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Why do some people hate HR, and what, if anything, can we do about it? It’s important for us to recognize how the HR function can be perceived and figure out what isn’t being received the way we want it to be.

To prepare for this episode, we conducted a very informal survey with people in our network who had worked in organizations large enough to have an HR staff. Some respondents had bad experiences with HR staff; they had been lied to, had confidential information shared, and felt that HR took management’s side on issues without investigating. HR is often the mouthpiece for bad news, layoffs, corrective action, terminations, etc., and many people blame them for that.

Other respondents told us they didn’t even know who their HR partner was and thought they’d only meet them if they had a problem or were in trouble. People in organizations with outsourced HR support felt uncomfortable sharing personal information with someone outside the company. A number of the people we surveyed felt HR was too rooted in following the policy – and sometimes made exceptions, but not for them.

Some people feel that HR spends a lot of time building relationships with management but isn’t interested in the rank and file. Others feel that HR seems to sit on problems and nothing gets resolved, or on the opposite side, goes overboard on responses to issues.

It’s important to be very visible in our organizations, and that means showing up and being active with all levels of employees. Commit to ongoing education so you can bring current and innovative thinking to issues and policies. And be upfront with employees about who you work for; you’re not a tool of management, and you’re not only there to be an advocate for employees. Your focus is making the organization a great place to work!

In this episode’s listener mail, we’re asked about ideas for finding meaningful part-time HR roles. In the news, Indeed shared 11 meeting etiquette rules they recommend following at work.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Purple Ink
• Powered by Purple Ink
• Susan Tinder White Consulting
• ”Why We Love to Hate HR…and What HR Can Do About It”
• ”11 Meeting Etiquette Rules You Should Follow at Work”
• ”10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation”
• We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter by Celeste Headlee
• SHRM credit evaluation
• The JoyPowered® Shop
• JoyPowered® on Facebook
• JoyPowered® on LinkedIn
• JoyPowered® on Instagram
• JoyPowered® on Twitter
• Email JoyPowered®

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