Kate Moore, RPR Editor

Well, it's the beginning of a brand new year. Along with the usual resolutions, I made one to be more tolerant and patient with the world – to drive to work through traffic, smiling benevolently at the people who cut me off, don't signal or just plain drive like maniacs. That ended abruptly when I was rearended by a woman talking on a cell phone; I'm still working out the annoyance, not to mention the paranoia I experience each time I see someone speeding toward my back bumper.

At work, I endeavoured to do the same thing. After all, as HR professionals, we deal with many difficult situations and many different people in the course of a day. I was going to let go of the pet peeves of last year and start fresh, giving everyone the benefit of the doubt! I find it's an ongoing battle, but as I have not yet had any major "collisions" at work, I'm still trying. Driving home, however, is a whole other matter.

What are the pet peeves that we HR professionals deal with each day? I asked around. Here is what I heard:

· Supervisors who think it's easier just to call HR than look up the answer in their very own policy manual. If HR is not available, they will simply make up what they think is the right answer for the employee rather than checking. Result: a confused, angry and misinformed employee.

· When something goes wrong with an employee's benefits and they call the provider, only to have the provider tell them automatically that it must be something that we in the HR department had done that caused the problem. (So far, they are 0/4 on that tactic!)

· When being in HR also means that you should be in charge of recycling, garbage pickup, the temperature in the office, lights, computers, wobbly chairs, the postage machine, the funny smell in the office, having the plants watered, the photocopier – anything no-one else wants to do.

· When colleagues assume that you can't understand a balance sheet or bottom line or anything with numbers in it "because you're in HR". In addition, being seen as the "touchyfeely" department rather than being seen strategically oriented to the needs of the firm.

These are just a few examples. Some will never change. HR may always be the repository for the odd jobs that need a home, or the programs that no one else wants to take on and run. Some people will never read their policy manuals. However, when it comes to how people view us as players in the organization, that is something we can control.

Knowing your industry, understanding the trends that drive it and being able to draw our strategic objectives from those set operationally give us credibility. Of course, having a management team that includes HR at the table when decisions are being made is crucial. But it's up to us to show that we are able to speak the language of numbers and bottom line when we explain how we can make an impact.

On the lighter side, if you have peeves of your own that you think are funny, important and/or worth sharing, send them to kate@workplace.ca I would love to hear from fellow colleagues about what gets your goat and makes you want to run away and join the circus. There's nothing I like more than reading things like this and saying "Hey, me too!" and knowing I'm not alone. This can be a crazy business, and sometimes the best thing we can do is commiserate or share a laugh. In the meantime, I will continue to try to keep my resolutions–one day at a time.

Kate Moore, RPR
Editor