HR Partner Support Review

In my role as a HR Partner Support, I work with a team of 20 HR Partners across IBM. Using HR Reporting technologies , I provide administrative support and coordination on areas such as headcount, attrition, compensation, and diversity & inclusion. I complete consistent weekly and monthly tasks as well as on an ad-hoc basis. I also own specific reports and processes such as completing weekly leavers reports, keeping UKI HR Org Charts up to date etc. I have had the opportunity to support and be involved in projects inside and outside of HR throughout the year.

I was given responsibility from day 1 of my placement. A lot of the processes and reports that I owned and completed were crucial for the HR Partners to be effective in their role and make accurate informed decisions to their business leaders. I have also had the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of projects such as Promotion rounds, D&I initiatives etc. which have allowed me to be exposed and network with professionals across the business. I have had a lot of autonomy throughout this year which I have really enjoyed as it has allowed me to manage my own time and workload.

I have developed skills throughout the year in all areas, specifically my technical skills have improved massively, I am now confident in using advanced excel to manipulate, present and interpret large data sets. Additionally I have developed my soft skills such communication and interacting with stakeholders, time management, resilience and self confidence. All IBM employees also have access to YourLearning which allows you to complete a huge range of training and badges to develop hard and soft skills.

I believe I have been well supported throughout this year. My line manager changed around 3 months into my placement which was a positive experience as she had a lot more time for us as a HR Partner Support team, setting up weekly calls to catch up and talk about tasks/ projects we were involved in and helping us to develop and get the most out of our year. As interns you also have a Foundation Manager, mine was very supportive and we had 1 2 1's every 3 months. Both of my managers were extremely approachable and I could go to them with any worries/questions or concerns I had. I was also given a HR mentor when I started who I didn't directly work with, this was nice to see a different area and perspective of HR.

I have found the company culture in general to be very positive and friendly, most employees always make time to chat to you as interns no matter their seniority. There are lots of events to get involved in throughout the year as interns however most of these are intern organized and team dependent. It would have been nice to have more intern and team in person events. Diversity and inclusion initiatives happen throughout the year, there a loads of BRG's and Foundation communities to get involved in.

I definitely enjoyed my internship, I have developed both personally and professionally and gained the skills I wanted out of it. I enjoyed working within my intern team and wider HR team, and have made some great friends. I would go back to IBM for a graduate opportunity but I would not go back into the role I was completing this year, however it has allowed me to experience a corporate year and given me insight into other business areas and what I might like to do in the future. If i was to complete my year again I would hope that there would be more in person events and opportunities to work with my team.

Yes