An Average Week on the HR Scheme
One of the questions I’m often asked by applicants for the scheme is what an average day or week looks like on the scheme. It’s a bizarrely difficult question to answer as genuinely no day or week is the same – but in this blog I thought I’d give you an overview of what I’m up to this week to give you an idea.
So on Monday I took the train to Leicester where I met the rest of my HR cohort for lunch. Sounds lovely yes? It was… but unfortunately we didn’t meet up just for lunch, we had an exam afterwards!
On Tuesday I was at my placement. In the morning I caught up on e-mails after 5 days off and pulled together some information ready for an investigation planned for the next day. At 11am, I walked with some colleagues over to the centre of Harrogate where we met our Directorate team (about 60 people) and we all took part in a Workforce and OD Development day. As part of the scheme we are lucky enough to constantly be being given development, but it was really great to be with my placement colleagues and have something similar with them to run by the Trust!
On Wednesday I had an investigation meeting in the afternoon – so the day consisted of investigation work, holding the meeting, and then finding an outcome and writing a report.
On Thursday I spent the morning finalising an options paper for our grievance policy which is under review this year. I will present this paper to our HR Business Partners, before updating the policy which will then have to be ratified and approved. In the afternoon I had a Go-To Meeting which is an hour phone call with my tutor group for the EGA programme. I then went to the Partnership forum which is a meeting at the Trust of senior managers updating on various topics such as organisational change, finance, employment policies, nurse recruitment, and staff engagement amongst matters arising.
On Friday I attended Workforce Efficiency Group in which key stakeholders discuss spend – particularly on agency staff – and update on the action plans to ensure – you guessed it – workforce efficiency! We then had team time which is an hour meeting with the rest of the Operational HR team. After that, I had time to work on a paper for an exciting retention project I’m leading on. To end the day, I had a 1:1 with my placement manager where we chatted about how I’m doing, workload, competencies and anything else I need advice on.
So not necessarily an average week (as I don’t think we have those!) but there is an example of some of the things you might get up to if you’re successful on the scheme. Next week’s highlights include a 1:1 with my programme manager, visiting my potential flexi placement, attending a mock employment tribunal and assisting on an assurance panel for next year’s placements. So if you want to know what an average week looks like – you’ll never find one! Every week is different and varied whilst still building on your knowledge and experience.