Why We Hate HR Summary
3 min read ⌚
There are so many things wrong with HR. “Why We Hate HR” tries to examine most of them.
About Keith H. Hammonds
Keith H. Hammonds is a former Fast Company’s executive and is currently COO and president at Solutions Journalism Network.
“Why We Hate HR Summary”
Nowadays HR is the “talk of the town.” There are so many problems with it, and the way it is practiced, that people cannot just shut their eyes.
What are these problems, you ask?
Well, you have to give it to HR professionals: when it comes to handling the simple and straightforward tasks like administration, dealing with benefits and wages, they function great.
However, this role is increasingly being outsourced, since outsourcing, it saves vast amounts of money.
Having this in mind, we can conclude that HR has been left with just one other valuable role, and that is developing human capital.
But guess what?
This role is where HR performs below any standards.
There are four reasons that contribute to this.
First, HR professionals are far from equipped. In fact, you can even say they are ill-equipped since they never considered HR as their primary choice when it comes to their careers.
Many of the people that work in HR have tried to work other things before, things they were more passionate about, and after they failed, or were less satisfied than expected, they somehow stumbled into HR.
As a result of many of these so-called HR professionals neither have the education nor the skills to conduct their job requirements successfully.
Even worse is the fact that some of them are not even trying to create a career in the field.
The second problem is that HR often focuses on the wrong things.
HR focuses on efficiency, or doing activities and filling up positions since those are the values which can easily be measured and expressed in numbers.
What HR does not do, on the other hand, is to try to look further, to the value employees add to the firm and the outcomes of the tasks and activities.
Moreover, HR does not work for employees, but for companies. In other words, companies us HR for protection against the rigid labor regulations.
And lastly, HR is not properly connected to the company’s management. Communication is necessary for better functioning, and HR needs to be involved in the decision-making process of the firm.
Key Lessons from “Why We Hate HR”
1. The Wrong Skills and Mindset
2. The Wrong Focus
3. The Wrong Communication
The Wrong Skills and Mindset
HR Professionals do not possess the right skillset and mindset to succeed in their positions. If you ask most of them, HR was not even their first choice.
The Wrong Focus
HR Focuses on measurable results like efficiency, instead of on the value that employees add to the firm, which is much more significant to the company’s success.
The Wrong Communication
HR works for the company as a shield against the strict labor regulations and is not in direct communication with top management. HR needs to gain a strategic function and have a say in the decision-making process.
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“Why We Hate HR” Quotes
HR people aren’t the sharpest tacks in the box. Click To Tweet The really scary news is that the gulf between capabilities and job requirements appears to be widening. As business and legal demands on the function intensify, staffers’ educational qualifications haven’t kept pace. Click To Tweet Most human-resources managers aren’t particularly interested in, or equipped for, doing business. Click To Tweet HR people pursue standardization and uniformity in the face of a workforce that is heterogeneous and complex. Click To Tweet Economic natural selection is, in a way, taking care of the problem for us. Click To Tweet
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