Discontentment of the employees to the job performed by the human resource department got highlighted on the publication of the article “why we hate HR” by Keith H. Hammonds in 2005 in the Fast Company cover story. Evaluation of the cause for the ineffectiveness of the HR and the solutions to overcome them is a necessity in the “people- powered” business world.

A major cause for the rift in the relationship between the employees and the HR personnel is on account of the recruitment of inexperienced people into the human resource department who are unaware of their duties and responsibilities to the employees of the entity. Failure to understand where they stand, what is expected of them leads to inefficiency which results in a dissatisfied work force who remain discontent with the outlook of the HR. Their inability to move with the demands in the fast pacing world results in a highly demotivated work force who are incapable of meeting the challenges set by the transitions.

The sudden transition of the HR from mere paymasters to a strategic partner failed to educate them on the task involved. Though they were masters in the administrative work like payroll processing, etc, the rise of the outsourcing industry convinced many companies the advantage of transferring the routine jobs to a third party and the necessity of the HRD for taking an active role in the strategy of the company. Understanding the company’s long term goal, identifying and understanding the transitions in the industry, its impact on the business, customer policies, existing relationship of the company and its competitors with the customers were not clearly understood by many, leading to a wide gap between the company’s position in the industry and its competitor. This rift resulted in a highly dissatisfied work force who lost complete faith in the capabilities of the HR.

In many business houses, the HR department remains unconnected with the service line requirements. Their aloof attitude makes them incapable of identifying the needs of the people and making policies that are employee friendly. Whereas if they are closely aligned to business and its needs, they can come out with policies and measures that will suit the exact need of the hour, resulting in an employee friendly, highly motivated work culture.

Incompetence in moving with the hour as well as on a long term perspective is another reason for their failure. The long term strategies involve job rotation, career management, performance appraisals, etc. Continuous engagement of the employees requires the HR to have a clear picture of the skills of the employees, their dreams, aspirations and inhibitions, etc which requires them to come down towards the employees and maintain a rapport with them. But absence of this creates an appalling situation. Placing the employees “on bench” has an adverse impact on the morale of the employee. Similarly job rotation needs proper identification of the needs of the employees. Edgar Schein came up with eight “career anchors” that the people could lay as their personal preferences that makes it difficult to make a change in their careers. Technical competencies in a particular field, managerial competencies, autonomy, security, creativity, dedication to a cause, challenges, and lifestyle are the eight factors that are set by the employees that has been identified by Schein as career anchors that makes career planning and rotation difficult. Indifference to these needs pose a grave threat to the strategic decisions on people requirements.

The company’s outlook to the HR is another cause for the tension in the relationship between the HR and the employees. Poor remuneration to the HR personnel when compared to those on the technical field takes out the drive to perform well in the employees. The failure of the company to invest in technically sound people in the field of HR results in the appointment of those who are incompetent.

The company and the HR department have to make a conscious effort to negate the hatred in the organisation if they have to turn out to be successful.