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Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
4,640 posts, read 11,937,291 times
Reputation: 9885
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The HR departments I've worked with DON'T serve a purpose and that's my problem with them. I had a pay snafu, they referred me to the payroll department. We have a re-vamped PTO policy. They cannot answer any questions about it. Heck, they don't even lead our anti-sexual harassment classes--legal does. I've never had an HR rep answer a question about benefits.
The last time I heard from anyone in HR was during a meeting: they berated people for wearing flip-flops--which then turned into a debate about what, exactly, a flip-flop is and if we ban flip-flops, shouldn't we ban other shoes that slap your heel? The weird part: none of us knew who it was who wore flip-flops to begin with.
I've had generally positive experiences with multiple HR people over the last 30 years. One guy comes to mind who didn't know his butt from a paperbag but you can say that about any occupation. He was shuffled around for awhile and then he was told he was retiring. Overall, no complaints.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,576 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57813
Most of it comes from people trying to get a job and are looking blame someone else for their lack of success.
Depending on the organization, HR may have little or nothing to do with payroll once an offer is made and accepted. Here for example, I turn in my employee performance reviews and salary increase to HR for their files but they send the details on the pay to Payroll which is in Accounting, and they, not HR would handle any questions about the pay checks.
When it comes to hiring, HR takes the job announcement that I write and advertises it, then screens my selections for interviews to make sure they meet the minimum requirements, and moderate the interviews. They do not make any decisions on who to interview or hire, that's left to the hiring manager or supervisor.
They also handle the complexities of FMLA, contract negotiations with unions. I look at them as helpful consultants.
HR isn't really there to help you; HR is there to protect the company FROM you.
Like mandatory "training". It isn't training. It's liability release. When you go to these "trainings", they don't really care if you learn anything. They just want your employee ID and signature on the sign in sheet. Once you do that you release the company from liability for harrassment, job injury, discrimination, ethics, or anything else you were "trained" in.
HR is misunderstood. Mostly because people only interface with them at times of hiring, firing and layoffs. I've worked with HR at fortune 500 organizations in a different capacity. My organization builds custom HR software. The reality is that HR is the reason why your health premiums are only $50/month or why you get free daycare or free gym access. HR contains the benefits group which fights for the best deals for the employees.
I had excellent experiences with HR in my years working for Fortune 500 companies. Maybe it's because I was a reliable, productive employee who wasn't usually in the HR department unless I wanted to be. But especially when I was working in employee communications I had a lot of interaction with them in the course of getting timely info out to employees. I found them to be, in almost all cases, trying hard to balance the needs of the workers with the needs of management.
I even had one personal incidence of an HR team advocating for me against an upper-level manager. After working for a company for more than a decade, I had a boss who tried to fire me. I believe the animosity was personal, but she picked an action of mine she didn't like, blew up its importance beyond belief, and told HR to get rid of me. It seemed to me extremely unlikely HR would take my side, given that the manager in question was very tight (in the most personal sense of the word) with the CEO. But to my shock, HR told her in no uncertain terms was she getting rid of me. They pointed out that not only did I have excellent annual reviews my entire career (including from that boss herself!) but also her charge against me was not a fireable offense (even if it were true and it wasn't).
I suspect their actions were first and foremost to protect the company from a lawsuit by me. But they didn't make me feel that way. I was sent back to my job with instructions to keep my head down and see them immediately if the boss took any further inappropriate actions. But in addition to that, they found me a new job. They worked with a manager in another department to create a position specifically for me. I thus ended my career in the company with five years of working for a wonderful new boss in a position that gave me greater responsibility and, soon after, better pay. Those people were not personal friends of mine, either. They knew me solely by my work. Everyone should be so lucky as to be "fired" the way I was! Thank you, HR.
Hmm, maybe it is because in many organization they add little actual value and are often a determent to the company. Their ranks are often made up of shrewish despots who like to hold power over people while having very little skills of their own. That, and they will mercilessly target people over trivial things simply because they can. Maybe in some companies HR is actually a wonderful asset that works towards improving the company, but that has never been the case any any company I've worked for.
I have had mostly good experiences with HR at different sized companies, and a few bad ones. I like it very much when an HR administrator thoroughly understands a company's benefits and can be helpful in that regard when there are problems. I hate the politics that is involved with HR behind the scenes. HR can be a huge bureaucracy that gets in the way. That is the part I really loathe. Each person has a different situation and different work environment, of course. YMMV.
I think people generalize HR. It's like saying you hate the chicken marsala option at a restaurant when really you just don't like the side dishes paired with it, and the chicken itself is great. Anyway, here's an example scenario (part fiction) that would make people angry towards "HR":
"ABC Company" uses UNICRU and resume scanning (via inbox filters or actual software) from "XYZ Marketer" because they boast statistics that will profit "ABC Company" in various ways for using their software. From the outside the company looks like a catch. Clean record, decent wages, reputable townsfolk work there. A position for a entry-level retail sales job opens:
Prospective Employee A (Male, Perfect Match) fills out an application. Their resume, however, does not contain enough "perfect keywords" to make it through and they misinterpret some UNICRU questions because frankly, when filling out a job application, being asked if you're a thrill seeker makes you feel that answering "Strongly Agree" tells them you're a prankster who does things for kicks. Maybe that was one point too many, causing his "light" on UNICRU to go orange or red and his resume to be thrown away. They receive a rejection notice a week later. He overhears from a friend that the hiring manager was bothering management about how they need more "sexy women" in the office, and finds out they had a reputation for using interviews to land dates.
Prospective Employee B (Male, Bad Idea) fills out an application with an internal ties. They just need a job but they know how these systems work. They load their application with key words and stretch the truth on things to get their information to pass the filter. During the UNICRU test they use an answer key/lie to get all the right answers and get a "green". Because some companies using UNICRU don't expect their applicants to actually know how the system works, he is able to weasel into an interview and lie through his teeth to look impressive. The interview goes fantastic. Two weeks pass until the hiring manager finally gets back to him. The hiring manager (knowing B's schedule) calls mid-shift and leaves a strange and unsure sounding voice mail from him mumbling, eventually stating they decided to "go in a different direction". He tries to follow-up with the interviewer but is told "everything was great but there was nothing you could have done different."
Prospective Employee C (Female, No Experience) fills out an application. She fails the UNICRU and bombs the interview. No resume. She does not understand what job entails but came to the interview hopeful wearing a short skirt (non-dress code) and tight low-cut shirt (non-dress code). The hiring manager brings her on board immediately.
After the interview, the hiring manager went around the company talking to all of his friends about how hot the girl was and how they're hiring her. The Human Resources Manager catches him saying some "choice words" about the applicant and lectures him about hiring policies but gives no formal reprimand. The new hire is terrible at the job and causes two departments to fall behind within the first two weeks.
I believe that many rank and file employees misunderstand what the role of HR is. They are, indeed, management advocates and not employee advocates. Some rank and file mistakenly believe that HR is somehow on "their side".
I appreciate a good HR department. They are necessary for a company to navigate the complexities of the law.
Jukesgrrl gives a perfect example of HR working well. Yes, they were defending the company, and when your interests align with the company, they will defend you too. That is a side effect of their existence, but a very useful one.
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