A company’s most valuable asset is people. Business professionals know that. Of course, human resources must understand that, especially since it is the basis of their existence. However, people-as-a-business-asset should be more general knowledge.
It certainly should be.
Why is it hard to convince some businesspeople and CEO’s that investing in people is more effective than investing in technology? For one, many simply think they do not have enough talent for a successful investment in people.
That belief is one reason why, in some companies, human resources has the least authoritative voice. It begs the question…
Why do people hate HR?
One reason might be that human resources departments often lack the revenue basis of other departments. No income means little power. Outsourcing some of the HR function demonstrates how companies see human resources functions. They are respected, but ultimately superfluous.
Some people say HR only exists for one reason, to prevent lawsuits. Left to focus on compliance, human resources departments are seen as little more than police, something that annoys just about everyone.
You can almost pity the poor employee who believes HR is “on their side.” They soon discover a hard truth: the primary purpose of HR is to protect the reputation and assets of the company; human resources answers only to the employer.
It is also no wonder why HR pros always seem frustrated. They have the task of protecting the most valuable asset of the company, so they know how effective they could be.
Human resources need to stay on top of an ever-changing employment and legal landscape, and are often asked to be way ahead of the departments they oversee. They need to be intimately aware of issues that will have a tremendous effect on the company while continually frustrated with the lack of authority to conduct real change.
Unfortunately, human resources are often forced to endure some of the worst parts of corporate life, enacting a constant stream of terminations. Their job is to make firings go smoothly, with desks and lockers cleared without incident.
It certainly doesn’t have to be that way.
There are innovative companies that support human resources seriously. They are mostly professional services firms with people as their only real asset. They have no choice but to be creative about human resources.
These companies could prove to be a real game changer. For some firms, no one can rise to the position of a senior partner without serving some time (at least a year) in a human resources capacity. They believe that leaders have to learn to manage the company’s most vital asset.
Everyone talks about the need for “soft skills.” Deal with a variety of disparate and conflicting employees, balancing the needs of the employee with business needs, can be an essential skill. Nobody in a leadership role will succeed without people skills.
A brief stint in human resources won’t transform an introvert into a strong people person, but could be enough to see the value of developing talent. Any boss with his or her salt is made to work in HR. It just might allow human resources to get the respect it deserves. Once HR issues are discussed in the boardroom, departments with large budgets can appreciate the importance of employees as human beings.
It could change everything. And people will stop hating human resources.
Why do you think everyone hates human resources? Join the conversation on the comments below.
In a blog post awhile back, I talked about why everyone hates HR. I had had an interesting discussion with a client, to whom I had recommended hiring an HR Director, and she asked me that question in regard to her staff. She said, "Do they 'really' want an HR Director? They should be careful what they wish for. After all, everybody hates HR."
ReplyDeleteAs always, when I receive interesting questions, I share them with you. This particular post is still generating responses and comments, so I thought I'd pull it forward to the Human Resources site homepage.
A post by Claire says:
"I've never had a positive interaction with Human Resources.
"It starts with annoyance. In the technology field, HR is the department that stays firmly mired in the 80s with everything on paper, using outmoded forms, usually with false information and always requiring signature after signature for things which are unlawful, overreaching, counterfactual or frivolous.
"It reaches into unease. HR staff feel the need to put a 'friendly face' on all interactions, empathizing and finding common ground with employee concerns. However, they do not work with other employees on a regular basis, so they're empathetic strangers. It rings false, and no bond can be established on this basis.
"But it's much worse than that. Human Resources always sides with corporate interests. If there's a legal concern, such as a legitimate harassment situation, Human Resources will act as a mock support system for the involved parties, but ultimately act to protect the organization from perceived threats which may never be released at the expense of providing a healing resolution for anyone. It can be even worse, where the interests of the employee are simply snubbed entirely for bureaucratic reasons. Human Resources claims to be the advocate of employees, wanting to nourish and invest in them, but they have no structural accountability to the employees, so it's all a sham.
"Lastly Human Resources typically oversees the sham of 'performance reviews' which try to bottle useful feedback into stilted low-utility meetings that happen quarterly. In healthy organizations these systems actually work counter to healthy communication. They stifle feedback on areas for improvement, by channelling communication into a disciplinarian session instead of food for thought and growth.
"In short HR is symptomatic of what is unhealthy in American business culture."
Do Claire comments ring true with you?