Why We Hate HR: It’s Often A Problem of Professional Development

4 Responses

  1. Brynn Freeman says:

    I really appreciate this entry! I’ve listened to people complain about HR for years rather than sharing perspectives on how to improve the profession. Reposted to linkedin.

  2. Daniel Freschi says:

    Josh, you nailed it. Thanks for taking head on what so many in the HR field have failed to articulate. It has been my experience that many HR professionals don’t feel as thought they need development because they think can wave their hand and ignore it or they say they are too busy to learn. Final point, if the business experts really wanted us HR professionals to learn what they do, they wouldn’t prevent/stall/obstruct us from having a seat at the table. A CEO that I admire from a global mining manufacturer said that “people and finance, finance and people, are the most important part of the business. If you manage your finances and develop and lead your people, your customers will always be happy.”

  3. Vibhor says:

    Josh, I beg to differ with you completely. I am witness to numerous HR professionals who are mere event managers and rubber stamp playing into high handedness of management. I am currently in the process of writing in detail on this topic in my blog virginwords.com, straight from experiences shared by my readers.

    • krantmrinal says:

      Agree with you Vibhor and looking forward to reading that article on HR at virginwords.com
      If the lowest common denominator for people in HR choosing HR is “people-people”. Is that a unique competency to be of much worth to be a change agent, a catalyst, a talent magnet, capability builder, etc. Not really. If HR people had that much competency/read leadership, they would have moved to other business functions where they could lead from front. How many HR folks have been promoted /elevated to become CEOs? I know of only a few in India, that has half a million HR professionals. I guess, personnel department added much more value being masters of “Labor laws”, “Trade Union management”, “Statutory experts”, “People welfare” where they were respected for the work that they did. Today’s HR is just fake talk on borrowed/half-baked concepts, which do not work out as HR fails to sell and integrate them to the workspace where peers are much more qualified and educated on the concepts of HR than the HR folks!