Fighting the Vulnerability of a Human Resources Job
By Surajit Sen Sharma
The jobs of human resources professionals are among the most vulnerable in any industry. HR budget slashing and HR staff reductions are common occurrences. Such actions by organizational management often leave those in human resources jobs floundering to cope with the additional workloads of those who have left. The vicious cycle of peer job loss followed by increased workload for survivors followed by reduced performance followed by survivor job loss plagues the human resources department, and perceptions of job vulnerability proliferate, accelerating the cycle.
Act Now! Activate a FREE three days trial to HRCrossing.com, because you know how important it is to know about all the jobs.
HR professionals often must fight for their jobs or risk getting laid off.
Facing job vulnerability is a key challenge for any human resources professional, and this article provides clues for surviving and thriving in a turbulent workplace. It can also help you absorb and overcome the distress of a layoff if you have already experienced job loss.
Why an HR Job is More Vulnerable Than Other Types of Jobs
It seems paradoxical that the very people who rationalize and suggest layoffs are themselves most vulnerable to job loss. The problem lies in the fact that numbers are not valid indicators of HR contribution. HR work is a staff rather than a line function, and most of the methods used to quantify the organizational outcome of other employee functions are invalid for measuring the impact of HR work. HR work doesn't have clearly visible organizational outcomes like profits, increased market share, or rising stock prices, and the result is that those in management often perceive HR work as meaningless. To reduce your job vulnerability, the real strategy is to increase your perceived value to your organization's management.
What Helps When Fighting Job Vulnerability in an HR Job
Research shows that successful human resources professionals employ certain common strategies to increase their perceived value to their organizations and combat the inherent job vulnerability of their positions. These include:
Educating managers to understand that "measurability" is not the only criterion indicating a function's organizational importance
Choosing projects or roles where the relevant functions can be easily and validly measured (e.g., workplace safety)
Leaving HR for a short time to work in line jobs, such as sales or operations positions, and gaining skill sets that increase credibility with managers and other employees
Building a good track record with a line manager and turning him or her into your mentor
Making sure the right people in your organization are aware of your contributions
Producing the kinds of results the organization values
Earning trust and credibility with people who are both internal and external to the organization
Engaging in continuous and focused development of skill sets and qualifications
What to Avoid When Trying to Prevent an Impending Job Loss
It is natural to react when the prospect of a job loss casts its shadow on your workplace. However, overreaction can be premature career suicide. It is more important than ever in vulnerable situations to maintain self-control and avoid indulging in common reflexive reactions. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind:
Do not allow your fears of job loss to immobilize your thought processes.
Do not allow your fears of job loss to drive you to exaggerate your accomplishments.
Do not give others the impression that you are adept at tasks when you are really a novice (e.g., by throwing around buzzwords, business jargon, etc.).
Do not attempt meaningless quantification of functions that cannot be quantified just to impress the organization.
What to Do After a Job Loss
In today's workplace, no tactic or strategy can entirely eliminate the possibility of job loss. It does hurt when a job loss is not initiated by you, and you don't have a new job waiting. What really helps is coming to terms with the situation and accepting the job loss as a natural part of the career-development process. This means you should:
Give yourself time to process the situation and set realistic limits regarding how much time you need.
Avoid letting the job loss affect you more than necessary.
View the aftermath of the job loss as a special but natural stage in your career's development.
Set aside a time period to grieve and be angry, followed by a time period to compose yourself, before looking for other career opportunities.
Put aside any shame or embarrassment you may feel when facing others after a job loss.
Clear your mind, reassess yourself and your skill sets, and look for a new beginning.
Use your social network to uncover career openings and possibilities.
Consider all opportunities, including moving to other industries or job sectors.
Start seeking out career openings aggressively.
These suggestions are not new to people in human resources jobs, but we often forget what we preach under the stress of job vulnerability—and a mishandled job-loss situation can be very painful. On the other hand, human resources professionals who understand that losing one's job is a natural part of the career process view job loss as an opportunity rather than a catastrophe.
Successful people force themselves to accept the reality of job loss and do not wallow in self-pity, depression, or anger. Viewing job loss properly helps human resources professionals get back on their feet quickly and move on with life. Research shows that for competent people, job losses usually lead to better opportunities that they would have completely missed out on had they not lost their jobs.
Maribeth , Mason, MI
The best thing about EmploymentCrossing is that some of its job listings just cannot be found on any other job site. Incredible performance!
Todd , Nashville, TN
I feel that everything on EmploymentCrossing is so attractive to the users. Advance search, speed search, online applications, newsletter, archives, career corner, audio room, and other features are just fantastic!
Matthew , Cary, NC
The best thing about EmploymentCrossing was the job alert feature. The newsletters are also very good.
Debra , Alameda, CA
EmploymentCrossing is the most informative and relevant job site. Studded with newsletters, market updates, archives, and other press notes, EmploymentCrossing is truly the best job site in the world.
Julie , Miami, FL
EmploymentCrossing is the most convenient and user friendly job site that I have come across. It provides users with a truly user-friendly approach in their job search.
To compare HRCrossing with other job sites
You Have Exceptional People Skills, Strong Organizational Capabilities, are a Master at Helping Others and Deserve Approval
Top jobs are scattered on the websites of tens of thousands of companies, organizations and other job boards. It requires creativity to bring everyone together: Through research we are able put these jobs in one place and give you the ability to see a variety of jobs you would not see elsewhere.
You value harmony and are good at creating it: Use us to analyze and evaluate the jobs you are interested in collected and organized from over 50,000 websites. You are honest, creative and imaginative and deserve the best.
Benefits Manager United States-NY-Albany
BENEFITS MANAGER The Patient Care Division of Northeast Health (Albany Memorial and Samaritan Hospital) has an immediate opening for a Benefits ....
According to the Department of Labor, the field of human resources is expected to grow by as much as 22 percent from 2008 to 2018. This translates to approximately 197,000 new jobs appearing in the human resource job bank within the same time period, which is very good news, indeed, for the thousands of human resource generalists and specialists.
See Every Human Resources Job We Can Find on the Internet!
Unlike other sites, HRCrossing works for you and does not charge employers to post jobs and actually goes out and researches jobs for you. The jobs you see are the jobs we find for you and not the ones employers are paying us to post.
You Have Exceptional People Skills, Strong Organizational Capabilities, are a Master at Helping Others and Deserve Approval
Top jobs are scattered on the websites of tens of thousands of companies, organizations and other job boards. It requires creativity to bring everyone together: Through research we are able put these jobs in one place and give you the ability to see a variety of jobs you would not see elsewhere.
See all the jobs in your profession structured and efficiently organized in one place. Your honesty, ability to create harmony and people skills will all pay off when you have access to:
HR jobs from every job board we can find.
HR jobs from every newspaper classified ad we can find.
HR jobs from every specialized HR publication we can find.
HR jobs from every federal, state and local HR career page we can find.
HR jobs from every public interest, nonprofit and other career page we can find.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Today at HRCrossing
2,163 - Jobs found in last 24 Hours9,635 - Jobs found in last 7 Days36,633 - Total Jobs Found
Your privacy is guaranteed. We will never give out, lease, or sell your personal information.
HRCrossing - #1 Job Aggregation and Private Job-Opening Research Service — The Most Quality Jobs Anywhere
HRCrossing is the first job consolidation service in the employment industry to seek to include every job that exists and not charge employers to post jobs on its site.
HRCrossing uses sophisticated technology and manual work to comb employer websites and other job boards for jobs and bring them all to its site.