Could Peace, Love and Harmony be the motto of your average HR department after all isn’t the goal of every HR team to remove conflict and improving mutual understanding? Or is it about making sure Management’s will prevails. Is it about resolving conflicts fairly or advising managers how to win the argument?
This peace could have been titled whose side are you on? Because a middle manager accused of bullying doesn’t think HR is should be so willing to listen to a disgruntled employee. It’s something a manager may say in frustration when HR advise that they don’t have grounds for dismissing an employee despite the managers view that the individual is , “lazy and useless “. An employee might not say it but comments that it’s a wast of time using the grievance process if you feel you have been overlooked for a post or denied a training opportunity are not unusual.
Whistle blowers have been know to claim that HR and senior management are more concerned about the organisation reputation than taking claims of abuse and discrimination seriously. When it comes to allegation of racism and misogyny HR have been criticised for trying to resolve differences rather than dismissing offenders.
Senior management often act as if HR were simply there to do their bidding or at best smooth the process of changing working practices, reorganisation and any subsequent redundancies. And I know from personal experience chief executives are the worst for thinking the organisation’s policies and procedures don’t apply to them when it comes to circumnavigating the recruit process or regrading a post,”because they have promised the individual”!
It maybe hard to hold the line and resist the pressures but to my mind HR is not on anyone’s side but is trying to keep the organisation true to the values and principles incorporated in the policies and procedure endorsed by the board even when the board themselves may find it inconvenient to do so.
If this makes HR sound idealistic even pious that’s not my experience. HR professionals are very pragmatic even street wise. If you say to an HR professional can I do this they will tell you all the reasons why you can’t but if you say how can I do this?
