HR departments see employees as the enemy

I think it's your organisation you need to be looking at here rather than placing the blame with HR.

My organisation is largely a self service model for the more admin based or process driven tasks that fall under the HR umbrella.

This is because the organisation can't/won't pay for enough HR resource for the team to be able to support managers with everything in the way that they'd like.

The limited resource we do have is used mostly to support managers with the higher level things to prevent claims being made against the organisation.

Managers don't like it, we don't like it, but there simply aren't enough hours in the day or staff in the HR team to do it all.

But oh look, that's HR's fault rather than the SLT's.

My experience of HR has generally been poor, working for both a large FTSE 100 company and a university. They often seem to need basic employment law spelled out to them and only back down once unions get involved. I wouldn't say it attracts stupid people, but it certainly attracts a specific type of person. Obviously, not all, but many of them are arrogant and seem incapable of apologising or admitting that they are wrong. Interestingly, in both organisations, despite redundancies HR's ranks seemed to swell.

Good organisations realise that people are their greatest asset and that looking after them, developing their skills and treating them fairly is the key to a positive and successful culture. I think a few posters here are shooting the messenger by attacking HR. HR on its own cannot change a toxic organisation that doesn't respect people. They can and will attempt to buffer and influence but if there is a cruel CEO and exec team they are limited in the good they can do. Employees need to do some due diligence before accepting a job and find out what an organisation is really like.

Interesting looks like either is correct when it comes to H where it's pronounced https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/is-it-a-or-an

Thank goodness I said "I believe" rather than stating it as fact!

And HR are paid to make managing people as streamlined, efficient and effective for the organisation as a whole. What in my original post makes you think that I don’t think it is my job to manage people? I am fully aware and happy to hire, fire, performance manage, train and develop, support and ensure my people are paid fairly. All I am asking is that HR make that process as streamlined, efficient and effective as possible so I am not spending my whole time doing HR admin when should be managing my people and delivering results for the organisation and its customers. The more time I have to spend following up on shitty half arsed self service guidance on pay reviews the less time I have to use the skills that I was hired for to make money for the company and support my team.

Not if you’re using standard English. Aitch is a vowel sound so needs an “an”.

I would say that they're not even all the same within one department.

I belive its "a", because the H is pronounced.

HR are not all the same. You've had bad experiences, that sucks, but I don't go around slagging off all teachers because I met one who was a dickhead 🙄

An HR Assistant and an HR student.

I highly doubt I'll be believed but I couldn't disagree with this view any more strongly if I tried. It's certainly not how I feel about employees in my organisation.

If I'm frank, generally the problem is line managers, not employees. If line managers took appropriate and timely action to address issues or had robust conversations then my advice wouldn't be needed a lot of the time.

And yet, when it goes wrong HR are expected to wave a magic wand to fix it or are blamed for the problem having occurred in the first place.

Same here. I have frequently offered advice to people on this site, a bit odd given that I see employees as the enemy and always side with employers against them. Due to the hostility evident on here I might also be tempted to 'flounce' (another sexist term btw).

This is what I'm just getting my head round to be honest. It's been a learning curve.

All of this. I have some background in HR, though I completely accept there are some poor practitioners (as there are in every profession) and that many have had bad experiences at work (as I have had too), the hostility towards HR on this thread is a sight to behold.

A lot of it stems from misunderstandings about what the role of HR actually is and what it isn't. Yes of course they are there to support the employer - same as any other employee - although most HR professionals I have known spend a lot of time and effort advocating for employees. If you want to have someone advocate just for you, then you need to join a union.

In the end, the HR department is only as good as the culture of the organisation they work for. I have worked for some bad employers in the past who treat their employees badly; I don't work for them any more as it is soul destroying. And toxic workplaces are the most inclined to hide behind HR.

'Those who can, do; those who can't, work in HR'.

A phrase most often used in connection with teaching; surprise surprise another female dominated profession. I completely agree with those posters who have pointed out that the lack of respect for the profession on here has sexist overtones, which is very sad to see. In other (male dominated) professions, nobody would dream of denigrating an entire profession and all the people who work in it. Some HR practitioners are actually referred to as 'fluffy women' by one poster on here! Heaven forfend that anyone on here be accused of sexism though.

Shivermetimbers0112 · Today 11:23

TotalAbsenceOfImperialRaiment · Today 11:14

Those who can, do; those who can't, work in HR.
Total absence of any brain cells

You do realise, that when you point the finger at someone, there are 4 fingers pointing right back at you?

How rude, arrogant, ignorant and ridiculous is to tar an entire section of a workplace the way people like you just have!! You clearly don't understand the function of HR or the complex nature of a lot of the work.

You are also too blinkered (being kind there!) to understand that, in protecting the organisation, HR also protect staff, ensuring that managers apply policies consistently and fairly, thus keeping the employer out of tribunals?

Yes, there's some really shit HR practitioners out there. I work with plenty of them, so I should know. I've also worked for some out-there batshit crazy HR managers. It's not fair to diss an entire profession because you had a bad experience. I'm sure HR managers would have plenty to say about your functional work area too if you divulged what it is!

So many crap managers out there in every function that we're stuck with advising them, digging them out of holes of their own failure to properly manage, and fixing their messes!

If someone says you’re not bright when you have a series of hard-earned qualifications then you’re perfectly entitled to question that. No reasonable definition of “brightness” is compassion or a sense of fairness, they’re separate things (and good in their own right). Why do you think anyone, myself included, is looking down on people simply by pointing out that we are properly qualified to do our jobs.

Qualifications are only a small part of intelligence, maybe she means they lack common sense, compassion or a sense of fairness. Rather than just looking down on people because you’ve got all the qualifications so therefore must know better than everyone else. When you visit HR it feels a bit like visiting the head teachers office as a child, they talk down to you and think they know better about your lived experience. It’s just not on really.

Oh, and I had no support from them, when we sadly had to ill-health retire one of my team, who was terminally ill. He wanted to retire, and time was of the essence - they dragged their heels every step of the way.

I realise this is my experience of one organisation's terrible HR, but the culture was dreadful in this place.

Yup. Had a recent terrible experience with HR. I had 12 years excellent service with one organisation (three merit awards/two additional promotions/always exceeding expectation in annual reviews), but got a new manager. He fucked something up, and decided I would take the blame for it, as I was off sick, after a surgery.
HR backed him to the hilt. Right up until the moment I could provide evidence to support my counter-claim. I ended up having to lodge a grievance about aforementioned shit manager, and they protected him every step of the way. No support for me; that came from my Union.
I would never trust HR again, from my experience.

Thank God, you definitely need to lift your mood right now. Wouldn't have thought HR training videos would do it, but if it works for you, go for it.

"H*R are employed by and paid for by companies to protect the companies interests"
*
Erm, like everyone else in the business.

Shrug right back. Here’s a bit of Frank Turner, always cheers me up

HR are employed by and paid for by companies to protect the companies interests.

If companies thought they could get away with it they would get rid of HR and so the company would make more profit and the directors get bigger bonuses.

There aren't many free lunches in the corporate world these days.

It's a mistake to believe HR are always going to be a friend and they should be regarded with some level of suspicion by any sensible employee. That doesn't mean that I think they should always be regarded as the enemy. IME sometimes the interests of an individual employee and the company are aligned. And sometimes they aren't.

A thread was started about HR. I shared my thoughts. You and a few others chose to engage with the thread and chose to reveal that you are in HR. That does not create an obligation on anyone else to share the same information because you demanded it of them. Can't think where you learned otherwise...

Although if I did tell you, I know exactly what you'd say and you know what, you'd be right. But I still love it. Shrug.