Why We Hate HR: Some Solutions
It may seem like years ago, but it was a mere 6 months ago or so, when Keith Hammond shook some folks up when he wrote an article titled “Why We Hate HR” in FastCompany. George and I (mostly George) covered this issue in some detail, including Debate rages over “Why we Hate HR” and SHRM’s Reply to Fast Company Article on Why We Hate HR .
Now, Keith Hammond provides a kind of defense for his article as well as some solutions, to garner more respect (love?) for HR. The solutions are the most interesting and worthy of reading. They include
- HR needs to learn to fight “evil” management;
- Every HR person needs to be able to answer these questions:
- Who is our customer?
- What does the customer need?
- Who are our competitors?
- Who are they hiring?
- What are we good and bad at, relative to our own customers’ needs?
- Speak in a way employees understand (Hammond notes that many benefit plans are difficult, if not impossible, to read).
It is hard to argue with at least these suggestion that I have noted above. Some will object that GOOD Hr managers already do these very things. Perhaps we just need many more HR managers who are proficient and who can make a better case for what they do.
I recommend that everyone take a look at the entire article in which the author defends his arguments and describes some solutions to why we hate hr.
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I agree with Mr Hammond’s comments on the Utility value of Human Resources across organizations. I’m a graduate of the most prestigious Industrial Relations Program in India and hold a degree considered to be the best in the HR business. Strangely enough, I spent only 3 months of my work life outside college in an HR Function, as I couldnt take the Adminstrivia & lack of importance given to the function in the organizational pecking order. I since moved onto Business Development first for a product line, then for the Worldwide Sales group at the Organization and then to a Regional Sales role in the US west coast. Let me tell Mr. Hammond something that is going to shock him out of his chair:
a. Marketing professionals in organizations are EVEN WORSE than Human Resources. They are dangerous with their half knowledge & unfortunately have large sums of money devoted to their hair brained business ideas. Most professionals dont have a clue as to whats going on at ground level- because they havent done one crucial function ever in their lives - Front end selling. I’d like to challenge many of the so called marketing Veepees to explain in simple terms the following:
a. Where is their current, and short term business going to come from?
b. How do sales projections feed into their marketing plans?
c. What is the logical reason for any/and every initiative undertaken by the marketing department?
d. What are the latest Marketing models undertaken by their competition?
e. What are they doing to combat it?
My bottomline contention is - to become good in a managerial function, spend time trying to sell the kool-aid, and then get back to your area of speciality. This should be done for HR, Marketing as well as anyone spouting Theories in the company, Especially Strategists!!!