How To Be Personal Yet Professional Working In Human Relations

Human Relations is a tricky role to handle at any company. You want to be seen as a friendly colleague, and yet you also have to maintain a professional demeanor in order to carry out sometimes difficult duties of your role. Here are a few ways you can be personable yet professional working in Human Relations.

Respect privacy. Although you are likely privy to personal details of your colleagues life in your HR capacity, be mindful of not sharing or discussing these when in more social settings. If something was shared with you in a HR capacity don’t ask follow-up questions during the break room at lunch time. Use common and shared spaces to discuss common interests that are general knowledge to all employees.

Get out of your office. In an effort to make sure you are respecting boundaries it can be tempting to remain in your office as much as possible. You might hesitate because people may behave differently around the HR representative but think about different ways you can get out of your office and interact with your colleagues. This might include stopping by the break room for a quick chat or to have lunch. Use this time to be personable and talk about common interests. Just be mindful that you do not spend all your time at the water cooler taking part in all the office gossip. 

Use humor appropriately. Oftentimes humor is seen as a quick way to establish a connection, come across in a personable way or make friends. However, in your HR role it is particularly important that you are mindful of the humor you are using to ensure it is workplace friendly. As an HR representative you always have the opportunity to lead by example and this is particularly true of the humor you use. Being professional does not mean you need to avoid having any sense of humor, but it does mean choosing your humor wisely.

Maintain objectivity during a review. If you have established personal connections outside the setting of your HR role it can be easy to take your opinions and feelings into reviews and HR related decisions. However, it is important to maintain objectivity and set aside your personal opinions and feelings in order to give each employee a fair and honest review.

Implementing these strategies will help you be personable yet professional in your role working in Human Relations.