Why is HR so hated?

Posted by HR Zone in Managing people on Tue, 03/06/2008 - 14:44

Following on from his series of articles entitled, 'My boss is bad', Chetan Dhruve explores the perception that HR departments are deemed unpopular within organisations.

"Human resources is a management term that should strike fear into the heart of every self-respecting entrepreneur. Of course, senior executives understand that HR is powerful – a bit like Mossad [the Israeli secret service] or the CIA."

So said Luke Johnson, chairman of Channel 4, in an article titled The truth about the HR department, in the Financial Times. And in Dilbert, the cartoon strip that satirizes the workplace, the character Catbert is called the 'evil director of human resources'.

What are words like 'strike fear', 'Mossad' and the 'CIA' doing in an article on HR? Why does a cartoonist use the word 'evil' when labelling an HR director? In contrast, HR is supposed to give us that warm, fuzzy feeling. More than anyone, HR is supposed to be the worker's true friend. So why is HR so hated?

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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