool is for a position, I guarantee that finding qualified people for that job is not easy.  Whether the qualifications high or low, it’s always difficult to find great people.  Please keep in mind that during this time, we write job descriptions, post jobs, review resumes, conduct interviews, administer testing, run background checks, and send offer & rejection letters.  That’s a heck of a lot to do in a relatively short amount of time.

3:00 – 3:30; Vendor communication

In HR, people are regularly trying to sell you things (consultancy, benefits, technology, staffing services, etc).  Many of these conversations include HR politely declining, as most products and services are a dream and a tease on our tight budgets.  Managing vendor relationships is an important part of our jobs.

3:30 – 4:30; Manager/Employee Advising

Our advice is regularly sought from employees about personal matters as related to their job.  In the past I’ve had a “therapy chair” available in HR for these types of conversations.  Additionally, managers regularly seek our guidance relating to employment matters.  We must be available to speak with both about their respective matters.  After all, in HR, your most regular clients are internal.  

4:30 – 5:30; Wrap Up

Like other professionals, our day often requires us to wind down and wrap up.  There are often outstanding items that we must address before the end of the day.  People matters can rarely “wait until tomorrow”, and this is often the time we’re working very hard behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly for all employees.

Understanding what an HR professional’s day is like may help you gain some insight as you deal with HR through the hiring process.  I encourage you to remain positive and persistent and to aim high!

High Deductible Health Plans (with an HSA) for Beginners

A trend in group health insurance that’s gained leaping popularity in the last several years are Health Savings Account (HSA) plans or high deductible health plans (HDHP).  This article will give you a foundation for understanding HDHP’s with HSA’s and arm you with the facts to determine if this type of group health insurance plan is right for your organization.

So, how exactly does a HDHP with an HSA work?  In this type of plan, employees typically have a large deductible, often more than twice the amount in deductible of a traditional PPO plan.   In a HDHP, monthly premiums are typically less than in traditional plans where there is a co-pay (sometimes substantial).  The lower premium saves both the employee and company money on premiums.  However, an employee is required to then pay out of pocket for medical services and prescriptions in full until they reach their full deductible amount.  However, any funds paid toward medical care or prescriptions should be paid out of the Health Savings Account that is set up in accordance with the HDHP.  HSA accounts typically assign account holders a credit/debit card that employees should use for any medical related expenses.  On an HSA account, medical services can typically be purchased tax free. 

So you may ask how the account is funded and how can the purchases be tax free?  Well, an employer typically makes a contribution to the HSA account on behalf of the employee.  The amount typically ranges from 6 to 20% of the deductible, but is up to the employer’s discretion.  Employees will typically contribute to their HSA’s as well by payroll deduction.  If employees know they have an expensive medical event, they can increase their contributions to cover the costs.  Additionally, if an expensive emergency happens, an employee can reimburse themselves from their HSA account to cover the costs with the tax benefits.

A HDHP with an HSA is uncomfortable for some individuals to switch to, especially if they are used to having something like a $20 co-pay for their doctor visits.  This type of health plan requires employees to spend their health care dollars more wisely and to become educated health care consumers (if they want to avoid high costs).  You can think of a HDHP more like car insurance.  It’s there to help you in the event of an emergency, but is not meant for you to be dependent on it for things like oil changes or routine maintenance.  Some organizations who have this type of plan offer services through their HR department to help employees find the most cost effective services for certain procedures.  However, if you are willing to promote a culture of wellness and educate your employees on spending their health care dollars wisely, this type of plan could be cost saving and good fit for your business.

5 Things to Remember When It Comes to Employee Files

Proper recordkeeping is a requirement for all employers and for good reasons.   It makes good business sense to have accurate information on hand and organized when you want to use it and most business owners and managers will eventually encounter the need to produce documentation about employee performance and work history.  Having the proper records is vital when the need presents itself.  Below is a list of some requirements and helpful hints to remember when it comes to employee personnel files.

1. Employee files should be kept safe in a lockable cabinet or area to protect sensitive personal information.  Access to information about employees should be strictly limited to those people in your business with a need to use the information in their jobs.
2. I-9 forms should not be kept in an employee’s file.  Rather, I-9’s should be organized together in a separate space that is convenient in the event of an I-9 audit.  Many government agencies are authorized to inspect your I-9 forms if they visit your work location. If you have them in your personnel files, the government gets to go through your personnel files. Anything they find there can raise additional questions or issues. In a separate I-9 file, you have the ability to hand the inspecting agent one file folder with all your I-9 forms. No problems can arise from that if you have completed all your I-9s as required. Be sure that you use the current version of the I-9 Form. Using an outdated version can cost you $1,000 per document. Errors on the form can cost you up to $1,000 each as well.
3. Doctor’s notes, as well as benefit and 401K information should also be kept separate from an employee’s general file.  The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) requires that any type of personal medical information should be kept confidential and not be part of an employee’s file.  Examples of documents that should be removed from employee personnel files include:
   • Health insurance application form
   • Life insurance application form
   • Request for medical leave of absence regardless of reason
   • Personal accident reports
   • Workers' compensation report of injury or illness
   • OSHA injury and illness reports
   • Any other form or document which contains private medical information for a specific employee.
4. Some sample items that should be kept in an employee file include:
   •  Application/resume
   • Tax and payroll information (garnishments, deduction authorizations, etc)
   • Signed policies and/or handbook
   • Disciplinary documentation
   • Criminal background check
   • Employment offer letter
   • Employment agency agreement if hired through an agency
   • Employee status change documentation
   • Exit interviews
   • Training and development records/documentation
5. Perform regular self audits of your record keeping processes to ensure they remain compliant.  Part of being a professional business manager is keeping quality professional records. Take a look at your organization's practices and find out if you have what you need. If not, plan to get it. It will save you trouble in the long run.

Be sure to also understand your state laws surrounding employee documentation as additional laws may apply.

Excerpts taken from a great article in The Management Advantage.

HR Lessons from the 2012 Super Bowl

Happy Super Bowl 2012 from Indianapolis!

I am from the Midwest and currently live in Indianapolis, IN.  Here in Indy, the Colts are the center of a lot of conversation.  If you follow football, even remotely, you may know that the Colts had a difficult season this year and had the worst record among NFL teams.  This is particularly disappointing for Colts fans since the Colts have had a decent record for the past several years, even securing a couple invitations to the Super Bowl.

How is this related to HR?  I promise I have a point.

Peyton Manning has been central to the Colts’ success over the last decade.  This year, he suffered an injury, and left the Colts to succeed without his contributions.  In HR, there is always an emphasis on talent and recruiting rock star performers (hi-po’s or high potential employees).  Peyton is a hi-po, and yes, a rock star.  However, the Colts failed to surround Peyton with other rock star performers, and without his presence on the field, the team fell apart. 

The Colts can teach HR professionals an important lesson.  It’s simply not enough to attract one great leader.  You must surround great leaders with other rock star, high potential employees.  A team of one will rarely go as far as an entire team staffed with high potential employees.  Make your selections carefully.  Wrong hires not only cost money, but they could be the difference between growth, plateau, or even decline for your business (or sports team).