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HR is there to protect the company. Employee benefits are incidental and generally mandated by law, the board or executives.
HR is not your friend or a therapist.
Here I'll disagree with you. I'm an HR manager in state government. My role is heavy on training, though I step in on recruiting and labor relations when my partners request it.
I view it as my job as head of training here to make sure everyone has what they need so the organization runs as smoothly as possible. I make new hires (they spend their initial weeks with me) aware of all benefits and programs we have, and encourage them to come to me directly if they have an issue.
I speak with all employees extensively to determine interests and abilities. There is always a need for motivated instructors, and getting involved as an instructor will further their career just as much as it helps the organization meet its legal requirements. I step in as an instructor myself occasionally when necessary and don't mind because it builds rapport with the staff. I don't have to- I choose to.
There are OPTIONAL programs we participate in with the VA that eat up quite a bit of my time that I don't have to do at all, simply because its a financial benefit to the employees. The happier they are, the easier my job is. Is it my job to be a therapist? absolutely not- but I'm not going to stand by and watch an employee descend into depression or alcoholism and become a risk to themselves or others. We have a program coordinator whose job it IS to counsel staff in times of difficulty and I work with her as well when it's called for.
The department doesn't "need" me to protect it, they have enough lawyers for that. They DO view the employees we have as an asset, and my role is to develop those assets as much as possible. So like others have said if your HR doesn't help you and sees their job as simply covering the ass of the organization and nothing else, that's an issue with your organization, not HR.
HR's job is to protect the company, think they are better than rank and file employees, come up with meaningless busywork and "training" "opportunties" for employees and to justify their jobs to higher-ups. More and more companies are coming around to the realization that it's not a necessary function. And I've never had a bad expereince per se with HR. I just know they are the devil
I keep seeing here that there are two sides, loving or hating HR.
If they get the job they apply for, HR is great and smart.
If you don't get it, HR is terrible and they should be done away with.
The truth is, it is not HR that makes the decision on who they hire.
Problem: Everyone thinks that they are the ideal candidate for the job they apply for. They just cannot accept that there was a better candidate for the job. If two people have the same ability and credentials, the person that gets the job, will normally be the one that will fit in with the rest of the existing staff they will be working with. Some people have a hard time selling themselves as a person to the hiring manager. That is very unfortunate.
If you are having a hard time getting a job, you need to learn to sell yourself as a person that will fit in with other people. There may be a lot of people that are qualified for the job applying, but do not believe that you are the best fit, or you would be the one getting some of those jobs. Learn how to project yourself as the best person for the job, and that you will be a good fit as a person not only that you have the work qualifications.
If you do not sell yourself to the hiring manager, don't blame HR for being terrible and they are the ones that kept you from getting the job. It was you, doing a poor job at the interview with the HM, and you did not sell yourself as a person that the HM wanted on his/her team. Remember the HM is probably going to be your supervisor. The HM is not going to hire someone that makes them uncomfortable no matter how well you are qualified for the job. They will have to work with the person they hire, and if they don't like them they are not going to hire them.
HR may give you a first interview. They know the HM and the type of person that works well with them. They will divide into to groups, the people they feel the HM will like to work with, and who will irritate the HM. The personality, etc., will be taken into consideration after candidates are selected due to their education, and experience. When the candidates are first selected for interview due to education and experience, they are interviewed to find two things. 1: Do they appear to be able to back up their ability, experience, and education. 2: Those that meet the first criteria, are interviewed to find how well they will fit into the workplace with co-workers.
If you are getting interviews and no job offers, it is time to figure out how to sell yourself as a person, people will love to work with. Back in my corporate days I hired a lot of people as HM. Let's look at the criteria one would use.
Hiring a Receptionist. They had to be able to do well with the tools they would be using, such as typewriter (today a computer), telephone system, etc. The first cut, would be done this way, ones to consider and the ones not to.
The interview would bring out the most important factor. Does this woman/man have the ability to make people coming into the office feel comfortable and will be helped, with this woman/man as the receptionist. First does she/he smile when they approach the desk, making them feel welcome. Is her/his voice pleasant and welcoming. That receptionist is selling the person coming into the office on the company, and a grumpy, unfriendly or unwelcoming, can do more damage than anything else. I had a lot of candidates that applied for the job as a receptionist that just plain turned people off, including me. It did not matter what ethnic group they belonged to. It did not matter if they were attractive, or just very plain looking. It did not matter how old they were. It did not matter their size/weight. The big thing that mattered after the ability to use the equipment and do the job, was their personality. Did their personality make you feel welcome, and someone the people coming into the office would feel welcome and comfortable.
