Natasha Saaed is a legal advisor at Direct Law and Personnel and is currently studying towards an LPC/LLM. She has three years as an HR Professional.

How did Natasha get started in the industry? (00:52)

• Natasha says that she’s been working at DLP for nearly three years now.
• She never thought that she’d become an HR professional and just stumbled into it.
• Natasha graduated in 2018, and when she thought about HR back then, she thought of people who handle your payments.
• She started her LPC because that was a logical progression for her from an LLB. 
• There was a big enough period between graduation and registering for the LPC for her to look for a part-time job. She applied at DLP and been there ever since.

Where do Natasha’s drive and determination come from? (06:22)

• Natasha says growing up, she was interested in medicine and wanted to study in that field.
• When she was 18 years old doing her A-levels, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
• She feels that she always had a lot of drive and determination, but it became stronger after her diagnosis.
• At the time, she had her exams ahead of her and didn’t want to fall behind. The chemo took a lot out of her, and she couldn’t take her exams when she planned to and had to postpone for a couple of months.
• Being in hospital as much as she was, she decided she didn’t want to get into medicine and study law.
• She had to change schools, choose different A-levels and ended up being the top learner in her class.

What is one of the problems Natasha identified in HR throughout her journey? (20:57)

• According to her, many HR professionals either don’t realise there is a problem or are in denial about a problem. That is one of the biggest problems that she identified.
• She says when people are in denial, the problem gets unbearable, and it could have been a lot easier to address it at the starts. 
• The second problem she identifies is HR professionals sticking to processes as if they are only black and white. 
• She feels people have to consider all the facts instead of blindly following a process.

How does she think we can overcome and address the problem? (25:30)

• She says if you know that something is not working out can make people feel uncomfortable, they often don’t acknowledge problems because they don’t want to make a big deal.
• According to her, HR professionals don’t need to make a big deal of problems. They do need to acknowledge them, and how they approach the matter will make the difference.
• HR professionals should not be scared of rocking the boat. If they know there is an issue, they need to get onto it right away and know what outcome they want to achieve. 

What tips would she give new people coming into HR? (30:42)

• Natasha says they should constantly learn.
• They shouldn’t think that they know everything they need to know.
• She also thinks that HR professionals should always look for the facts and understand what you are doing and the long term effects you will have in each scenario.

Natasha’s book recommendation:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Connect with Natasha on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-saeed-511948203/

Visit the new digital platform for HR Professionals at https://s2gnetwork.com/