With today being a big day in the educational calendar as thousands of young people open up their GCSE results, Acorn is launching a new series looking at a typical day for people in the UK workplace.

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Here, HR Officer Harriet Kenney discusses what her normal working day looks like…

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People always ask me ‘what does working in HR actually involve’? It’s hard to describe my role in a few words as – like so many other industries – working in HR is incredibly varied, with no two days being the same. Here’s a snapshot of just one day in the life of an HR Officer.

08:30 -

Opening up my laptop, I start my day with a large coffee and check any emails that have come in overnight – making sure anything urgent is dealt with immediately and any actions flagged.

09:00 -

Logging on to our job boards, I take a look at any new applications. Open roles can vary between 7-10, and if there’s a few open at one time, it can be pretty time-consuming to look through every application. After sorting into suitable/unsuitable categories, I forward the successful applications to the hiring manager for consideration.

09:30 -

It’s a new employee’s first day with Acorn – after checking their right to work documents, I add them to our systems and make sure we have the correct paperwork in place for their role.

10:00 -

It’s time to do some work on our current projects. This varies, but at the moment we’re focusing on our brand new employee intranet and induction process – creating useful and engaging online content and pages for our people and new starters.

10:20 -

A colleague comes in for advice, as a new client has some specifications they’d like to talk over. After our talk I head to a meeting with our Marketing team, as we’re developing a number of different videos for the new intranet.

12:00 -

Lunch! I always head out for a quick stroll (got to get those steps in) and give both my eyes and brain a bit of a break before the afternoon rush.

12:30 -

A colleague wants to offer an associate consultant role to a candidate and hands me the necessary paperwork. I check that the operations director is happy for the appointment to go ahead and draft an offer letter and employment contract. Once this is complete, I add them onto the necessary checklists to make sure we can keep track of every step and then post the offer to the individual.

13:30 -

We’re to arrange a disciplinary meeting for one of our temporary workers as a number of performance issues have been identified. Disciplinary issues are never easy, but we always work closely with the manager and employee to make sure everyone is getting the support they need.

14:00 -

Our sales director asks us to post a job ad for a new team role within their team. After getting the forms, I forward this on for approval before posting the ad across our job boards. Once live, I share the links with the hiring manager for them to market the role across social media.

After confirming the time and date for the disciplinary meeting, I draft the invite letter, making sure that all information and evidence is included within the pack they’ll receive. Once complete, I scan the letter and save it to their file, sending a copy to the manager for them to check over and keep on record for the meeting.

15:30 -

The inbox is starting to clog up – I take an hour to catch up on my e-mails and complete any outstanding administrative tasks, like filing. I get the chance to stretch my legs after being sat down for the afternoon and clear off my desk ready for the next job.

16:30 -

A late afternoon email notifies us of an employee who has resigned for a new role. The leaver process now begins - after calculating whether the individual has any holidays remaining from their entitlement, I process them as a leaver on our system and update the payroll team before confirming the relevant details with a letter to the leaver.

17:00 -

Home time! Time to clear away the desk and check for any last-minute emails, before switching off and heading home for the day.