HR-Glorified Administration or Something More?

Recently I saw this comment on an HR blog post and couldn’t resist discussing it. Most of us would be quick to defend the work we do, but I’m looking for some strong, well thought out responses to the criticism. I’m going to post my own response tomorrow, so be sure to come back to see what I’m thinking.

HR is not relevant in any workplace. It is merely glorified administration that serves no real purpose other than to suck resources from the business the HR ‘professionals’ (I use that term somewhat ironically) are supposed to support.

The real professionals who are tasked with generating fee revenue in order to pay for all the other staff in the business feel let down by HR people calling themselves a profession where they are in fact redundant and have only spent decades attempting to demonstrate their relevance, with mixed success.

So what are your thoughts? Does HR deserve this sort of criticism, or is there more to it than the alleged redundancy and irrelevance? 

15 thoughts on “HR-Glorified Administration or Something More?”

  1. Carrie Foster

    Does that not depend on the person. I know that I can demonstrate real ROI for the work I do – and I am valued for the value I create. But just like any role there are those who do it badly, which is obviously the case in regards to the person writing this comment. Good HR professionals CAN add value by helping the business get the best out of their people. Bad HR professionals are a waste of space, like a bad manager in any function. Just as a tongue in cheek aside – those glorified administrators that the person is quick to dismiss – who processes the recruitment, selection, Visa requirements, criminal checks, performance management, contracts, bonuses, employment law, employee benefits, company car payments, organise IT access etc, that ensures the people in the organization can do the job they are employed to do and get paid a salary each month? That’s right – HR.

  2. Hutto

    It sounds to me like this person works for an organization that doesn’t value their HR team… That could be because their HR team is doing a less than excellent job and it could be because this person or their organization doesn’t understand the true function of HR. I’m all for some people holding our feet to the fire, I mean someone has to hold us accountable and push us to do better, but my guess is the company this person works for needs an HR overhaul!

Comments are closed.