A day in the life of Eagle HR

My day, much like everyone else’s, starts like Dolly Parton’s with ‘I tumble outta bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, yawn and stretch and try to come to life’. Whilst it is never 9-5 and my cup of ambition is a large mug of coffee, my day starts with emails and a team check-in. This meeting is usually held over Teams as some of the team may be at home, others in the office or on client sites. We discuss capacity, upcoming matters and AOB as well as checking everyone is ok.

We provide companies with day-to-day advice and support that empowers them to make the right decisions for all their people. As well as being on the end of a phone or at your side, we can deliver complex project work on site, covering everything from restructures to job evaluation, pay structure design, coaching and mediation.

This means on a normal day there will be members of the team on a client site to conduct either a grievance or disciplinary investigation. On arriving at the client site we will check over the meeting room to ensure it is comfortable for the employee. We’ll spend the first 30 minutes or so preparing for the meeting and getting familiar with the facilities before the meeting commences.

Other members of the team will be managing the phones and various in-boxes to address the varied queries that come in. This might include calculating annual leave entitlements, drafting a range of letters or providing day-to-day advice and guidance.

Sickness absence tends to be a common theme for clients at the moment, particularly mental health-related matters. I might take calls from clients who have employees that have been off for a long period of time. We’ll discuss the options available to support the employee and make the decisions such as inviting them into a wellbeing meeting with a view to referring them to Occupational Health.

For the remainder of the day, I’ll be available to take calls and answer emails but I’ll also work on other aspects of my in-tray. I might be reviewing appendices and drafting investigation reports, sending out legal updates or drafting contracts of employment. I might update staff handbooks so they satisfy all the statutory requirements as well reflect the company’s culture and values. I might be preparing training materials for courses I shall be delivering, for example, how to manage difficult conversations or the benefits of effective appraisal system.

To conclude the day, I pick up new enquiries from clients who have set up a new business or existing clients of our HCR colleagues who need support with a complex employee matter.

Finally, we catch up as a team again and review our diaries to see what tomorrow has in store.