HR pro Jose Alvarez asks employees to tell him three ways he can help

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Jose Alvarez’s mother worked at the school district in the Houston suburbs where he grew up. When she became ill, Alvarez accompanied her to meetings with HR at the district office to help her navigate short- and long-term disability benefits and understand others she could use. In these meetings, he began to understand HR went beyond just hiring and firing, employee discipline, and fixing mistakes on payroll.

So, he pivoted.

Alvarez landed his first job in HR as a benefits broker, helping small and mid-size businesses in Texas navigate the right benefits for their employees. He later earned his MBA in HR management, and he’s been working to “help people excel in their careers” ever since.

Alvarez has been the HR manager at Pinecroft Realty since June 2022, and is proud of the work he’s done to help improve the corporate culture.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the best change you’ve made at work?

Change in the company culture: When I arrived, the accounting department was forbidden to speak with any other departments unless it went through the assistant controller. Now, after a few changes in personnel and a few new policies, we now have weekly company mix-and-mingle lunches and quarterly charity/volunteer days.

The biggest thanks I receive from employees is how I was able to add a few company-paid holidays and bring a smart-casual work attire [policy] to the office. People really enjoy coming into the office when they are dressed comfortably.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?

That I can give anyone a raise/bonus at any given time.

When it comes to that, I will go back and just ask them…“Give me three things I can help you [with]” and usually it’ll be, “Can I get paid more? Can I get a [promotion]?” Okay, understood. Taking notes down, “And what’s the third one?” and usually the third one I’m like, “Okay, that I might be able to fix right now.”

It was surprising [to employees] when [they] were like, “Can I just get a new monitor?” I’m like, how big do you want it?... I’m on Amazon. Ordered.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

Being able to give individuals promotions and raises, but what feels even better is being able to hire someone and see or hear their excitement when I make the initial job offer.

Of course, I like to give good news on Fridays…so that way they have the entire weekend to celebrate, enjoy, be happy, look forward to getting the pre-onboarding paperwork done either Monday or over the weekend. That really does bring me joy, because I like helping people out as much as I can, knowing that this person is going to have income for themselves, their family, and potentially a full-time career with our organization.

What trend in HR are you most optimistic about? Why?

Utilizing AI to help be more efficient in our daily [lives] and, at times, what we at times feel are mundane tasks.

What trend in HR are you least optimistic about? Why?

Returning to the office on a full-time basis. I work in the office full-time, but I know if we were to do away with our flexible and our hybrid workplace policies, the morale of the office would take a huge hit. On top of this, many candidates that I have interviewed or reached out to are looking for remote work or a job where they are only coming into the office for mandatory meetings or a maximum of one day a week.