The Old Wives’ Tale – HR
HR people in every organization work at creating better working lives for its people. Being HR Professionals, we all must have heard a lot of funny and baseless myths about the HR Department.
Also, the HR Department is being mocked a lot and is probably the one department that faces the brunt of rumors, biases, and misunderstandings by all in the corporate world. “From Making rangoli to firing people” is something people consider HR to be all about.
There is a lot more to Human Resources than that, so I’d like to dispel a few of the fairy tale myths about HR.
Fairy Tale Myth #1 HR distracts you from work by assigning futile tasks.
If we wish you a happy morning and add phrases like “How are you doing today?” “How’s work going?” and “Is there anything we can help you with?”, is an expression that shows that the HR Department is pretty kind and generous to look after you. Through continuous check-ins, we ensure if our employees are doing okay with their mental, physical, and professional health.
The Department of Human Resources majorly focuses on employee engagement so as to avoid a monotonous day at work and to ensure a euphoric work environment. HR plans a lot of activities for its employees.
It’s a connection, not a distraction.
Fairy Tale Myth #2 HRs make rangolis and chill.
We make Rangolis, celebrate festivities, make cards, roam around, just sit and talk with people, hire & fire. Being very honest, these are the maddening statements for HR professionals in their job role.
Fun fact is, YES, WE DO ALL THIS! But we have a lot more on our plate than this. Hire and Fire comes with huge responsibilities and consequences to be taken care of. It has a whole long process that takes a lot of effort and time.
Likewise, For Rangoli 😊, Selecting the purpose, corner, design, patterns, color combinations, adding creativity, it’s a whole long process again.
We suck all the negativity pills to make you chill.
Fairy Tale Myth #3 HRs are spies for Top Management.
HRs are most of the time considered as the sports teacher of a school who loves to catch people doing wrong and then punish them. We roam the work area to see, who all are gossiping or using their phones during work. The policies implemented by the HR department are largely in favor of management.
It’s a fallacious fact that HR is a spy of top management.
Rather, HR is the strategic business partner and wants to ensure a positive and productive working environment for all. This may sometimes seem like we are enforcing rules, policies, and processes, but this is just to ensure productive and disciplined surroundings. We always try to keep a check on employees’ satisfaction, not to catch them, rather to match them. And Yes, we are proud to be a detective, we detect fake resumes, fake experiences, fraudulent candidates, to save the work environment.
Yes, we are spies, but in your favor.
Fairy Tale Myth #4 Ssshhhh. Danger. It’s HR’s Call.
Folks are always afraid if ever called by HR. I must say, this is my favorite fairy tale myth about HR. “If HR is in the room, someone is getting fired.” Whenever I ask someone, if they are available for a call with HR, they feel so nervous, like it is surely their last working day at the organization. It sounds funny, no?
We sometimes call you just to check if you are doing okay, it may be to collect some personal details and information, or it may be for a bonus announcement. The most exciting is an increment call, isn’t it! So, its not always to fire people, most of the time, it is to bring a smile to people’s faces. We do check-ins to make you feel at home, as we are always here, if you ever need to talk about anything.
HR is in the room to foster an efficacious environment.
Fairy Tale Myth #5 You don’t need any special skills to go into HR.
Those who can do nothing, choose HR. It’s a stereotype approach towards HR professionals that, people who don’t get jobs in finance, marketing, or sales, choose to be HR, as it doesn’t require any specific skills. Anyone can do the job of HR.
As time changes, many people have evolved into their roles. Being a peoples’ person is not a cup of tea for all. It requires specific skills to be an expert at this. An HR professional is a fusion of these marvelous skills, starting with people advocacy, interpersonal communication, administrative expertise, HR domain knowledge, business acumen, data literacy, time management, confidentiality and flexibility approach, etc.
To succeed as an HR professional, specialization is a must.
Fairy Tale Myth #6 It’s a woman’s job!
When we say HR, we get a clear picture of a woman in mind, making calls to consultants, welcoming new joiners, making rangolis, announcing fun activities, and a lot more. The fascinating part is that when we say HR, most people hear HR-woman.
This is one of those half-truths. The lion’s share is, men are not only restricted to pursuing an educational or professional degree in HR; rather, they entered corporations as HRs. So, the people who think only women can take part in HR, should get a clearer insight into the facts.
Professions have nothing to do with gender.
These orthodox approaches towards the HR profession are still in practice today. We need to dispel these misconceptions and gain a better understanding of the roles and importance of HR in an organization.
Being a strategic business partner, it is our duty to communicate well with all the employees, to avoid these rumors. We can also implement various practices to strengthen the relationship between HR and other departments. We should never give up on upskilling ourselves to create more influence.
Let’s gather the data and use it to showcase HR’s impact on leadership.