HRINZ National Office – ‘Yes, we are human’
We can all be guilty of burying our heads into our day to day routine and sometimes forgetting about the big wide world and how our actions affect the wider community. In the workplace this includes our fellow colleagues our employers and our customers. For us at National Office our customers are all of the HRINZ Members – more than 3700 individuals throughout the world.
Being able to remind ourselves of the bigger picture and remember customers are indeed ‘human’ (just like ourselves, the ‘staff’) is an important and good lesson to be reminded of every day. As much as I have spent many an hour gazing intently into my computer screen and on the phone liaising with numerous members over the years, I know there is much more to HRINZ members than pixels, graphics, emails, phone messages and a profile number. Although like anyone, I can be guilty at times of burying my head and forgetting (momentarily) this reality.
The new reality TV programme ‘Undercover Boss’ highlights a similar concept and gets senior management out into the ‘real’ world where they see how their policy’s are actually carried out. What looks good on paper doesn’t always look so good on the factory floor. The first episode was great viewing and I encourage you to look out for it on Tuesdays, TV1 at 7.30pm.
For the team at National Office, we’re including Social Media as much as possible to connect with our members in a new and instant way, and by doing so are reminding ourselves of the large reach we have out there into the HR Profession.
To engage in direct conversation with you via this new medium is bringing a whole new level of enthusiasm to the team as we see how our day to day activities are affecting you. It also makes our job easier as we can share more of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of HRINZ National Office with you.
On the flipside I thought it would also be interesting to share with all of you a typical day in National Office, to remind you too, that we are more than just a name, an email or a voice on the phone. It will hopefully also answer that all too frequent question ‘so what do you do at National Office?’ – a question that always leaves me a little breathless as I try to list everything that our team of 8 full-time staff and 3 part-time staff are involved with.
So while the ‘Boss’ is away and unable to blog from her remote Greek Island. I’ll be posting a few insights into life at National Office. Stay tuned for HRINZ Reality World.
Well this is a refreshing perspective ! Head offices have a reputation for drifting out of touch with reality and losing the connection with the people who justify their existence. And the leaders of membership organisations have a bad habit of thinking that members exist to create their jobs. So keep at it Keri ! It also behoves members to keep in touch too and with so many channels we have no excuse for not communicating both feedback and especially encouragement. I am sure that the HRINZ team is no different from us in that they need and respond to positive feedback about their contribution. May we all remember that encouragement and affirmations can be their own reward as they benefit both the recipeint and the giver. So KB, I have been one beneficiary of your team’s commitment and effectiveness Thank you !