This can be the most difficult part of the job for an inexperienced HR professional, as you have to learn how to deal with a lot of sensitive personal information of many different types – be it salary data, medical issues, management issues…
It’s a constant stream of information coming at you from all areas, and if you are unprepared or don’t have the right temperament, it can be extremely off putting.
When I started out in HR, no one was there to coach me on what to do with all of the “stuff.” The buck stopped with me and and couldn’t talk to anyone else about any of it – that’s the nature of the job, after all.
I was so unprepared for the emotional strain of that, one day I actually broke down and started crying in the records closet from the stress. In my case, it was over knowing that every single person in the company was making more than $40k a year more than me, even junior hires – and there was nothing I could do about it.
This was especially devastating not only because it was so unprofessional but because I had no one to help and guide me through it.
Now, I’m able to coach people through just that kind of thing. I also recognize that what I went through isn’t specific to HR professionals, but really anyone who doesn’t have an outlet. If you are forced to keep everything bottled up inside, it’s going to come out somewhere.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the HR job. What I don’t love is being unprepared for things.
Originally Posted: https://www.quora.com/How-do-HR-people-cope-with-having-to-hear-other-peoples-personal-problems-all-day
Originally Posted On: 2016-08-31