Talking with HR about your "Role"
Planning to talk with HR about your "role"? It's not rocket science and it's great you are being proactive. Here are a few things to keep in mind and make sure you are prepared:
This list is NOT exhaustive, but it is a bare minimum for a successful discussion.
And, by the way, it's great that you are going to HR now, and not as part of your exit from the company. Being proactive, regardless of the particular outcome, is likely to benefit you, your manager and the business more than letting things stew and sit unaddressed. There's no absolute guarantee the outcome will be what you want, but it's far less of a crapshoot than not having the conversation at all.
- If you called the meeting: Be very clear about what you want to get out of the meeting. HR to advise you on an action? Take an action on your behalf? What is it?
- Have a half page bulleted list of what you think your role should be, and what you think your role actually is, if they are different.
- Document what you have already discussed on this topic with your manager, and be very clear about why you are ALSO discussing this with HR. Do you and your manager disagree on some points? If so, what are they? Why? Don't take the easy cop out of "I don't know why we disagree." If you don't know, clearly you have not done your homework. Chances are good there is a business reason why you are being asked to do something other than what you think your role should be -- and being able to address that business reason, and explaining why there is a higher value use of your time (for the business, not for your own interests) is important.
- Be clear in your own mind whether the disconnect (if there is one) between what you think you should be doing and what your manager thinks you should be doing is substantial enough that you may seek a new position inside or outside the company.
- If there is a gap between what you think you should be doing and what your manager thinks you should be doing, and there is a negative business impact to doing what the manager thinks you should do, be very articulate about that. (Related to #3: If you haven't already had such a discussion with your manager, you are just wasting time and setting yourself up to look like a whiner. Make sure you go directly to the source of the problem, your manager, first -- so that the only things you are brining to HR are business impacts your manager disagrees with but has not been able to adequately address).
- (If HR called the meeting: Ask detailed questions about the intent of the meeting -- and it's okay to ask what you should bring to the meeting or be ready to speak about. If there isn't a clear answer, refer to question one and decide what YOU want to get out of the meeting.)
And, by the way, it's great that you are going to HR now, and not as part of your exit from the company. Being proactive, regardless of the particular outcome, is likely to benefit you, your manager and the business more than letting things stew and sit unaddressed. There's no absolute guarantee the outcome will be what you want, but it's far less of a crapshoot than not having the conversation at all.