HR departments see employees as the enemy

[Donke]

I have worked in several public sector orgs (NHS, civil service etc) and their ability to stonewall and gaslight is unbelievable. Why are they so convinced that they can do no wrong and that employees are stupid/dishonest/incompetent?

I am currently fighting with HR over my T&Cs, which should follow a locally agreed protocol. They are refusing to accept that it exists or that they have the skills to use it which makes no sense because every other trust in the region uses it. They will not open their minds to an outside pov. I have had similar before where they insisted on refusing to pay me sick pay. Why??

You both sound about 12.

Millie890 · Today 21:21

Runnerinthenight · Today 20:10

Millie890 · Today 19:06

whistleblower99 · Today 18:40

HR are genuinely the most useless part of any organisation. Often with shit degrees if they managed to get past college. You won’t change my opinion.
"whistleblower 99"...of course! 😂😂😂

Yeah totes hilaire... you sound intelligent...
"Totes Hilaire"...goodness me...hardly a member of Mensa yourself are you. Awkward!

You clearly aren't smart enough to get sarcasm...

Justifiedcheese · Today 22:19

Millie890 · Today 21:21

"Totes Hilaire"...goodness me...hardly a member of Mensa yourself are you. Awkward!
Show quote history
You both sound about 12.

Thank you so much! Wouldn't you be irritated if your profession was being denigrated the way HR is here?

You sound about 11.

Yes darling I did. I'd love to know what qualifications you have enabled you to rubbish others people's? "University of life" probably.

I do work in HR, I'm not the one slagging off the profession...

Millie890 · Today 09:23

Yes darling I did. I'd love to know what qualifications you have enabled you to rubbish others people's? "University of life" probably.

Masters with distinction actually. I assume you are a graduate of the "university of life" then?

HR proving their level of operation right here is peak MN.

whistleblower99 · Today 16:37

HR proving their level of operation right here is peak MN.

Is that the cattiest thing you can come up with?!

You assume, very, very incorrectly.

Millie890 · Today 19:11

You assume, very, very incorrectly.

Casting aspersions at someone else is not big or clever. You could lose the 'patronising' too.

You’re quite correct. For HR the employees are the enemy.

It is literally their job to protect the employer from the employees. At all costs.

I hugely enjoyed the argument between HR and one of the departments in our office about whether something was an equality issue. HR was absolutely adamant that it wasn't, and really got quite hot under the collar about it. The trouble is, the department they were arguing with was the employment law department.

HR are in the side of management and the organisation always have been and always will be. If you work in a sector or organisation where HR don't know what they are doing, and they are clueless, total result as you can use it to your advantage.

Really tiresome to read the HR profession being denigrated on here. It couldn't be related to it being a female-dominated profession could it?

I used to work in HR and can confirm the HR department is only as good as the organisation it is in, the good practitioners quickly leave toxic organisations for those where their views are respected. And of course they are there to support the interests of the organisation...just like every other department. You want someone to advocate just for you? Join a union.

But the best HR teams will look to ensure fair treatment of employees and that the Company adheres to its own values. I can't tell you how often I have seen HR upholding employee rights to managers and insisting that they are treated fairly. But the employee is not privy to those discussions and completely unaware of how much HR have supported them.

Oh and you have to be highly educated with a Masters-level qualification to reach the top of the profession. I got mine through studying whilst working full time and caring for a disabled child, so am rather proud of it. So even if you don't like us, less of the 'HR people are thick' please.

It couldn't be related to it being a female-dominated profession could it?

No. We've given all the reasons, at length, about why nobody likes HR. And one of those reasons is that they don't listen, as gloriously demonstrated here.

I don't think that HR being a mainly female profession is part of why many have a negative view of HR teams. As an employee I just wanted HR people to be competent at their jobs, communicate at least adequately, and understand and apply the organisation's own policies. Sadly my experience was that the ability to do the above was sadly lacking, with HR indulging in allot of defensiveness and arse-covering to avoid admitting when they got it wrong.

This, in spades.

@Livingtothefull I've decided I don't care if people don't like me. Like you, in taken years of study alongside work and family life to be educated to masters level and hold FCIPD. It's a well paid role that gives me almost 90,000 reasons to not care what strangers on the internet think of me.

@BlackBean2023 but surely if the high salary is justified, we should be able to expect HR people to be competent in their roles? I don't think anyone should be making personal attacks or being rude, but surely you can understand that poor performance from some HR people creates the prevailing negative view. In my experience a good HR person is worth their weight in gold but usually moves on quickly.

I personally think I'm worth the money but like the PP said, I can't tell everyone what I do to advocate for employees because of the nature of my role. I work with integrity and have walked away from jobs where this has been pushed.

I don't take pleasure in dismissing people. At the end of the day we're all human, we all make mistakes and we mostly only go to work because we need the money.

My team are told constantly that they must communicate with people at all stages of the recruitment process. If I had an HR admin who was ghosting people, being unhelpful or displaying some of the behaviours I've seen described in this thread they'd be working elsewhere.

There are crap people in all sorts of roles- it's not unique to HR but there does seem to be a general acceptance of rudeness to/about HR professionals.

there does seem to be a general acceptance of rudeness to/about HR professionals.

The 90,000 reasons you have not to care about what people on the Internet think (so well demonstrated here!) should also be good enough reasons to get over the fact that enough people in your profession are incompetent and intrusive in their roles to have given the profession a reputation. Most people earn far less than that even when doing much more important jobs and they don't get universal adoration either.

Like I said earlier, if it rebranded as Business Interests, we could drop the pretence that it's about people and staff would probably find it much easier to take.

I don't know about HR seeing employees as the enemy, but I do know having sat in a number of disciplinary hearings as "the prisoner's friend" that's the only sensible way for an employee to treat HR.

They are the company police. No more, no less.

Yet here you are...

I have seen a lot of awful HR in my time. I've seen loads of employers pay out a lot at tribunal.

I've spent the last 25 years working for a company with no HR department. It's not all roses here either.

'Most people earn far less than that even when doing much more important jobs and they don't get universal adoration either.'

You really think that companies pay HR staff just for the hell of it...during a cost of living crisis? Define what makes a job 'much more important'. I don't think you have any idea what an HR team does, so much of it is behind the scenes. Anecdotally, many bad managers hide behind HR rather than make tough decisions - 'HR told me I had to do this' - which of course makes HR look bad in the eyes of employees.

'I don't know about HR seeing employees as the enemy, but I do know having sat in a number of disciplinary hearings as "the prisoner's friend" that's the only sensible way for an employee to treat HR.'

I don't know what kind of organisations some of you work for. I know there are dreadful ones, I have worked for some of these in the past (I left asap). Again: HR is only as good as the organisation it is in.

I now work for an organisation I am proud to be a part of, where the (very very few) employees who face disciplinary sanctions mostly richly deserve them. Because where company values are taken seriously there are high expectations of everyone at the workplace.