I have read so many articles about who HR represents – the employees or management.
Some articles warn employees not to trust HR because they “really” work for management. They caution you to be careful about what you tell HR, they don’t have your back.
On the other hand, employees want to believe that HR will advocate for them. They hope that HR will pick up their cause and fight management for it.
At the same time, management will often be weary of HR, accusing them of taking sides with employees over management.
Maybe no one should trust HR. Maybe HR is just a group of nasty people that are out to destroy companies and their employees.
Ok, let’s not go overboard here. Most HR people I’ve met are not THAT nasty. But, bottom line, who should trust HR? The simple answer is… everyone! Everyone in the company should trust that HR is working with THEIR best interest in mind. You may ask how can HR possibly be on two sides? How can they play for opposing teams at the same time?
The answer is quite simple. There should only be one team. Management and employees should all be on the same side! It is HR’s responsibility to ensure that everyone involved in the company is playing for the same team.
Management and employees should have one common goal – the success of the company, as defined by the mission statement written by the company’s leaders. It is HR’s responsibility to ensure that everyone is working towards that goal. HR needs to facilitate a positive relationship that allows all employees to focus on the company’s goal.
If management doesn’t understand the benefit of having their employees on their team then HR is responsible to educate them. Companies don’t succeed when employees are not on the same team as management. Companies grow when everyone is on the same team.
Obviously, management is paying HR’s salary so HR works for them. But, I’ve got news for you, they’re also paying the salary of every other employee in every other department! So everyone works for management! They’re all on the same team! This shouldn’t be a big surprise.
Just like IT, Sales, Marketing, Logistics, and all the other departments are all working towards a common goal, HR is also working toward the same goal. One might say that HR provides the grease that allows all the moving parts throughout the machine to operate smoothly. Without grease the different parts would get stuck against each other and wouldn’t move. The grease allows all the components to work together smoothly.
When all the players are focused on the same goal, then each player’s success flows into the success of the team.
So, whose team is HR on? The same team as everyone else!
What have you done to ensure that everyone on your team is really on YOUR team?
Digital Trade