Interview #11 Pooja Motiramani: “I worked as a Fashion Designer, but then I got an opportunity as an HR and I really enjoy it!”
Every year the profession of an HR manager becomes more and more in demand and promising. At the same time, the level of requirements for qualified specialists in this area is also increasing.
Today, an experienced HR manager is not so much responsible for HR administration as for the management of the employees and the development of training and staff motivation systems.
Where does the path of HR manager from Washington begin? What difficulties did she face on her way and how did she solve them? Why does she think empathy is the key to success in any company?
The answers to all these questions and much more you will find out in our new interview!
Today our guest is an HR manager of Inabia Solutions & consulting Inc. Pooja Motiramani!
Pooja is a happy-go-lucky person; she loves solving people-problems hence working as an HR. In this way, continue her passion for working in human resources with positive thinking. She is having 8+ years of strong experience in Business Management, Human Resource Management, Technical recruiting & Project Management.
Pooja is a multi-tasker and loves following her passion for photography, exploring the world by traveling, cooking for friends and family, doing Bollywood Zumba, yoga, meditation and enjoying family time with her newborn and a toddler.
For more than a decade, Inabia Solutions & consulting Inc. has provided IT and business solutions to businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest. They believe that their reputation depends on the relationships they build with their clients. Inabia’s focus is to provide the best solutions for making a positive impact on their clients’ businesses. Inabia services: Managed services, Software development, staffing solutions.
How much do you think HR managers love their job?
According to SHRM, in far 2013, 86% of surveyed HR professionals in the US were "very satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" when asked about their current job, as were 83% when asked about their current company.
But what about nowadays? Has the global pandemic affected the attitude of HRs towards their profession? We decided to do our own survey and the first question in our interview is specifically devoted to this topic.
Let’s start!
Read to the end to find out why the fashion designer 👗 suddenly decided to change his profession and will we really live in a “remote world” in a couple of years!
AO: Hello Pooja and welcome to our blog! As far as we all know, working as an HR is not always easy, but true HRs put their heart and soul into their job and sincerely love their profession.
Can you tell us what is the one thing that you enjoy most about working in HR?P: I love dealing with people on a daily basis and solving their professional problems. It's a pleasure to be working in this field for me. No two days are ever the same. It's exciting to deal with new issues every day. I get an opportunity to shape the culture of an organization.
Also, there have been times when I got to recruit employees, organize campus jobs for my company, organize team-building events, etc. which has helped me learn a lot of new tasks and develop multitasking skills. It helped me grow as a person and widen my horizon of experience.
AO: Having worked for so many years in this area, you probably wanted to change something.
Can you name three areas that you feel need the most improvement, based on your understanding of common HR practices?P: Diversity: I believe when there is diversity in the workplace, there are a variety of new opinions, new ideas, innovations. Diversity can help make decisions faster, which can make them achieve more success and profits. The harsh reality is that some organizations still don't consider it important, which I feel should change.
Inclusion: By inclusion, I mean involving everyone equally!
SHRM also defines inclusion separately from diversity as "the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization's success." I think this should be made a compulsion in every organization if they want to achieve more.
Empathy: Understanding other people's emotions is a key skill in the workplace. It helps resolve conflicts, build a more productive team and improve relationships between co-workers, managers, clients and customers. This is definitely a secret part of a successful business, which is unfortunately ignored by many.
I think these 3 things should be a compulsory part of all HR practices.
AO: “Understanding other people's emotions...” yes, I know what you mean! According to Businesslover, 93% of employees say they’re more likely to stay at an organization with an empathetic employer.
Pooja, there are probably a number of difficulties in your work. What would you say are the biggest challenges of working in HR? and how do you deal with them?P: The biggest challenge of working as an HR is that there are varieties of problems and queries from various employees. So it’s essential to be aware and be updated with all the latest rules and regulations to be able to help them out.
AO: Where do you see the HR industry in the next 5 years?P: I see it blooming because every company needs a good HR department to retain good human resources in the company on a long-term basis and achieve success.
Because of covid, there have been a lot of changes in the working style of many companies.
Everybody has adjusted to the new norm of ‘‘Work from home’’ without it affecting the goals. Many employees are comfortable with this freedom as it helps in achieving work-life balance more easily. Even companies are accepting it as normal as their goals are being achieved virtually.
I think I will not be surprised if, in the future, most of the jobs will turn remote, which can change the lifestyle of human resources and the pattern of how companies work.
AO: By the way, according to Global Workplace Analytics, 77% of employees want to continue working from home. So, really, “remote life” will not be a surprise for anyone.
Can you name one (or several) HR experts whose work do you highly appreciate or take as an example?P: I don't follow anyone as such but try to update myself by reading regularly about HR practices, attending webinars, following companies on LinkedIn and aiming at gaining more knowledge to improve myself in this stream.
AO: In fact, it's cool that you don't want to copy someone else's style of work and try to create your own that way.
Let's move on to the topic of education, training and development. How does the onboarding of new employees go into your company?P: Once an employee accepts our offer to work on a particular project, I have a virtual meeting with them and complete all legal onboarding formalities online with them. I update and maintain the human resource information system (HRIS), which is defined as a software or online solution that is used for data entry, data tracking, and data management of all human resources operations of an organization.
Modern LMS for employee onboarding and training
AO: What traditions your company has and what is your favorite one?
P: My сompany used to follow in-person meetings with the new hire for completing the paperwork, but due to the pandemic, we do a virtual meeting. I really like this tradition of getting to know them. This makes me familiar with them.
Also, we used to have team building events in the past like summer barbeque party in the park, bowling event, holiday party where all the employees and managers come together and enjoy a huge family. This pandemic has stopped, but now we have virtual lunches where everyone sits with their lunches and has a fun discussion. I really like these traditions of the Company, which bonds people apart from work.
AO: Nice, AcademyOcean has the same virtual tradition now. We even make virtual birthday parties, switching Happy Birthday backgrounds on Zoom.
How do you think the HR industry has changed in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic apart from virtual traditions and interviews?P: I feel most of the jobs have shifted to remote, so everyone is learning the new norm. People are happy that they are getting to work from home and achieve goals. It's no longer a fixed 8-hour shift. Even companies have become flexible and accepting this new scenario. Their goal has shifted to achieve success; whether the resource is doing this in person or virtually doesn't matter much.
How HR deals with COVID-19? Real cases from HR professionals from the USA and Europe
AO: As I understood from the previous answers your company has experienced switching to remote work. How did you prepare employees for such changes?P: Oh yes, we switched to remote work in the spring of this year when the pandemic happened. We provided them with all necessary work items like office Laptops and other devices needed to perform their everyday tasks so that they are comfortable working from home.
AO: Did you work somewhere before becoming an HR professional, why did you decide to become an HR?P: Initially, I worked as a Fashion Designer for a couple of years, but then I got an opportunity as an HR and ever since I really enjoy it every day!
AO: And our last question, Pooja. What is the most valuable professional development advice you have ever gotten?P: Every day is a new opportunity to learn something new and develop our skills. I truly admire this advice and follow it.
AO: You seem to be a person who is 100% devoted to his work. Keep it up!😍 Thank you for the interview, Pooja! We wish you good luck and prosperity!
That's all for today, friends. See you at the next interview!
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Take care 😇