#RealJob: People Operations, Putting Employee’s Happiness and Satisfaction First
Elliya Wijaya is one of our earliest employees at Mekari. Prior to working in Mekari, she was a recruiter for 8 years. What made Elliya change her career path and become the Head of People Operations? This is her story.
“After working as a Recruiter for 8 years, I started to feel bored and wanted to challenge myself into exploring a new career path. People Operations suits my personality and I’ve been enjoying every second working at it.”
After graduating with a Psychology degree, Elliya’s first career was in recruitment. She had worked as a recruiter for around 8 years before she wanted to try something new. “Recruitment is an exciting job, but after several years, the workflow of recruitment is always the same. I wanted to explore and challenge myself in a new career path. Thankfully, joining Jurnal had given me many opportunities to try other fields in HR aside from recruitment,” Elliya explained.
In Jurnal, she was positioned as an HR Manager. Elliya said it wasn’t easy in the beginning, “I was the one and only person in HR when I joined Jurnal. That means I had to handle almost everything from recruitment, general affairs, to people operations by myself. It was such a big responsibility, especially because it was my first time working in a startup company. But, at the same time, it was what I was looking for.”
When it was decided that Sleekr, Talenta, and Jurnal would merge into one entity as Mekari, she still handled the recruitment in the beginning. But, 8 months later, she was offered to switch roles and handle the People Operations team. “I was doubtful at first since I was not experienced enough to handle the People Ops. But, it felt like an opportunity that won’t come again for the second time, so I decided to accept it. This is what I love about Mekari, they give us great opportunities to innovate, learn, and challenge ourselves based on our potential. I’m glad that I took the chance because I’ve been really enjoying working in the People Operations team,” Elliya said.
Employee’s happiness and satisfaction are our special achievements
According to Elliya, People Operations handles many things from general affairs, company’s policy, to administration. It is also the master data of the company, so being in the People Operations means you have to be a very organized, detailed, and patient individual. There is one important thing the People Ops team always needs to achieve: employee’s happiness and satisfaction.
“People Ops is the division that makes sure every employee, from when they first onboard to their last day, has a great and enjoyable working experience. I always tell my team that we need to make employees feel welcome and happy while working in Mekari,” Elliya said.
One of the challenges that the People Ops team usually faces is ensuring employees get what they need, while still complying company’s policy. “Mekari has around 500 employees with different personalities and needs. However, not every need can be fulfilled, especially when it’s not accommodated by the company’s policy. It is the People Ops team’s responsibility to look for ways to better inform and educate them, so when employees can not get what they want, they can understand the reasons why.”
What’s next for Elliya?
Elliya said that there are a lot of things that can be explored for the People Ops team. “Right now, the People Operations team still has big rooms for improvement, such as implementing better people analytics. I am excited to innovate more in my department.”
