7:00 am – Wake up to a morning jog, to refresh my mind and body and get ready for (yet another) action-packed day ahead.

9:00 am – Reach office on time. As an HR Manager I cannot afford to be late in light of the precedent it might set for other employees. My commute usually takes around an hour. There’s always coffee waiting for me at my desk with the morning paper and lots of emails from the day before.

10:00 am – I answer all pending queries via mail. Then I conduct a morning meeting with the team to discuss the day’s agenda. Once I’m happy with their progress and plan for the day – which usually takes a while – I move forward with my day’s work.

11:00 am – I deal with only high-level entrants in our organisational structure. I spend the next hour welcoming the new hires in the office. I also introduce them to their team and colleagues. My team takes them through the on-boarding orientation. We give them a sneak peek into our culture and business.

12:30 pm – The hour or two prior to lunch is arguably the most crucial time of the day for me. We have steep campus hiring targets this year and need to collaborate with as many campuses as possible. There is a massive talent pool in universities that provide distance education. Last year alone, we hired close to 100 students who pursued their MBA courses from distance education universities. We need to ensure that we double that number and don’t miss out on any of these universities this year.

2:00 pm – Meeting with Chief Operating Officer along with the Human Resources Head to discuss hiring shortfall in the sales ranks. We are considerably short of our hiring targets for the year and the turnover is much higher than it should be.

3:00 pm – I spend the next hour discussing open positions with the hiring managers. I sync up with hiring managers who are looking to fill new roles and get a deep understanding of their requirements, receive feedback on candidates and use these insights to improve the job descriptions on our career portals.

3:50 pm – I have to regulate an urgent meeting with a disgruntled employee, who is a high performer and key to the organisation’s growth. The employee is unhappy with her compensation package, the benefits being the main problem point. We have a Compensation and Benefits Executive on my team. However, I have been asked to handle this meeting as it is a complicated and long-pending issue.

4:30 pm – Meeting done. She did lose her cool a few times, but I remained calm and addressed her grievances one at a time. Being an HR manager, remaining professional regardless of how an employee behaves is very important. Overall, the meeting went relatively well and I’ve managed to pacify her for the time-being. I document everything and make a list of action items for my team.

5:00 pm – The final part of the day is all about discussing HR strategies with my team. Building an employer brand is crucial to attract and retain the best talent. We work closely with the Marketing team on this. We brainstorm on which talent segments, channels and communication mediums can be used to promote the brand. Currently, there is a significant focus on upcoming channels such as Instagram and Snapchat.

6:30 pm – We occasionally have employee gatherings in the cafeteria around this time. These get-togethers are a part of our networking and team-building strategy for employees.

7:30 pm – Head out of the door. That marks the end of another eventful day.