Is HR Making You Miserable? – Mary T. O’Sullivan

By Mary T. O’Sullivan, MSOL, contributing writer, Business leadership

“HR Managers themselves say that since the pandemic, the job has become an exasperating ordeal.” The New York Times

“People hate us, and a lot of employees look at us as inherently evil”, an HR manager is quoted in this week’s New York Times. This perception is nothing new. Research as far back as 2013-2016 reports negative opinions about the HR department. In fact, the cartoonist, Scott Adams has his own version of the “evil” HR manager in Catbert, whose official title is “Catbert, the Evil Director of Human Resources”. In one strip, Catbert calls an employee into his office and tells him “I’m getting reports that your morale is too high. Happiness is nature’s way of informing Human Resources that you’re overpaid”. In a 2016 LinkedIn post, the author, a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) writes, “the HR or Human Resources department is one of the most despised or underappreciated departments in any organization…”

In my own career, I’ve turned to HR for answers. When I informed my boss, ironically, with a smirk and a wave of his hand, he chuckled, “Oh, don’t pay any attention to HR. They’re just an arm of management.” That comment underlined the fact that, although HR may be friendly, “they’re still paid by the suits”. In times of crisis, it’s pretty “clear whose side they’re on.” This emphasizes the attitude that HR is politically motivated and is acting for the betterment of their own careers, not yours, and leads to another complaint about HR, lack of trust. You ultimately conclude that your HR professionals are corrupted from the top, according to an employment lawyer, who is quoted as saying, “then you can’t do anything about it (complaints). Because you think the H.R. function is ultimately a sham.”

HR’s dubious reputation may come from the endless stream of memos and forms that are always marked “urgent”. Or maybe it stems from that fact that HR seems to roll out some new, trendy initiative every two years, like a teaching organization, a learning organization, a caring organization, enforcing dress codes, various mandatory trainings (such as anti-harassment, data security and DEI), and most egregious of all, quoting policy instead of helping employees find creative solutions to common problems such as caring for older parents, childcare and transportation. The additional HR challenges that have emerged are mostly post-pandemic: the four-day work week, remote and hybrid work, flexible work hours, predictable schedules, and especially with younger generations, company culture and response to sustainability and the environment.

As if there needed to be another reason to “dislike” HR, according to HRM Handbook website, it’s because they are perceived as “dispassionate and uncaring” towards their own employees. “HR often places more emphasis on adhering to corporate policies and procedures rather than taking the time to get to know their team, understand their needs and concerns, and develop meaningful relationships.” And while it’s HR’s job to keep track of policies and procedures and make sure employees and managers are not violating the law, if HR clings to “the way things have always been done” or, “we don’t do it that way here”, they surely will be seen as a barrier to change, as some of these policies can be interpreted in a restrictive or oppressive way.

And HR is feeling the backlash. At a major HR conference, people expressed exasperation. “Everything feels like a fool’s errand,” said the former CHRO of General Motors commenting that post pandemic, the job of HR has become harder. People’s behavior has gone downhill, and HR has to play cop just to enforce more civil and professional behavior. Recently, a different stripe of warning has been given to employees: “No, you can’t microwave fish at lunch. Stop cutting your toenails on your desk. Don’t bring a gun to the office”, according to the New York Times. In fact, in 2022, HR had the highest turnover rate of any other profession that is tracked by LinkedIn.  Ultimately, HR professionals feel like theirs is a thankless job, they are despised when there are layoffs, but no one notices when a layoff is prevented.

How can CEOs work to balance HR’s job with putting the “human” back in Human Resources? Many CHROs insist it amounts to hiring the right people for HR roles. Make sure to hire people who have passion, are collaborative, empathetic, flexible, and appreciate diversity. How can HR add value rather than being hated? When the HR team “acts as an advocate for employees… with an eye on the company’s bottom line” it becomes an integrated part of the organization and relinquishes the unsavory title of “despised.” When HR can “help foster a positive work culture where everyone feels comfortable voicing their opinions. With these measures in place, Human Resources will become an asset to any organization rather than a source of frustration or resentment.” – HRM Handbook

“(HR) should strive to create an environment of trust and transparency so that employees feel like their voices are being heard.”  – HRM Handbook

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Mary T. O’Sullivan, Master of Science, Organizational Leadership, International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach, Society of Human Resource Management, “Senior Certified Professional. Graduate Certificate in Executive and Professional Career Coaching, University of Texas at Dallas.