That HR are useless in whatever setting they’re in?

[MiffyMiffed]

Bear in mind, that people don’t usually have to deal with HR as a new starter all that often, unless they’re serial job jumpers.

I started a new job for NHS 4 years ago and it took HR 6 weeks to process my paperwork. I had to actually ring them up and tell them I was starting on so and so date so send the paperwork to my new manager ASAP. They managed to do it in 5 mins after the phone call. 🙄.

Now I’ve got a new job, different setting, in a university. Again, absolutely useless. I’ve been emailed forms to fill out and send back. I emailed on the first day to confirm whether they wanted them back by email. No reply. So filled out forms online and sent them back. 3 weeks later I’m being told to post them. Then I’m told to scan a picture and send it. Next day I’m told everything has to be by hand. Tomorrow I’ll be told something else.

I’M SO FRUSTRATED.

@snuggybuggy - but HR is the definition of 'admin' surely.

Administration is not a standalone concept.

The HR world has done a great job over many years in inflating it's role from what used to just be Personnel.

It’s just sort of one of those jobs people do because they can’t think of anything else. And it shows.

@Pumpkin - I’m actually appalled by some of the venom in this thread. No other office function would receive so much hate, it’s ridiculous.

I just hope no one else makes an AIBU thread asking for help with a job application or Civil Service competencies or negotiating pay - we are clearly too inept to give any advice so you have to work it out on your own!

@Justbreathing I actually consciously chose to work in HR and worked for years on post graduate qualifications, but ok. What do you do?

Tactless HR manager drove up from head office in a brand new £60,000 car to tell us the company had no money and many of us would be made redundant.

I’m actually appalled by some of the venom in this thread. No other office function would receive so much hate, it’s ridiculous.
Because when they get it wrong it causes genuine hardship . Its pretty obvious from this thread they dont want to take resposibility either.
Dealing with HR can be so frustrating.
My DS gf has just been offered a job in Civil Service, she has waited months with no more information, just silence. She tried ringing got no reply , all it would take is the odd email to keep her up to date. She was stuck in limbo for months, with no info on where she would be working , or a start date . Finally got start date yesterday.
Dh had similar with his last 2 companies. Its really frustrating being offered a job then waiting months for HR to get its act together, but no communication.
The HR world has done a great job over many years in inflating it's role from what used to just be Personnel
Spot on

@SkiingIsHeaven

What has that got to do with anything? The same day 45 people were told they were at notice of redundancy, the CEO turned up in a brand new Masarati.

HR don't usually decide to make redundancies, again we would advise. HR also don't generally decide who to make redundant, we will assist with selection methods and exercises.

@Cruddles provides an excellent example of how HR is there to protect management from its employees.

This is a really nasty thread. There are so many HR professionals working hard day to day. So much vitriol on here.

@Toystorypants I said it was tactless. Obviously money for the higher ups.

She could very easily have caught the train up and we would have been none the wiser. It just felt like they were rubbing our noses in it.

@bruffin have you given a thought to how it feels trying to deal day in day out with that sort of rubbish when yes it could be people making stupid mistake but sometimes it’s due to processes decided years ago, direction from the top (CEO) and poor management where you’re often powerless to do anything about it.

I worked for a time in a job where the Manager was almost a textbook exemplar of appalling management. Every so often he'd come up with some ludicrous initiative or management fad that he'd read about somewhere which was a total waste of time and money and simply alienated the staff, so that there was a ridiculously high level of staff turnover.

One of the main problems was that Idiot Manager hired a succession of yes-women - and unfortunately it always was women - as HR managers. None of them ventured to suggest that his ideas were HR and business disasters, e.g. the time he insisted staff sign in and arrive at least 10 minutes before their contractual start time so that they were at their desks with computers fired up ready to start work on the dot of 9 a.m.: inevitably staff got so pissed off that, having previously been happy to stay late to finish work off, they started leaving on the dot of 5 irrespective of how urgent whatever they were doing was. One of the HR people not only let this happen but actively suggested even more stupid ideas to the manager. They were both also incompetent: at one point they started an initiative where they picked out a certain category of staff who were summoned for individual interviews to be harangued about their performance, but they left it to staff members to make appointments for their interviews - and anyone who had any sense just didn't bother to make the appointment. HR Idiot never even noticed.

