Related Posts
How would you define great communication?
Additional Posts in Human Resources
Rising Star
Do anyone know about any HR ops vacancy?
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
HR really does sit in that awkward middle. A lot of the time it does feel like the job is to protect the company and roll out decisions we didn’t actually make, and then we’re the ones people are mad at. The fulfillment, for me, comes in the smaller pockets of influence, like coaching a manager into handling a situation more humanely, quietly fixing a broken process, or making sure someone gets treated fairly in a messy conflict.
It really depends on the quality of leadership to be honest. If the leaders are already employee-conscious, HR will have a fulfilling role as it genuinely works towards the betterment and quality experience of company employees. If leadership doesn’t care about employees or doesn’t know the value of having a workforce that is well taken care of, HR will most likely find itself in a toxic position of having to reprimand employees, cut off their salaries and benefits, unfair treatment, etc. HR can try to shift things around by coaching leadership or attempt a culture shift from up top, but if leadership isn’t responsive to any of it because they are too dismissive or because they purposely want to inflate their own profits at the expense of their employees, it will be hard to instill change. And that happens all the time really, some companies are purposely good, some are purposely bad, some succeed at changing for the better, some fail at it despite HR’s interventions.
This, exactly. I have worked at both kinds of companies, and now (well into my career) I will ONLY work for a company where the CEO and C-suite value people as much as they value profits. I know that sounds naive, but mature leaders grasp that engaged employees drive quality, customer satisfaction & retention, and ultimately profits. Disengaged employees put in the bare minimum and will jump companies for a $2,000 raise. And what drives engagement? The stuff we all know: trust in leadership, a culture of recognition, actual care for wellness and work-life balance, helpful managers who can deliver even difficult feedback with poise and respect. That's the kind of company I believe most employees what to work for (and stick with).
A major part of the HR job is protecting the company. If you don't recognize that, you should consider another field.
I agree with you. I think leadership makes a lot of decisions that affect HR but don't come from us. I definitely feel the same way you do about it.
Chief
The thing is that our jobs are not just "for the welfare of the people," our jobs are to help the people AND the organization succeed. If you came to HR solely because you "like helping people," you're going to be disappointed.
Yes, often, leadership makes decisions that aren't the best for the employees and, yes, we often end up having to defend those decisions when challenged -- because we report to leadership, not to the employees. The thing we need to make absolutely certain is that decisions are NOT ours to make, they are leadership's. I just dealt with an ex-employee who was fired who thought that not only was I personally responsible for his termination (I was not; it was the decision of his direct manager and her manager, after consulting with me), and then thought it would be my decision to allow him to stay longer in his company apartment than his employee lease stipulated.
When I worked hard last year to improve our medical benefits, yes, it was for the "welfare of the people," but it was also for the welfare of the company, because people were quitting because they couldn't afford our medical benefits. When I checked in with an employee whose attendance got bad before they just fired her, and found out she was being abused by her husband, yes, I was working for her welfare. But also for the company's welfare, because she was eligible not only for FMLA leave but also for leave based on laws in Philly about domestic violence victims, and I wanted us to follow the law.
And we will never, ever, ever please everyone.
But for all those who say "HR just works for the company," I ask you, does Marketing not "work for the company"? Does Finance not "work for the company"? Do plant employees and their supervisors not "work for the company"? HR is a business function, not a social work function, not a picnics and payroll function, not a party planning function.