Re-energized

I attended the annual HR Tampa conference today. I try to attend every year, as they usually schedule excellent presenters/topics. This year was no different. All of the speakers and breakout sessions were GREAT, and each gave me ideas to incorporate into my life as a Recruiter/HR professional.

These sessions came just in time. Over the past year, I've been REALLY stressed at work, but didn't really feel challenged - just overwhelmed. I've worked many hours each week - but haven't felt like I've made much progress. And I actually began to question whether or not I wanted to continue in the recruiting field. I felt so disconnected from the HR world. I was drained.

But, after today - I feel RE-ENERGIZED! As I sat in these sessions, my mind was racing! I came up with several ideas to not only enhance my career, but improve how a few things are handled at work. Some of the improvements seem minor, but I think will make an impact on our employees - especially new hires. Right now, I handle the recruiting function (and have a lot on my plate as the only Recruiter), but I want to incorporate on-boarding and leadership development into my functions. I mean, these go hand-in-hand with the recruiting role (at least I think so). Recruiting, on-boarding of new hires, and developing future managers/leaders within the organization - how cool! I am going to spend my free time researching these functions to learn as much as I can, so I can come prepared to discuss with my manager during one of our weekly one-on-one meetings. I may need to work on this slowly though as she recently offered me another project...

When I interviewed for my position, I explained how I wanted to learn more about compensation and was told that perhaps I could work on comp projects as a Recruiter. I've always had an interest in learning about the compensation role, but never had an opportunity to learn from/observe anyone in the position (since I've never been based out of a corporate office). I even looked into taking online classes to receive my CCP certification. Since my interview (nearly two years ago), my manager has remembered my interest in comp and recently offered me to participate in the annual merit review process starting in December. It's approximately a four month project. There's a lot involved with it - spreadsheets, following up with supervisors, reviewing performance assessments, working with Corporate compensation, etc. One HR Generalist handles the process each year for our business unit, but I will be assisting her with it this time around. Definitely will add a ton of more work to my already full plate, but I'm VERY excited in taking part in this process and want to do a great job!

Thanks HR Tampa (& fabulous speakers) for inspiring and challenging me to make a difference, to learn more, and to aspire to give more for the betterment of our organizations and employees. All the things I set out to do years ago, but somehow lost track of for a brief moment.