Why does Human Resources suck everywhere?

HR are never on the employee’s side; only the company and/or manager’s side. Once you accept this you see them in a different light. Never to be trusted.

Not all HR departments are like this. Of course, they do need to ensure laws are followed and manage risk but they can and often do a lot more than this. It probably depends on the HR person you've had exposure to. Like, are you speaking with someone managing performance or advising on discipline? Or, are you speaking someone who primarily focuses on employee training?

It also truly depends on the organization's leadership, how they view and want to treat their employees, and the kind of HR folks the organization wants to invest in.

My fiancé works in HR and is climbing the ranks very fast because there is a big need for competency

HR doesn't suck. Their job is to protect the company from you. They're usually pretty good about it. Your complaint that they don't do anything else is like going to a professor of Byzantine history for help with calculus - pretty illogical.

For most of the expectations you have for human resources you need to go to your union steward for help.

That’s a good point. I’m expecting something that HR just isn’t designed for. I just wish HR departments didn’t present themselves as everybody’s friend.

Because they are overpaid secretaries, usually with nothing to do but beehatch and moan. Full of nasty women and men of a certain persuasion. Very few are nice people. Their job calls for them to present a nice face to the employees, but in actual fact they’re company assassins. They have no morals - if you’re sitting in front of HR outside of the hiring process, you’re getting screwed almost certainly (or they’re digging for information on some other poor employee they’re trying to screw over).
A certain type is attracted/can do this job. Awful!

They are there only to protect the company.. working sucks,

Hmm, man see HR like bitter melon – taste bad, hard to swallow. But even bitter melon have purpose in medicine, yes?

Expectation, like mountain peak, hard to reach. Maybe you see HR as heart of company, place for care, for understanding. But reality...like muddy river, sometimes cloudy.

HR job, protect company, like strong wall around village. Keep out trouble, keep in order. But sometimes, wall too high, block out sunlight too. Worker feel small, unseen, voice lost in big room.

Profit, precision, like sharp tools...good for cutting, but can cut both ways. HR focus on balance, sometimes forget human side. This is where bitterness come.

Remember, every coin has two sides. Maybe HR not always kind, but they keep things running. Like bones in body, not always pretty, but important for strength.

Best path not fight, but build bridge. Voice your need, not like angry shout, but like river flow steady, smooth stones over time. HR, they not always see worker's side, like mountain block sun. But even mountain can change, with patient water, gentle push.

Who knows? Maybe bitter melon not meant to be honey sweet, but less bitter...possible, yes?

Try, my friend. Not just for you, but for all who walk same path.

Depending on where you look, average starting salaries for HR workers are in the 60-80k range without experience and scaling to well over 100k with a few years experience. Here:

hrdive.com

HR is overwhelmingly white and female, data indicates

Lisa Burden

A pay gap exists in the field, too — female HR managers earned 13% less on average than their male counterparts, according to Namely.

Link:www.hrdive.com/news/hr-is-overwhelming...

67% of HR workers are female, and a majority of them are white. Ironically, this is an area where we aren't concerned about diversity.

Do they all suck? No. I'm sure some are great. But...they make well above your starting college grad, have monolithic demographics that are somehow acceptable, and, as other's have pointed out, are hired to protect the company, not you, the employee.

A more interesting question would be what the workforce would be like without them.

Ah, young friend sees imbalance, questions the way of things. This is good, for questioning leads to understanding.

But remember, numbers tell only part of story. Like judging tree by its leaves alone, we miss roots hidden beneath.

67% female, you say. Maybe these women fought hard to climb ladder, to break through bamboo ceiling. Maybe they faced prejudice, maybe they overcame obstacles we cannot see.

Your question is wise. What if world without HR? Maybe chaos, maybe harmony. Maybe workers rise up, maybe they stumble and fall.

This is koan, riddle without answer. Like asking if river is good or bad, when it both nourishes and floods.

So let us not judge too quickly, let us not dismiss entire forest for few crooked trees.

So was Mao 70% correct or 70% incorrect? I don't care if your expressions are from a novelty account, I find them endlessly entertaining.

There is larger question: why do corporations still rule the roost in America? If you want to make good money and advance your career, and you don't have the money or drive to become an entrepreneur, you pretty much have to work for one. And...as I pointed out...even they have winners and losers. Most HR employees are winners, well-compensated for what they do, nearly perfectly insulated from consequences of mistakes/poor performance. Quick: name an HR scandal and prominent HR employee who has been fired. I can name about five people at my last job who lost theirs at the hands of HR, under circumstances that are questionable.

Yes, I don't see everything, and some Confucian logic would help me see my own biases. Your turn to put a finer point on that, if that is what happens.

曲终人散

Still not sure what an HR person did to you.

HR has to be in every phase of job listing, interviewing, hiring and onboarding of new employees.
They need to be engaged in employee retention.
They manage administration of employee benefits and open enrollment.
Have to document manager concerns of employees and employee concerns of managers.
They document job descriptions and annual reviews.
And they often manage payroll, making sure your pay makes it to your bank every pay period.

All this without any glory or with complaints that they suck because someone is jealous that they may have a better job than them.

So, what is your specific complaint again?

HR is a misnomer. It should be PR (parasite resources). Parasite resources has the unenviable task of dealing with parasitic employees such as yourself. Glad to help. 👍

You’re the nightmare that makes their job suck.

This is the role of HR.

The least compassionate department in any organization.

They exist only to protect the company.

I know some great HR people, but this is their job. The individual is not the key, the company is.

This is correct. Also see how they interact with others in person--if they have their "favorites" then you know they can't be trusted. If they are fair to everyone then you have a better chance of feeling comfortable with them.

Is that a growing career field in your opinion? One of the few "forever" jobs out there that might not require a doctorate. I thought about a master's in HR at one point.

60-80 to start out sounds awesome though, and 100k after a few years would be great. I looked into other certs too. I'm at 62k now in my current role, which is nice, but HR has more of an upward path. Should have done this in college instead of journalism.

HR is usually a good example of Box Tickers, one of the five types of BS jobs codified in David Graber's book on the topic (which I'm not allowed to link to because of its title).

I'd like to see more men, Asians, African-Americans, etc. in HR. Get it to 50/50. It's the same in publishing--overwhelmingly white and female. Not that it's a bad thing but diversity is good for all sectors.