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Fellow HR folk – are you happy?

Maria

I’ve made some bleak observations recently with certain key trends coming through:

  • HR professionals (especially at mid and senior levels) are “open for new opportunities” on LinkedIn although more often than not they have only started their recent role in 2018 or 2017 (I saw this via recruiter licence)
  • A phrase I keep hearing from my more experienced peers and leaders is “Well it’s always the same in HR” or “That’s HR for you” on things like always being managed by Finance for some reason (i.e. Finance knows nothing about HR but always has the final say, and everyone in Finance is paid higher than HR), having to go with bad management decisions, being actively disliked by all employees for bizarre reasons, getting silly comments like “Oh HR is here I better shut up” when you’re trying to have lunch
  • Managers not owning up to any unpopular decision making and blaming everything on HR “HR said you couldn’t get more money”, “I gave person X more money 2 years ago and now person Y is peed off, but HR didn’t make the right decision then” etc
  • HR always being bottom of the pile for any budget decisions or pay rises, always the scapegoats, last in line, first in, last out “because that’s HR for you”

These are depressing. They happen over and over. You change a workplace and history repeats itself. My HR friends are not happy, my HR colleagues always muddle through, every week is a power struggle, politics everywhere, everyone is complaining all the time (staff, that is). We take crap from anyone and everyone every day. You never win or get any credit. Is it just me?

I am aware of the need to build up resilience, I am aware that I am not here to make friends, rather my mission is to make the organisation a better place to work and support our leaders with their decision making. Yes. The work is never easy, especially the higher you move in HR and I have felt it for a while. But do you ever get to enjoy it? What is rewarding about it to you? The rewards seem so scarce and precious sometimes, that it’s easy to lose sight of them in the daily struggle.

My questions are…

Does anyone feel the same?

Does it get better? If it doesn’t what do you do?

Is it the same in any other profession (in terms of degree of difficulty and emotional impact) and I am just blindsided by HR?

Have you worked in an environment where you truly were prepared to stay for years and enjoyed the role and the organisation (in HR)? Or is this unrealistic? (reference to all HR people already looking for a new job even though they started this year)

Any tips on raising own morale?

Is it worth challenging the phrases around “I know it’s not fair but it’s always the same in HR” if they are said to me in 3 different workplaces in a row?

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  • Hi Maria,

    I am sure that I have felt exactly the same at times but I also know that I have felt the exact opposite at times as well. I have bad days where all I hear from staff is negativity and moans and that gets me down and I feel like why do I bother. However, other days I see the positive, it might be making the phone call to offer someone their dream job or even ensuring that a disciplinary procedure is conducted professionally so that the employee understands the problem but doesnt feel humiliated or "told off".

    I think it is easy to say that HR gets the rough end of the stick - being at the bottom of the pile for pay awards, being paid less than Finance etc. However, I think some of that is because we see all the pay of everyone else. I remember when I first started out in my HR career that this was something that took me some time to get used to - seeing what other people earnt you cant help but compare yourself to the. Over time I have learnt not to make the comparisons and only focus on whether I feel I am being paid a fair salary for my role. HR generally is a lower paid profession than Finance - thats just the way it is!

    In regard to the linked in thing, I think that a lot of people put open for new opportunities regardless - you never know when you might get that call about the absolute dream job. It doesnt necessarily mean that you are unhappy where you are but its always nice to see what else is out there!

    The power struggles and politics happen in every department. People complain about all the other departments - there are stereotypes for them too.

    I think it is always a good idea to examine if you really enjoy your job and whether it is the right career etc but dont make the mistake of assuming that all the problems would disappear in a different career - you may lose some, will probably gain a few others and many will be exactly the same.
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  • Hi Maria,

    I am sure that I have felt exactly the same at times but I also know that I have felt the exact opposite at times as well. I have bad days where all I hear from staff is negativity and moans and that gets me down and I feel like why do I bother. However, other days I see the positive, it might be making the phone call to offer someone their dream job or even ensuring that a disciplinary procedure is conducted professionally so that the employee understands the problem but doesnt feel humiliated or "told off".

    I think it is easy to say that HR gets the rough end of the stick - being at the bottom of the pile for pay awards, being paid less than Finance etc. However, I think some of that is because we see all the pay of everyone else. I remember when I first started out in my HR career that this was something that took me some time to get used to - seeing what other people earnt you cant help but compare yourself to the. Over time I have learnt not to make the comparisons and only focus on whether I feel I am being paid a fair salary for my role. HR generally is a lower paid profession than Finance - thats just the way it is!

    In regard to the linked in thing, I think that a lot of people put open for new opportunities regardless - you never know when you might get that call about the absolute dream job. It doesnt necessarily mean that you are unhappy where you are but its always nice to see what else is out there!

    The power struggles and politics happen in every department. People complain about all the other departments - there are stereotypes for them too.

    I think it is always a good idea to examine if you really enjoy your job and whether it is the right career etc but dont make the mistake of assuming that all the problems would disappear in a different career - you may lose some, will probably gain a few others and many will be exactly the same.
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