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In various threads I have seen some really negative opinions expressed about HR. Two of my relatives work in HR for two different companies and I have never had a negative association either in my work life or from hearing them discuss their jobs.
So why do posters on this forum seem to really have a rough time with what HR does? I have always understood that they are management representatives, and not employee advocates, so I wonder if that is not part of the issue? Maybe people think HR is there to really help them when their entire job is to advise management on how to hire, fire, compensate and deal with their staff?
Good question. I have known some of our HR reps, including the department head, for decades, and there are some really good people working there.
However. As you say, their job is to advise management, but it's also to be the minions of the policymakers. So, when they hold these cutesy little "town hall" employee meetings that proclaim to be so that employees will have a chance to be "heard", we know they are lying through their teeth. The point is to have a way to deliver the bad news that you won't get raises for yet another year/your healthcare contribution is going up/we're restructuring the pay grades in order to keep salaries lower/we're taking away vacation time/other benefits. We're not idiots. We know this "let's be friendly to the staff" bs is all a crock, and there is also a loss of respect for the HR people who come to us grinning to deliver this news. Yes, we know they want to hang onto their jobs, too, and that they have no choice but to do what they are bidden to do, but geez, couldn't ONE speak up and say to the policymakers, "Hey, I KNOW these people, and THEY KNOW that this is all a crock? Can't we just deliver your bad news to them in a more honest format?"
HR plays with people's lives. Basically, they're just a bunch pseudo-scientific, management mumbo jumbo hogwash shovelers. In all honesty, HR shouldn't even be a full time job.
Perhaps, but I figured that everyone kind of "got" this. It sort of boggles my mind that people seem not to. I have a coworker who runs to HR every time he has a personal issue like they are his therapists. It seems that people generally don't understand what purpose they serve.
No, people do not get this. HR is in charge of hiring, so when we (I am in HR) have a reason not to hire someone, we are keeping them down. When we counsel, we are destroying the morale of the person and when we terminate someone, we are the evil doers of the work world. It is not in the realm of possibility of most people to think they may have messed up the interview, deserved the counseling, or have done something that caused them to be fired.
And, it is also a little more nuanced. I am there to make sure people in the company are following the rules of the company. Generally, the managers are told the rules and act, mostly, accordingly. But it is the employees who often feel they are entitled to special treatment or not being forced to follow the rules. That said, if an employee comes to me with an issue with a supervisor that violates policy, then I will look into the supervisor's actions...
I dislike them because they are responsible for alot of the unemployment issues going on in this country.
How? Even one concrete example.
Even if the government did everything right for the economy (for once....?) I can guarantee we still wouldn't see an end to massive amounts of people being out of work. A whole racket of corruption has been created to keep people out of work. If you can't find people to work the problem is you and your company. There are plenty of skilled people out there who are just being permanently displaced and forgotten. Thankfully they still have a voice through various elections, but even that has become a corruption-filled waste of time.
So, HR is responsible for government? And, it is HR's fault that a company with one opening hires only one person and not 8?
It's not that people don't understand that HR only looks out for the mangement's best interest, but the fact that they're very condescending and passive aggressive about it towards the employees and potential employees of the company
Why do you blanket all HR employees with that statement? Yes HR is there to protect the company, but I have ever ran into a condescending HR employee.
I can blanket too and say individual contributors are selfish and constantly complain. Just a view from being management.
Is that a fair assessment?
I can not believe the ignorance being spewed in the other posts. People saying HR is why unemployment is high or HR kicked their dog and fired them. I suggest to anyone who feels like the guy I quoted to actually take time and learn about their HR dept.
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