That is an example of what HM looks for. Each job has their own criteria to be judged by. But when people with equal experience, education, and apparent ability to do the job are interviewed, the person that gets the job, will be the one that sells the HM on their being the best fit to work with the other team members.
Depending on the company as each firm has it's own type employee. They may be very well dressed and formal, or they may be a young party group. If you don't fit in, you are not going to get hired. Learn how to make yourself more acceptable as a team member, a firm handshake, look the HM in the eye, give them a big smile when meeting them, and be serious and business like but someone that they will relate to as a friend.
If you are not getting jobs, quit blaming the HR department. Blame yourself, as you are not portraying yourself as the best fit for working with the team they are hiring someone to fit in.
They probably were one of the key players in convincing management that HR research shows open plans provide the best, most productive workers, except in HR which must be done in private.
Yup, I'm sure that's what it was.
I swear...without exception...the dumbest but prettiest people I knew in high school and especially college ended up in sales, marketing, real estate, or HR.
I keep seeing here that there are two sides, loving or hating HR.
If they get the job they apply for, HR is great and smart.
If you don't get it, HR is terrible and they should be done away with.
The truth is, it is not HR that makes the decision on who they hire.
I got the job and still hate HR. I just have little patience for quackery and psychobabble/head games particularly as a scientist who does real science. In fact, no one likes having someone else's quackery inflicted upon them certainly not HR's junk science tests, nor their degrading interview gimmicks, nor their touchy freely goal based self appraisal system. I pride myself of having gone out of my way to never take a psychology course since I have zero respect for the field even less so for organizational psychology. If these flakes want to practice psychology let them open up a clinic somewhere where people can choose to experience it rather than conn companies into believing that they are the answer to their hiring selection needs.
Last edited by MSchemist80; 12-07-2015 at 10:38 AM..
Here is how I see it. Working in HR is like any other profession: people only see the most visible part of the line of work.
For example, take IT. My brother is a software engineer. He tells me when he tells people he's an IT professional, people always assume he's a helpdesk person.
Or take my profession. I'm a civil engineer in construction management. When I tell people I'm a construction manager, they always assume I'm the guy on the side of the road either holding the stop/slow sign or doing surveying.
Why? Because that's what most people see when they're driving. Just like how most people only see the helpdesk "IT" guy and nobody ever sees a software engineer in action.
So, while I know almost nothing about the line of work in HR, I can imagine that most people only see a small part of HR and assume that's all of it.
I got the job and still hate HR. I just have little patience for quackery and psychobabble/head games particularly as a scientist who does real science. In fact, no one likes having someone else's quackery inflicted upon them certainly not HR's junk science tests, nor their degrading interview gimmicks, nor their touchy freely goal based self appraisal system. I pride myself of having gone out of my way to never take a psychology course since I have zero respect for the field even less so for organizational psychology. If these flakes want to practice psychology let them open up a clinic somewhere where people can choose to experience it rather than conn companies into believing that they are the answer to their hiring selection needs.
We all know this. You say the same stuff over and over again just to be obliterated by people who know what they're talking about. You're bragging about hating a field you know absolutely nothing about? Genius! You're so smart for not knowing the difference between human resources and psychology even though you've been told repeatedly that most HR people have degrees in business or HR (which is a business field), not psychology.
I don't have to know everything about something to dismiss it on the merits as junk. The aspect of HR involved in hiring has no validity past simple screening beyond basic qualifications.
The fact that that many people hate HR and view them with disdain and contempt isn't just a product of them being misunderstood. Every hated, villainous group likes to claim well we are just misunderstood, politicians, used car salesmen, prison inmates. People know who the bad actors are.
I don't have to know everything about something to dismiss it on the merits as junk. The aspect of HR involved in hiring has no validity past simple screening beyond basic qualifications.
The fact that that many people hate HR and view them with disdain and contempt isn't just a product of them being misunderstood. Every hated, villainous group likes to claim well we are just misunderstood, politicians, used car salesmen, prison inmates. People know who the bad actors are.
You don't have to know everything? You know nothing. Did you even comprehend my post? HR is not psychology. You do not need to take any psychology courses to work in HR. Most HR job openings ask for a degree in HR or business administration, not psychology. The overwhelming majority of people will never have contact with an I/O psychologist during the application and hiring process. You admitted that you know nothing about psychology, but you have a lot of opinions about it. You can't even tell the difference between HR and psychology. How is anyone supposed to take you seriously?
You could have benefited from more history courses because several genocides have been carried out against innocent people who were hated by many. This is not a defense of HR. I'm just pointing out the flaw in your argument. Have you ever taken a statistics or logic course? Those might help.
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