Partners, what is your experience dealing with HR? I’ve recently felt like partners are increasingly becoming powerless from a talent perspective(advocating for raises and promotions etc) as the firms are all growing… essentially more bureaucracy and more powerful HR departments - and honestly it feels like the HR talent is mediocre at best compared to the high performing talent that these firms staff in their projects… hope to be proved wrong or just not have the right perspective

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I wish I could tell you that you’re wrong, but then I’d be a liar.

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Firms are getting more corporatised. Which basically means more concentrated power at the top and lesser with individual partners. Same is being reflected in HR practices.

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HR ultimately works for the partners, so if you don’t like what they’re doing, they likely have those instructions from a more senior partner.

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I don’t think this is exactly true. From a big picture policy standpoint, it’s basically accurate. From a quality of execution standpoint, it isn’t.

I’m generally supportive of our strategies around our personnel and yet find myself frustrated all the time by what we actually do. And while I’m not a top tier partner at my firm, I’m close enough to that group to be confident that this isn’t about senior leaders wanting something different.

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The flip side of a more corporate and bureaucratic HR function is that individual partners have much less power to protect bad actors… we’ve all seen examples of garbage human beings who demonstrate unacceptable behavior being tolerated because they’re “important to the business” of some partner, but that happens less and less often nowadays.

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Amen.

My 2 cents and experience with. HR. To be blunt - most do not give a s h ! T about anyone below Sr leaders. / leaders as They work and support them. I was told earlier in my career by my manager do not trust HR. If you have an issue or concern and raise to HR highly likely nothing will get done and that leader will be aware that someone complained. As I moved up in my career if I had issues with someone reporting into me Hr handled it. If that person raised an issue nothing was done and I was made aware.

Perception is that HR is there for the employees and really care if you bring up issues but really they are not. Only time they step up is when the matter goes to the media or can really impact the firm in a negative way they will step in and if someone gets fired to show “they care”. That is my experience and what I have seen. I welcome others experiences.

My SO had a leader where many females complained about the leader in form of sexual assault and was on his file but nothing was done. It was always tucked away which is quite sad. HR never took the concerns / complaints seriously. Either he had some strong pull or support or his boss didn’t view him like that. I suggested if you took this to the media only then something will take place.

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Following this. Keen to fins out too

I have good experience with the team that directly supports me, however I agree with Partners 1 and 3. The swooping changes come from senior leadership with HR teams executing, and the sometimes positive side of it is standardization and removal of personal powers from individual partners to help equalize people’s experience.

I think when grows at the current rate it's very very hard to get personal level hike conversations. It happens in cohorts and other generally established guidelines.

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