As Simon Sinek says, “Start with Why.” Let’s do that today.
Apart from the fact that I love making rangolis, there were a few other factors that pulled me to the field of Human Resources and well, still has me intrigued.
During my 12th grade pursuing science, I realised that this is something I don’t get, don’t understand, and simply hate from the bottom of my heart. I was just not interested in it, and it clearly was not interested in me either. It took a horrible toll on me.
While my mind was at its absolute worst dealing with these tragic subjects, I ironically happened to fall in love with the scientific study of the mind: Psychology. Maybe it was researching my own symptoms that got me introduced to the field, but I’m relieved it did.
I pursued my Bachelor’s in Psychology, and it was a breath of fresh air after a couple of very dusty years. I was studying for the love of the subject and not just to pass a test anymore (still got a distinction though :P). During the course, I came across the term Industrial and Organisational Psychology. Sounds heavy, no? I thought so too.
I put some time into understanding the what’s and the why’s of this and realised, “Yep, this is it.” It spoke about bringing balance and sanity to the workplace, about processes, work-life balance, and how work doesn’t necessarily have to be a dark, horrible place like everyone around me made it seem. So I went on to do my Master’s in Industrial and Organisational Psychology (Brag alert: distinction here as well).
You see, while I was growing up, I watched my father stressed and agitated with his workplace often. I heard him complain, his rants about what needed to change, what had to be better, etc. Later on, my elder sister started working as well, and then I heard her whining. The uncles and aunties around me too had nothing nice to say about their work either besides that it pays for their living. A few friends of mine then started working, and they had some colourful issues as well. (Now that I think of it, my HR brain has literally saved all of this data as feedback.)
On one hand, I was hearing about problems in the workplace, and on the other, I was studying about its solutions. This was perfect because now all I had to do was join the workforce and bridge the gap with application. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
Nope. Difficult-difficult-super-difficult.
Here’s why:
We have this perception of seeing companies as villains and employees as cheap labour, and I was on the same boat. I simply thought that organisations weren’t doing enough. Even our college education basically focuses on how companies should do this and that and throws theoretic jargons of all kinds forgetting practicality quite often.
It’s only when I started working and then had the opportunity to engage closely with organisational leadership a few years back, I began to understand the other side of the coin. This side unfortunately has equally valid points, strong reasoning, and multi-level thinking that is challenging to argue with.
Thus, the job of an HR professional becomes finding the right balance between employee and employer and making decisions accordingly. All of this while both feeling we’re taking the other’s side. Perfect.
That’s what makes it interesting I suppose, that’s what has me in its grips.