It's Shake & Bake by Ella Kimbrel

Remember that old Shake and Bake commercial where the little girl says, “It’s Shake & Bake, and I helped”?  In HR, I have many opportunities to help my coworkers.  As I consider how to best serve them, I sometimes have to stop and ask, “Am I going to do ‘it’ for them, help them do ‘it’, or teach them how to do ‘it’? (whatever ‘it’ is) 

I have found that sometimes, it is just better to take care of whatever it is my coworker needs. If taking care of something small can help get him back on the production floor, back to his desk or back in the truck or to go the next sales call, I will just do it.  An easy example of this is making a payroll change. I will fill out as much of the form as I can and ask the employee to finish it, sign it and bring it back. I turn it in for payroll processing, and we are done.  My coworker is happy, I am happy, and we can both move on to the next thing.

Other times, I have found it even better to walk alongside my coworker through a situation.  Some things that need to be done are easier with a little help from a friend. An example of this might be listening to a coworker’s struggle with a benefit claim.  Because I am an HR leader, I have access to resources that are beyond my coworker’s reach. So, if I collect all the relevant information from my coworker and reach out to my resources on his behalf, I can help him find some answers. A situation like this is a great opportunity for me to learn, to serve my coworker and to help him through a challenging time.  Of course, I could just give him the customer service number to the insurance carrier, but I have found that employees do not always know the right  questions to ask.  If they do not ask the right ones, they must begin again. Starting over can be overwhelming and exhausting. Now the employee is stressed out and not producing, not working or focusing on their tasks.  But if they come to me for help, and I get involved, perhaps they are less stressed because they know I am in their corner working for them.

Then there are times where the best response is to NOT help.  These are the more challenging times for me because in these situations, I feel confident I know what I would do. But my coworker is NOT me and what I would do might not work for her. There are just times when I have to say to her, “I can listen, and we can brainstorm, but this decision is yours alone.”  I am still helping but I am not the one completing the mission. This is an opportunity for me to be a small part of someone else’s story. When a situation like this comes up, I feel like that little girl in the Shake & Bake commercial.  She is just SO proud that she helped her momma fix that chicken! Now, if you have ever cooked chicken with Shake & Bake, you know it is not that hard. And even though it is just a commercial, most of us can relate to feeling proud when we have been given an opportunity to help someone – to be a part of their story, of their success.

As a Christian HR professional, I pray through the tougher situations. It is not always easy to know when to get involved with a coworker’s challenge – especially people-related stuff like performance issues, disciplinary action, or coaching. Sometimes it is just listening to a manager while other times it is pulling out my HR toolbox and sharing some of my tools. There are other times still when, because there is a regulation or law involved, none of us has any choice and we must move forward with a hard decision.

I often find that praying about things, seeking the Lord’s guidance, reading His word, being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance is the best way to begin serving my coworkers.  There are times when I really do want to just take over a tough situation and move on. I want to get the credit and glory for making something good happen.  Yet why should I when there is an opportunity for my coworker to be challenged, to learn and to be successful?  Is it not better to be a small part of something big together, than to be a big success alone?

Sometimes just being a safe place for a coworker is the best thing.  While I might not feel like I am contributing much, occasionally, a coworker will come back to me and say, “Thank you for helping me through that.”  I am humbled in those moments because here is what I know: I prayed for that coworker while they were telling me about their problem. The whole time they were talking to me, I was talking to God asking for guidance, I was waiting for wisdom from the Holy Spirit so that I might give the right advice, say the right thing. I may never share that fact with my coworker, but God knows. He also knows that sometimes I get it right in how I serve and sometimes I do not. But I keep trying.

At the end of the day, I want to say, “It’s a success story, and I helped!” I do not want to say, “Yeah, it was me. I told them so. I knew what to do and I had to tell them. It was my idea.” (Well, let me be honest, sometimes I do want to say those things because sometimes HR is just hard and success feels good.) What is most important, however, is that I NOT say those things, that I let the coworker get the credit.  It is my prayer that, ultimately, God will get the glory. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”  There is NO reward better than this. May you find Encouragement to Live Life Abundantly today as you serve others as unto the Lord.