I do not understand why the computations were wrong.
Were we using a system that provided accurate computation?
Why was I marked absent when I was sure that I clocked in and out?
These were just some of the questions that I had in my head every time it was payday. I always dreaded the day most people looked forward to because I was always 90% sure that there would be a problem and it was very frustrating.
I was not an all out complainer. In fact, I never really bothered to fill out forms to dispute my concerns formally since I felt that “ they were the Human Resources (HR) department, so they would know better and fix the problems eventually”. In other words I was pretty much apathetic. At that time, I did not realize that not raising these concerns to the HR team was also a form of complaint. The fact that I kept my complaints to myself only made the problems worse. If I had just raised my concerns immediately then the HR team would have been able to address it quickly.
This is just one example of a common complaint against HR and as you can see, it’s not really a productive thing to do. Let’s now look at some common complaints against HR these days and see how one can deal with them by being part of the solution rather than the problem.
PAYROLL COMPUTATION
Philippine payroll is by far one of the most complex and time-consuming processes I have ever encountered. It is not easy, especially when you are running payroll for hundreds and thousands of employees. Most of the complaints regarding payroll computations boil down to timekeeping, scheduling, payroll and reporting. When you encounter a problem with your payroll computation the first thing you must do is stop and reflect then, communicate with the team involved to understand and resolve the issue.
For a change, start thanking your payroll team for each time you get your pay correctly and in a timely manner. It will change your perspective as it changed mine.
PROCESSING OF LOANS
Government loans are an added perk from the SSS, Pag-Ibig and PhilHealth. A lot of employees make sure that their contributions are accurate in order to maximize this benefit. Processing of government loans has three parts to it. First, is the submission of documents. Second, is HR processes it with the local government office. Third, is the waiting game, this is where a lot of complaints come up and we sometimes forget that the HR team has no control over the government process. So instead of complaining, let us change our perspective and prepare for when the loan is released and make a day out of it. Remember, patience is a skill and a virtue.
BENEFITS
Everyone wants more benefits and higher pay, which is not a bad thing at all. Employers always want to make sure that both salaries and benefits are market competitive. Benefits are a gift given by the employer as an extension of their gratitude towards all the hard work done by an employee. In fact employers are not required by law to give benefits outside of what is required by the government such as PhilHealth and SSS. We also have to remember that all the perks a company gives are to help make an employee’s professional and personal life better. When you suddenly have the urge to rant about your benefits and notice what is lacking and not at par with your standards, think again, benefits are like gifts, they are freely given.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
How did you fare during your mid-year evaluations? All of us need to go through performance evaluations to make sure we are aligned and know what we need to do to get where we need to be. Sometimes we question HR for the policies on managing performances and question how we are being rated. Let us remember that being evaluated is a good thing. It will encourage us to be accountable for all our deliverables and will ensure that our line managers guide us and empower us to hit our goals. Performance Management should be something we look forward to, simply because we should want to make sure we never settle for anything less than excellence.
Like many of you who are reading this blog, I was also someone who regularly complained about what the HR department was doing. But rather than sulk, what I decided to do was to be part of the solution and joined the wonderful world of serving the workforce.
So yes, I am now a convert. From being somone who complained about the HR department, I’m now an HR professional! While I wouldn’t advise you to do what I did, . I do advise you to cur down on the complaining and start finding ways you can actually help make your HR department better.