Have you forgotten that you have two jobs?

Have you forgotten that you have two jobs?

Summary

Quentin Millington argues that every employee — and HR in particular — has two jobs: the visible, task-oriented functional job and a quieter, relational job focused on building connections. While functional duties (payroll, recruitment, policy, performance management) are measurable and prioritised, relational work (casual conversations, empathy, political savvy, community-building) is often neglected despite being vital to performance, wellbeing and long-term organisational health.

Key Points

1. Everyone carries a functional job (tasks and KPIs) and a relational job (relationships and influence).
2. HR is uniquely required to excel at both, but the relational role is emotionally taxing and frequently deprioritised.
3. Common barriers include remuneration culture, economic pressures, restrictive mindsets and HR distress.
4. Relational activities — informal chats, empathy, political awareness — generate information, creativity and belonging.
5. Balancing the two jobs requires reframing relational work as directly valuable to your functional outcomes.
6. Three practical reflective questions help: How will relational work aid my main job? How will colleagues benefit? What personal value will it bring?

Content Summary

The article distinguishes the ‘functional’ HR role (recruitment, payroll, performance, policy) from the ‘relational’ role (building trust, informal influence, empathy). Millington notes junior roles tend to be more functional while leadership is inherently relational. People routinely perform transactional interactions but often skip discretionary relationship-building because it doesn’t map neatly to KPIs.

He lists four common impediments: a pay culture that rewards only measurable outputs; economic pressure to chase immediate returns; organisational mindsets that devalue non-transactional time; and the sheer emotional labour HR professionals carry, which can exhaust capacity for extra relational effort.

Despite these barriers, the piece stresses the clear benefits of relational work: spontaneous conversations spark creativity and surface information, informal encounters build empathy and political intelligence, and strong networks underpin performance and wellbeing. Millington finishes with three reflective prompts to help HR professionals rebalance their two jobs and points readers to a short guide (‘Bang Heads No More’) for practical steps.

Context and Relevance

This is a timely reminder for HR teams navigating tighter budgets and heavier workloads. As organisations focus on short-term efficiency, relational work risks being squeezed out — yet it’s central to retention, engagement and the informal systems that make change possible. For people leaders, the article ties into wider trends emphasising psychological safety, hybrid working dynamics and the growing recognition of emotional labour in HR roles.

Why should I read this?

Look — if you work in HR (or lead teams), this is a neat wake-up call. It doesn’t moan; it tells you where the value actually lives and gives three quick questions to start rebalancing your day. We skimmed the detail so you don’t have to, but it’s worth a proper read if you want practical ideas to boost team culture without another meeting clogging your calendar.

Source

Source: https://hrzone.com/have-you-forgotten-that-you-have-two-jobs/