There are few jobs in the world that have the convergence of a Factory HR Manager. Let’s just imagine a factory of medium size in any industry – it could be anywhere from 100 to 1000 employees. It likely has a shipping/receiving area, a warehouse, a production floor, an office staff with engineers and managers of various types. There are multiple types of employees from technicians to mechanics to operators of various skills. Of course the Factory Manager has ultimate authority but let’s give some credit and attention to that HR Manager.
Let’s add to Mr Choughari’s quote above: lawyer, judge, hangman, and……recruiter, trainer, peacemaker, chef on occasion, facilitator, coach, negotiator, investigator, counselor, compensation analyst, leave manager, clinician of several disciplines, and a thousand more.
There are few roles that have more responsibility and frustratingly, less direct authority to act; but the need to influence is still expected. The Factory HR Manager has more touch points on more areas than anyone save the factory manager, soft or otherwise: hiring, training, safety, compliance, culture, behavior, security, facilities like locker rooms and amenities, many touching on procurement and on and on. If it has to due to with people, they deal with it. Policies, both local and corporate, and sometimes global. All of this converges at the factory level and your local HR gal or guy is in the midst of trying to make it all work. The visual of a one person band comes to mind.
There are threads through all of these activities: Being present. Being available, Being seen. Being cool aka approachable. Being a confidant with employees as much as possible but not all the time. Listening. Listening, Listening more. Always being friendly but not a friend – for the sake of professionalism. Knowing each person to the extent possible. Knowing how and when to cut breaks for individuals that won’t set the place abuzz – because the employees trust you. That involves building credibility through good character and good humor that meets people where they are. It involves resisting the sarcasm that can come easily in absurd situations because you know it will cause harm. (OK except we do it anyway sometimes. Hits and misses.)
It involves extending trust and personal confidence to employees that occasionally gets broken. But you allow it because you know you must for the good of the organization. You move on. An act of forgiveness.
It means you see things that sometimes must be confronted that lead to an unhappy departure. It may also mean you did nothing about another situation that no one knows about except the other involved. An event that may have meant another departure but you held back judgement. Only you will know in the end if it was worth it. Gratitude may be there or it may not.
The factory HR Managers sees the highs and lows of the human condition. They may experience the most intense laughter brought on by the hilarious characters one meets at one moment, or the lowly sorrow brought on by an employee’s family tragedy in the next. All this while putting in long hours aorund holidays and being on call 24/7.
The Factory HR Manager has so much coming at them – at all hours and at all times – it just may be – short of a factory manager – the job that prepares one for senior people responsibility better than any other. It just may be that in no other role will you get bruises, cuts and scars that give you wisdom that will pay off so well later in life. And these wounds will come quickly and pile up substantially in a short window.
Factory roles – all of them – are not for everyone. They are sometimes located in unpopular areas. The hours can be long and just different than what is considered normal. These roles are in person and cannot be remote. If you believe that life must happen in person a factory role may be for you.
So one more time, I salute our HR Factory Managers everywhere and in all industries. Here’s to you for keeping it all together. For knowing how to be a good ‘HR Knight’ as a friend of mine and great HR Leader, Manny Marquez, once observed: ‘An HR Knight knows when to say, when to do and when to be silent.’ I can’t agree more. Our HR Factory Managers are HR Knights and much more.
Pro Tip: In selecting Factory HR Managers in helps to have a perspective on the make up of a good one. Key traits are pretty much what you want in your best leaders: smart, perceptive, understands a factory environment, can speak to, understand and be understood from the newest employee to the surliest visiting Vice President. Don’t screw up these assignments. They deserve thorough succession planning and should never happen by accident. If you have room to develop a pipeline do it. If not, know who your farm teams are nearby.
Lessons: for CHRO’s: make sure you give credit to your Factory HR Managers. Give them some of the spotlight; they often don’t get enough of it. They are out there literally holding it all together for you in ways you will never know. Have a pipeline of talent. Give the Factory HR Experience high priority for development.
Lessons for all leaders: your jobs have similarities to this one. Learn when to take action and when taking action might be harmful. Learn some of the discernment that comes with not always having direct line authority in a situation.
All other employees: whether you have an HR Manager at at factory or in any other setting, know and understand that they have many issues hitting them at any one time. Cut them a little slack, and they may cut you some at a critical moment.