I don’t have to tell you that some people mistrust and in fact hate HR. Fast Company published an entire article about it. I’ve met leaders who claimed to hate HR before hiring Reverb. One refused to refer to our consultant as an HR expert. Another only wanted to do business with someone who claimed “human capital management” expertise.
HR has evolved, and what many people now know as People Operations is considered both strategic and employee-centric. We asked some of our favorite HR experts to share their thoughts on the most common misconceptions about HR / People Ops and here’s what they told us.
Cait Cable
I often hear that HR people are rigid, and don’t allow many things. I think just the opposite—it’s HRs job to figure out creative ways for businesses to succeed, and employees to do their best work. That means saying “yes” much more than “no”!
Becky Currier
- That we make up the rules, just because we can or want to.
- That we perform a function, rather than strategic leadership. HR/People Ops deserves a seat at the table.
- That we are only there for employees to field complaints, rather than to support and coach them through situations.
- That we don’t experience our own frustrations and successes in our careers and on our teams.
Julia Dallas
Lack of understanding on how to use an HR professional as a strategic partner and adviser to the business operations. It is very common for organizations to think HR is only a service center that provides reactive support on employee relations, policy questions, employment law, etc. An unfortunate common response to telling people that I work in Human Resources profession is “What else do you do other than hire and fire people?”
Lindsay Foley
Hmm, that companies don’t need HR until they reach a certain number of employees – all companies need HR 🙂
Arpree Hicks
I think the biggest misconception for me is that “HR/People Ops makes all the decisions regarding employees.” Although we may play a lead role in terminations, organizational change, and disciplinary actions, that does not mean we are the ones who’ve decided it. HR initiatives and ideas can be blocked by leadership and there’s not a lot we can do.
Amy Higgins
I think there is a misconception that HR/People Ops is for people that are not very technical. Having the ability to understand complex problems that include detailed financial issues and how to apply solutions that are compliant, financially sound and meet the needs of employees is challenging and requires a technical mindset.
Danielle Lange
- HR/People Ops is working on behalf of the company/manager only, not the employee
- HR/People Ops work is transactional, with little strategic focus
- HR/People Ops professionals like people and not numbers
Carrie Nelson
- HR is just an administrative function. We are the “personnel” department that processes paperwork for decisions that other people make (like hiring, promoting, firing, etc.)
- We are the rules police and should be avoided in every way because we just want to catch you doing something wrong.
Kendra Wilson
One is that we focus too much on compliance/rules not understanding this strengthens the culture of the organization.
My other is that People Ops is only there for when bad things like termination or performance improvement needs to be done vs. strategic to help employees and the org thrive.
So, what do we know to be true about good HR / People Ops teams and practitioners? They 👇
- Focus on taking care of people and creating employee-centric culture
- Care about many things; compliance and transactions are a small part of the job
- Are huge advocates for employees because we know that’s what makes companies great
- Have a tremendous amount of business acumen
- Are caring, trustworthy, and empathetic
What matters in the end is not what you call the work; it’s simply that you do the work.
Build strong cultures, take care of people, and create a sense of inclusion and belonging. Develop your people, give them the freedom to do their best work, invite them to share their ideas. Whether you call it human resources, people operations, or something else – it’s imperative to build a successful organization.
Does your company need HR or does your HR team need support? Contact us infor@reverbpeople.com.
