The Athletes of HR

The Athletes of HR

Judging by the title many would question the similarities of an athlete and a HR personality. Apart from the great physic the rest is similar in context. The atmosphere is not same but the struggles that they go through to achieve success has many similarities. They too have experienced the thrill of successfully initiating a project and the defeat that come from training and placing a talented employee only to lose him/her to a competitor. The struggles, victories and defeats may take different avenues in comparison but the journey has many similarities. Here are a few athletes from HR.

Gymnasts

A typical gymnast is someone very flexible that can flip and turn on a balance beam and perform to a crowd without a flinch. A HR manager that has to speak to a manager who is known to be not so nice to his/her employee has the same duty at hand. As an HR personnel you don’t want to lose the employee, but coach him/her to alter his/her leadership style. All of this has to be done while maintaining a good relationship with that manager, keeping it away from his staffs knowledge and making sure things go smoothly after the coaching. If that’s not a flip on a balance beam then what is!

Runners

A runner just doesn’t run, it’s the endurance and the determination that he/she needs to keep up with the speed and the timing that get him/her through a race. Well, that’s about right for a HR manager that has to overlook the recruitment process, make plans for the organisation’s expansion process while making sure the day to day tasks are covered, on a daily basis. And that’s just a normal day, the extremely busy ones account for more. And without endurance and determination, all that will just be at a dead halt. It not straight track that a HR managers runs, it’s around tables, juggling ten things in mind while trying to make sure it’s all done.

Swimmers

Every swimmer works with precision and speed, while making sure he/she gets enough air to make the lap. A HR manager might not work in his/her swimwear near a pool but that process is inbuilt to his desk job. Delivering bad news, solving problems and making sure things are under control all the while maintaining all the necessary process is enough precision for a day. A days’ worth of tasks gets done with just enough time to lift the head to take a breath. And that doesn’t seem enough because the race just doesn’t stop there. It keeps going and time is not enough to complete all on time.

Race Walkers

Standing straight and walking at a pace that overtakes the competition is a task. Walking comes naturally to most HR people because often they find themselves going from department to department and room to room, meeting people. An entire day dealing with people while on a constant walk is one difficult competition. It can even be while having a snack or a sip of water to make up for the meals lost under an avalanche of work. That’s all while being stopped at ten different place by ten different people to get about ten different matter resolved. At that rate even breathing becomes optional.

A simple day’s work takes the form of a marathon or a tournament with the many tasks incorporated. If you just stop and picture it, the entire HR department may just seem like the Olympics at times. Some trying to swim through a pile of papers, others running and working to get the work done and a few walking the balance the beam to make it across without a scratch. Things get serious at work and giving it a spin much like this might lighten the mood. 

 

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