Top Five Reasons Employees Hate HR
For those of us that work in HR, it’s fairly well known that most employees feel a general sense of unease when HR is mentioned, but many downright hate HR. When I first started to work, I really resented this fact, but as I grew to understand the business better, I realized that these feelings of hatred weren’t necessarily unfounded.
Here are my top five reasons why employees hate HR:
5. Employees don’t understand HR - It’s no secret that people fear what they don’t understand and hate what they fear. Consequently, because much of what HR does is done behind the scenes, and most employees never work in HR, it’s not surprising that a shroud of fear arises from this mysterious cult-like department.
4. HR picks up where teachers left off - I have a lot of respect for teachers, especially those who teach teenagers or young children. People like to say, "I feel bad for teachers. I couldn’t do what they do. Those kids are rotten." This is true, but guess what? Those rotten kids don’t just magically disappear after their senior year in high school. They go out into the world and get jobs, and they’re meaner and ornerier than ever. HR has to pick up where teachers left off. These employees hate HR they way they hated their teachers and principals, and they don’t hide their feelings to fellow co-workers.
photo credit: Life As Art
3. HR breaks it’s own rules - People despise hypocrites, and they demand that the rules be applied fairly. This is where HR sometimes gets into trouble with employees. HR and management set the policies and HR enforces them. Unfortunately, employees often see these policies as arbitrary or diminishing their personal freedom somehow. Even worse is when HR makes exceptions and enforces the policies differently. Employees talk, and if one person is allowed to take an extra week of sick leave while another isn’t, it will spread like wildfire at the water cooler.
2. Managers blame HR - Many managers don’t want to to be the bad guy or are more interested in seeming like the "cool boss". So, when it comes time to discipline an employee, enforce a policy, or say no to a promotion, the manager often uses HR as a scapegoat. "Gee, Tina, I’d really like to give you an extra 5% pay increase but HR won’t let me. You know how they are with this stuff!" Give it a break managers…you know there’s a budget and we all have to watch the bottom line. Sometimes this means saying no to employees. They’re resilient; they’ll get over it. Trust me, I’ve said no plenty of times.
1. HR people are different - I was once told by an employee, "You’re not a typical HR person." I’ll admit that I was happy to hear this. One, because it means I stand out, and two, because I know the "typical HR person" this employee was talking about. For a variety of reasons, the type of people who are typically attracted to HR are just a little different. Think about the stuff HR does: fire people, discipline people, write policies, work with benefits. While this is not all HR does, and there’s a lot of good and interesting things involved in HR, but many people just don’t understand why someone would choose to go into HR. Who wants to fire some? In general, I think it takes someone a little half baked. Myself included.
Is there anything that can be done about this? Probably not, but it’s good to be aware of the populace and how they feel.
4 Responses to “Top Five Reasons Employees Hate HR”
By Andres on Apr 13, 2008
Amen Brother! Your five reasons are Spot-On!
The good news is we can do something about reasons #5 (Employees don’t understand HR) and #3 (HR Breaks it’s own rules).
The bad news is #1, #2 and #4 will probably never change.
By nan on Jun 25, 2008
How many HR people really consider that they are responsible for a company’s most valued asset, its human capital? Few. They think their jobs are to chose HMO plans, plan the company picnic, and just generally do low brow tasks no one else wants to do. They think they are the hall monitors rather than leaders on the student government.
During hiring, HR people are too busy worrying about who has gaps in their resume and who knows who in the company that they are finding the best expertise and talent. They think recruiting is putting an ad in the paper and sitting back and waiting.
HR people may like to fire people as you say, but when employess leave their companies, HR peope are too busy worrying about covering up problems and avoiding ticking off management by telling them the truth about why people have left.
They enforce policies but what role do they play in creating policy? Finding the file with the old policy? Spell checking the all staff email to announce the policy?
Bottom line, HR could play a major role in building the human capital of companies and developing the skills and talents of workers. But they don’t. This is the biggest reason why people hate HR, for all it should be and isn’t.
By Alissa on Jul 8, 2008
Wow! I am brand new to HR and didn’t realize that there were people who actually “hated” the HR Dept. Perhaps you have had bad experiences or what not but I do my job everyday and I do anything and everything to see that each employee is treated fairly. I handle our benefits and I have employees that come up here just to say hi and talk to me. I think its all about your personality and your ability to deal with employee relations. To stereotype an individual based on the department they work in is a bit childish. I read some of the comments and found them to be way off target. Im 24, and Im the HR Assistant so perhaps I only know the bare minimum of HR, but as far as your definition of “human capital” thats what Im here for. I don’t think Im a hall monitor. I didn’t know we were still in high school. I care about people, and I care about each person who walks through my door. Everyone knows that if you don’t have inter-personal skills you shouldn’t work in HR. If you are selfish, you shouldn’t work in HR. You work with different people everyday and you have to be open minded and caring. And as far as planning company picnics,, that is our receptionists duties. I created my whole policy handbook when I hired in here. I have incorporated new policies, shared them in meetings, and Im just an assistant. So I guess that eliminates me! Nice input! Maybe it will help those who really have those problems, because I don’t.
By Linda on Jul 20, 2008
My boss belongs to a professional org, I do not. My bosses, boss arranged for me to attend a convention with my boss. I rode to and from the convention with my boss. At the convention, I was alone, my boss was with her colleagues. I was not introduced to her colleagues. We ate lunch in the same ballroom, I sat with strangers, she sat at the table next to me . I ate my meals in my room, while she was with her colleagues. This went on for 3 days. I feel very disrespected and I don’t know what to do. I am the asst cord 2nd in command to the boss, we do have a communication problem. I have worked with her for 8 yrs. I think I was sent with her as a plan to have us bond. I have put up with yrs of screaming, pounding fists on the desk rudeness and just plain meanness. I am afraid to say anything, because the last person that said something was moved to another dept. I have worked here for 12 yrs and don’t want to change now, as I am 5 yrs from retirement. I also do not want to be perceived as a trouble maker.