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A small electrical contractor that had never had an HR department before hired me as their first HR manager. He says he sincerely appreciates his employees but needs someone to focus on them. My first endeavor is to find out what they are currently happy with working there and what they need to improve upon. I’m trying to figure out how to approach this, and I have questions:

1. How should I introduce myself to the employees?

2. Do you think a survey is a good idea? As it is the first meeting, what questions would be good to ask?

This is exciting! You’ve landed a job with a company that understands what an HR professional can do for them. The company isn’t just looking for someone to handle the paperwork — it wants someone who can focus on the employees.

This seems like a dream come true for the first HR person in a company. However, that doesn’t mean the job will be easy, and you’re wise to think through everything. So let’s tackle your questions.

Question 1: How should I introduce myself to the employees?

Don’t overthink this! Talk to people like you are genuinely interested in learning about them and what they do. Let them know that you are there to focus on making this the best environment possible for people.

They are less interested in your credentials than they are in what you want to do for the company. People are often suspicious of HR managers because we typically have a terrible reputation. People may be resistant to change — even though the boss specifically hired you to meet employee needs.

I assume it’s a small organization (or they probably would have had a previous HR manager), so you may want to meet one-on-one with every employee!

Question 2: Is a survey a good idea?

One-on-one meetings are a better idea than doing a survey. The problem with surveying a small organization is that no one believes it is actually anonymous. (No one believes it’s anonymous in a large organization, but it’s easier to imagine that there are too many people to care about.) If there are only 25 employees, people know you’ll be able to figure out who said what.

So in that case, it’s best to scrap the anonymity altogether. Just talk with people. Here are some questions you might want to ask:

• How can I, as the HR manager, make the job better?
• What do you love about working here?
• What three things would you change about working here?
• What would make you more successful? How can I help you achieve your career goals?

And a caution

Call me cynical, but I always wonder why a company decides to hire an HR professional now. Sometimes, it’s something obvious, like hiring their 50th employee and needing someone to handle FMLA claims, or an employee is sued and they realize they need help. Sometimes it’s a period of growth, and they need a dedicated HR person to spearhead recruiting and onboarding.

But in your case, the owner said you are there to focus on the employees. That would be fabulous! It may also indicate you’re walking into a toxic environment, and the owner wants you to come in and fix things. 

The problem with fixing toxicity in a small business (or a large business) is that the toxic people like being toxic and think everyone else is the problem. The only person who can effectively change things is the owner. 

Now, it’s possible that you can relieve some of that burden and advise the owner on better ways to communicate and resolve problems. It’s also possible that he’ll expect you to magically fix problems he created years ago. Toxicity often starts from the top.

If that’s the case, you must set boundaries very early and not give anyone an inch. You should still start the same way — by talking to everyone. However, understand that people will expect you to take action against other people, not them. You will receive pushback.
Hopefully, I’m wrong and unnecessarily cynical, but it’s something else to watch for.

What do you do with the knowledge you gather?

If you want a successful tenure in this job, you must act on what you learn from employees. If you just talk and don’t do anything, this will rapidly validate people’s worst fears about you. 

Set expectations. When someone tells you they want a 50 percent increase in pay and a 100 percent decrease in insurance costs, don’t indicate that that is possible. Laugh and say, “Don’t we all! Unfortunately, I’m no magician, so that won’t change.”

Let employees know what you can help with — ensuring they get proper training or that harassment will be investigated and punished — and what you can’t help with, like firing the boss’s son just because he’s smug or giving everyone a free lunch.

This is a great new adventure, and you can make a real difference!   

Have a dilemma for the Evil HR Lady? Send questions to evilhrlady@gmail.com.

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