HR Idiot was still in place when I left. Unsurprisingly , the business collapsed subsequently. In the view of the staff, the only saving grace was that Idiot Manager and HR Idiot were removed from working in that field, because word had got round and others in the same business wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

Jesus, the spiteful comments on this thread are making me really regret my career choice to be honest! Maybe I should move into a more worthwhile job like the rest of you must be working in!

@Toystorypants Totally relate to your examples.

I was in HR for a long time and I did a bloody brilliant job if I do say so myself. So it is disheartening to see so much nastiness on this thread.

Similar to Toy, I got flack from people but it was their expectations that were wrong, not my competence. Person was in a redundant role, only similar role they were suited for was 3 hours commute away. Person wanted us to pay for them to live away from home so they could do this job I.e. Rent, bills, travel costs ad infinitum. Was totally outraged when I said that wasn't possible.

In almost 30 years of working I have always been sent a contract. I never resigned until I've received it.

She could very easily have caught the train up and we would have been none the wiser. It just felt like they were rubbing our noses in it.

Or, like a colleague of mine, she may have bought it with an inheritance or insurance payout.

no other office function would receive so much hate, it’s ridiculous.

Accountants (especially auditors), lawyers and compliance wonks all would from me at least :)

But ask yourselves why you attract so much hate, HR professionals?
On this thread we've had people dismiss routine errors as "just admin, we do more important stuff too" but then when strategic mistakes are pointed out it's "we were just doing what we were told by management"
It's easy to understand why people don't like HR when they don't take responsibility for anything!

HR is a worthwhile job which is why it's worth doing it well. Not leaving paperwork in a drawer for months or taking months to get someone started in a job.

I think a lot of people's dislike for HR is that in a lot of businesses the rules are not applied to them in the same way as to the rest of the staff.

I have worked in a big company where we had very strict rules on not accepting gifts or hospitality. But HR were able to accept them. Loads of free trips to sporting events etc and corporate boxes for them, and hampers at Christmas, and I know other companies where the same thing happens.

I have a relative who is an HR manager who saved her company loads of money by convincing them to do away with paid maternity leave and to revert to just the legal minimum. Then she was rewarded by having her own contract renegotiated with her entire maternity leave at full pay. They probably thought she would never use it as she was very vocal about never wanting children. But what do you know, six months later she was pregnant. HR has a reputation for attracting bullies and extremely ruthless people haters.

On the flip side, HR where I work are great. They abide by all the same rules as everyone else, and are humane, and they are well liked and respected.

And I do think other functions within businesses are hated. People hate accountants and finance staff because they hate being told that they can't randomly spend the company money without going through proper approvals.

@isabelle I’d disagree actually and say that my experience in HR is we usually have to set the example when it comes to salary negotiations, performance management etc. So you are way less likely to ‘get away’ with something if you work in HR, are more likely to be made an example of so as an individual you get a lot less perks!

@familycourtq me too! But I wouldn’t start a venomous thread about how inept the Compliance team are - even though I have plenty of examples of that!

It's easy to understand why people don't like HR when they don't take responsibility for anything!

I always took responsibility where it was mine to take. However not everything in HR sat with me and the team I worked with. HR admin was run as a call center operation in a central part of the company, they looked after the HR admin for the various companies that made up the whole. Might have been called HR services, but it was absolutely nothing to do with my HR department. If they messed up your contract, I'd have no way of knowing about it unless you were directly one of the people I was interacting with. I can't take responsibility for a separate function of the business that I have no power over.

@Watermelon5. Speaking as an outsider, this does seem to part of the issue - you reeled off a long list of things HR does, including the single word "talent". I don't really know what that means so I asked and it became clear that the definition of it is somewhat fluid.
When areas use jargon and buzzwords it can really alienate "outsiders" - it's even worse when no-one agrees what the buzzwords even mean. That isn't unique to HR of course.