I am a huge fan of shared experience and ideas and think we can all benefit from sharing how we solve problems and what works for us. It might seem like something simple but it might be something that someone else hasn’t thought of. And sometimes small ideas can be the seeds that grow into something bigger and better.
What is the biggest challenge in your job? What tip/suggestion/process can you share that helps you overcome it?
Working with angry employees. I often find validating their feelings and expressing that I understand where they are coming from is a good starting point to being able to help them.
I find it challenging as well, especially if the anger is pointed in my direction and isn’t warranted. That is a great strategy though. I agree that a lot of people’s frustration and anger can be diffused with some understanding and letting them vent. Once the pressure has been released, then hopefully a rational conversation can be had.
Lack of timely important information being communicated.
I try to be as proactive as possible and reach out to people when I know there is information they need to share with me, rather than waiting (and waiting and waiting) for them to send it on their own.
I also find this challenging. I place the onus on myself to prompt for information or follow up because I can only control what I do and not what others do (and I am also not good at waiting on others). If it impacts something I am responsible for, I will definitely take charge of getting the information I need. Sometimes it can require some delicacy and diplomacy so people don’t think I’m overstepping. I usually take the approach of requesting their help and they are usually more than willing to provide what I need.
I can relate to this one. Payroll is so deadline driven and it can be a real challenge to work with other departments and get the info you need. Denise, I like your suggestion of asking them for help, I think I will try that in the future. I can often be too matter-of-fact and sometimes I need to soften my approach, especially in emails.
One of things that challenges me is consistency in the work of the team. A number of tasks are shared between multiple people and I get frustrated when everyone isn’t following the same process. It leads to errors which can lead to even bigger problems, especially in the payroll environment. I have spent a lot of time working on process and training guides that are fairly in-depth and document each step so that everyone on the team has the same understanding and can follow the same process. This has helped to streamline what we do and ensure that we are minimizing the opportunities for error.
That is great your team is paying attention to the documentation you created, I have created in-depth, note form, checklists and I often have people believing they do not need them and then make a ton of mistakes.
There are definitely still people that don’t always follow the process (and yes, there are the resisters) but overall the documentation has helped for those of us that appreciate following the process. That is even more frustrating when the tools are there and yet people choose to do it the hard way, and more often than not the incorrect way, and make mistakes. Can’t fix everything I guess.
When joining a company, I find that it takes a while to understand the business. HR is HR, and Payroll is Payroll, but taking the time to understand the business (or the industry) goes a long way. It helps me to be better at what I do… and it makes a positive difference in how others within the organization see me.
