HR departments see employees as the enemy

Oblomov24 · Today 21:35

I've seen chronic HR in many companies. That's coming from a Finance person with some HR experience.

My last job I was treated badly. My friend who is an Employment lawyer said the HR Director was shocking.

Yes, there are some shit practitioners out there. You could literally say that about any function within an organisation!

I guess the majority of my team should just stop doing anything then?

The benefits manager should stop writing her business cases to improve our family friendly policies, mat pay and private health insurance for all countries.

Talent acquisition should just leave managers to recruit by themselves for hard to find candidates and stop pushing them to be more flexible and consider applicants childcare needs and that not everyone can attend an interview with short notice.

L&D should stop arranging new courses that employees have requested, raise employees’ concerns noted on performance reviews and ensuring that we don’t fall foul of regulators as no one has done mandatory training.

Our HRBPs should just ignore when managers raise concerns and leave them to performance manage people with no understanding of protected characteristics and mitigating factors.

Thats just half the team and I know employees would not be happy if we withdrew a single item on that list and each person I’ve listed so far does a lot more than I’ve mentioned.

they are ok just to set you up on the system and nothing else. They do not know you, do not see you, do not want to acknowledge complaints against managers and do everything possible to protect the most of horrible and abusive managers. Might be so, but I also firmly believe justice exist

💯 this

I've seen chronic HR in many companies. That's coming from a Finance person with some HR experience.

My last job I was treated badly. My friend who is an Employment lawyer said the HR Director was shocking.

At my partners work (a government agency), HR have done such a good job they have had to bring in an independent HR company to sort out the mess 🙄

I'm happy to be constructively questioned if it helps the manager to better understand why I've given particular advice.

I'm not interested in twisting any facts. I've got enough on my plate without looking for trouble or creating more work for myself by trying to turn situations into something they're not.

How often do you tell Hr they've made the wrong call OP? Most people have very few dealings with HR in their employment aside from onboarding and off boarding. Are you a frequent flyer?

I'm a trade union official. There are some wonderful HR people and some truly shitty ones. Same as most jobs in that respect.

This is so so funny. You are a line MANAGER you are paid to MANAGE - that is part of your role. The cumbersome processes are another issue but people like you are the reason HR teams even have to exist!

Personally I'm quite happy to support managers to tackle the problem people within their teams. However, the outcome of that process does depend on the manager being willing and capable of taking the appropriate steps in a timely manner...

Easier to keep problem people, eh?

Not in my experience. I’ve had more difficulty with line managers being reluctant to take appropriate action, or failing to raise issues in a timely matter then expecting HR colleagues to wave a magic wand.
All this thread continues to demonstrate is the inability of some posters to distinguish between their own localised issues and the failings or otherwise of an entire profession.
But we see this attitude time and again with teachers, doctors, doctors’ receptionists, solicitors, and of course Mothers-in-Law…..

Funny how the HR people on this thread keep talking about policies. I am all too aware of our policies, I have made sure I am well versed in them.

I have clearly, and factually articulated how my direct report is in contravention of 4 articles. Still, what I get from HR is we need to show flexibility, can we ignore this bit etc.

It is outrageous. They dont want to deal with the consequences and are somehow annoyed that I am trying to.

Easier to keep problem people, eh?

I have worked as an employee and never had an issue with HR (Local Authority, Education), however, I ran a small business with 6 staff members. I ended up signing up for an HR company due to difficulties with staff. They were brilliant, they tightened up everything legally for us, helped create staff handbook, contracts etc and offered advice on disciplinary issues.
Without a doubt, without them, we would have hit issues and possibly even a tribunal, however, the issues were resolved and we developed skills in dealing with future issues efficiently, lawfully and fairly.
I must add however, the staff we had the issue with probably didn't like them as they no longer were able to take the pee and were set very firm boundaries moving forward. Most of their previous 'issues' stopped swiftly and whilst they probably weren't happy they weren't able to continue on as before, lateness stopped, gossiping and bad-mouthing stopped, and any issues were recorded and resolved professionally and correctly.

They are not the enemy, it's only from moving from an employee to an employer did I fully understand the importance and real function of HR. If it wasn't for them our staffing issue would have turned out a nightmare and it would have seriously impacted our business. At the end of the day without a productive team that works well in the company, the company will be buggered. HR made sure that everyone knew where everyone stood and what the expectations were etc. and as a business owner I became better at managing my staff thanks to their guidance and expertise.

And should your colleague give the same message but worded in a slightly different way they'll then be asked to confirm that the original advice was indeed incorrect!

Managers will ask HR to confirm black is blue if it better serves their purpose.

@CleanQueen123 and then they try another member of the ER team to see if they can elicit a different response....!

@Donke if I'm wrong I'll absolutely hold my hands up.

However, I also have to spend my days dealing with people telling me I'm wrong when I signpost them to the relevant policy. Apparently it being written in black and white isn't good enough. I must be wrong and have no idea what I'm talking about because they don't like what the policy says and want a different answer.

@Donke of course, because as well as being a highly educated professional, I am also intelligent and willing to admit if I get it wrong!

It’s clear that most of you have no idea what HR are for. If you have issues then I’m sorry it’s your manager who should be your target.

@Runnerinthenight same here. Degree, professional qualifications, looking at a Masters next.

My colleagues are diverse but all intelligent and highly competent. We're also all human beings and not afraid to call out managers for unfair or unethical behaviour.

You’ve got to remember that in a lot of cases, preserving employees’ statutory/contractual rights is also protecting the employer from potentially expensive ET cases. It’s not one or the other.

I’ve come across a mix. The best HR Director I worked with genuinely cared for the staff and wasn’t afraid to tell the partners/CEO when they were in the wrong.

I’ve worked with others who are quite cold hearted and don’t massively care about individual people though.

CleanQueen123 · Today 20:07

StartupRepair · Today 19:52

I work in HR. Much of my colleagues' time is spent mopping up after incompetent managers who do not understand our policies, ignore advice, misinform their staff and then blame us when it falls apart.
Public sector ER specialist here. You've pretty much summed up my entire role.

It's bloody depressing to see yet another HR slamming thread. I bend over backwards to ensure people are treated fairly and compassionately, as does the rest of my team.

Yet when we're not listened too and it all goes wrong the manager will always fall back on "I'm only doing what HR told me to do." Except that isn't true and the manager just doesn't want to take responsibility for their decisions.

Same. I'm also not stupid, BA Hons, MSc, professionally qualified, yada yada yada.

@Millie890 interested to know how you define the type of person? My colleagues are all very different.

@Lucyccfc68 people are speaking from their own experience, as are you. This does not make them any more 'clueless' than you are.