HR: The Department Everyone Loves to Hate
(And Why That’s Kind of Their Own Fault)
By: Becky Johnson, HR Consultant
Let’s be honest — when someone says “HR wants to see you,” your stomach drops. Not because you’ve done anything wrong (probably), but because somewhere deep in the collective unconscious of every office worker lives a primal fear of a beige conference room, a printed form, and a conversation that ends with “this discussion will be documented.”
Human Resources was supposed to be the department that humanizes the workplace. The clue is literally in the name — Human. And yet, somewhere between writing the code of conduct nobody reads and sending the passive-aggressive “friendly reminder” email about the fridge policy, HR became the thing people complain about at happy hour right after their actual boss.
So how did the team responsible for your paycheck, your benefits, and your right not to be harassed become the villain of every office sitcom?
A few brutally honest reasons:
They serve two masters — and everyone knows it. HR works for the company. Full stop. They’re not your therapist, your union rep, or your friend. When you walk into HR to report a problem, you’re essentially calling the company’s lawyer and expecting them to take your side. Spoiler: they won’t. They can’t. And the fact that this was never made clear is probably reason #1 for the trust gap.
The language is magnificently hollow. “We value your feedback.” “Our people are our greatest asset.” “This is a safe space.” HR pioneered the art of saying a lot while communicating absolutely nothing. After the fifth all-hands meeting where leadership “circles back” to “align on synergies,” even the most optimistic employee starts to feel like they’re being managed rather than respected.
They show up when things are bad. Think about when you actually interact with HR: you’re being hired, fired, investigated, or forced to watch a 45-minute compliance video about cybersecurity. HR rarely shows up on a Tuesday just to tell you you’re doing great. They’re the organizational equivalent of the dentist — you only think about them when something hurts.
The “fun” initiatives. Nothing says “we don’t get you” quite like a mandatory team-building exercise where you build a spaghetti tower to “foster collaboration.” HR often ends up championing programs that feel designed by someone who read a business book on a plane and thought, yes, this will fix morale.
But here’s the thing — and this is where it gets interesting — a lot of this is fixable. Great HR isn’t invisible or feared. It’s trusted. Transparent. Occasionally even liked.
This blog is for the HR professionals who cringe at the reputation, the employees trying to understand the system, and anyone who has ever gotten a “per my last email” from someone in People Ops and wondered how it came to this.
Welcome. Let’s talk about HR — the good, the bad, and the uncomfortably documented.
Becky Johnson is not a legal advisor. She is an about to be retiree. She holds a Masters in Business in Human Resources, provides educational courses on Human Resources and has over 28 years investigating claims of civil rights.
