Dude, where's my benefits?

Where were we?  Oh, yes talking about how great it is to work in HR.  A poor waif writes:

I am wondering how you recommend approaching my supervisor about adding benefits to my position and a job description.

Currently I am working full time.  When I started 3 months ago, I was only part time, three days a week.  At the 2 month point or so they added another day, making 4 days a week.  First of this year, they asked me to go full time.  However, I still do not have a set schedule of when to come in.  I am just coming in when I feel I should each day.

My position is HR on site coordinator.  I do everything from recruiting, orientation, managing personnel files, any HR related questions, to payroll for over 100 employees.  I really like what I do, it's a great position.  In this economy I am glad to have a job.  But I also don't want to be a doormat.

The downside, is that the out of state home office is so messed up and poorly managed that there are always errors and repeated mistakes on final pay roll and other important items. There seems to be a lack of final authority, they all think the other one doesn't know what they are doing and acting like the boss. It is a very small company, essentially trying to play with the big boys.

My supervisor has not given me any authority, I just get all the complaints about how poorly payroll is done.  I have been here over 3 months and there are always several, if not a dozen mistakes on paychecks. All I do is enter the info on a spreadsheet and the home office does the rest.

Since I started I haven't received a job description, HR manual, or anything that would in any way define what I do or am expected to do. Not because I have not asked, they just do a lot of "oh yeah, we will get that to you soon" kind of stuff.

Do you have any suggestions on how to approach this with my supervisor?  I feel that I deserve benefits, I am sure that my supervisor at the home office and everyone else there has some sort of benefit package.

If I were in your shoes, I would call up the boss and tell him/her that you need to know:

1. Who you can contact about getting signed up for benefits.

2. If there is a daily schedule he/she wants you to follow or if you can set your own hours.

3. If there is a job description for your position or if he/she would like you to write one.

4. If there is a standard operating procedure type manual for HR stuffs laying around or if he/she would like you to write one.

5. Who actually runs the payroll so you can discuss employee concerns with him/her.

Then you don't get off the phone until you have a definitive answer for each question or a follow up date as to when you will have a definitive answer (depending on how important these questions are to you).

Notice that in each question above, you are offering a solution instead of a problem.  If all your boss hears from you is problems, he or she will avoid you.  If he or she hears solutions from you, he or she will seek you out for solutions when they are needed AND he or she is more apt to let you run your own show - because you have shown you're capable of it.

It's like asking a 4 year old what they want to wear to pre-school.  You don't ask, "What do you want to wear today?" you ask, "Do you want to wear this outfit or that outfit?"  Narrow down the choices and you're more likely to get an answer - and faster.

HR people hardly ever have any authority - and even then it is usually just over their own crew.  Get used to having to produce results by persuasion, negotiation, sales skills and a pinch of savvy (and on special occasions, blood and tears).