Scary myths about HR… Busted!

We’ve heard some horror stories about HR functions, but as People Puzzles founder Ally Maughan and People Director James Lloyd explain, there is nothing to fear.

Scary myth #1: HR people have no business experience; they’re pen pushers.

Truth: You may get letters from the HR function that you don’t like – maybe your bonus isn’t being paid or you’ve been invited to a disciplinary. The truth is, HR often has to help deal with the horror stories – when things get really tough we’re experts at navigating people and companies back to sleeping well at night.

We also come in many different guises! HR job descriptions are among the hardest to write. We work with many aspects of a business – resourcing, hiring, business strategy – on any given day, we can find ourselves wearing many different hats (witch or otherwise!).

Scary myth #2: HR people are out to get you. They love a disciplinary!

Truth: We are yet to find a People Director who loves a disciplinary and there are none at People Puzzles! We love to find managers who challenge, so if there’s trouble brewing, problems are discussed and addressed before we need to get involved.

Good People Directors look at developing leaders, creating a strong and supportive culture, finding and developing talent, structuring the business to give clear accountability and installing robust and smooth people processes.

Scary myth #3: HR people are the management’s ears and voice. They’re not on your side.

Truth: The People function is like all others in a company: it is a business function. We’re not there for tea and sympathy, but neither are we a police state. We strive to help everyone be productive and happy, as it is scientifically proven that happier employees help a business to be more successful. Plus we also get to hand out the treats, by helping organisations reward their people.

Scary myth #4: The HR team love firing people!

Truth: There will always be occasions when people have to exit the business. Experienced and qualified HR people need to be involved to ensure it’s done as painlessly as possible and within the law. But we haven’t usually created the situation where that has to happen!

In fact, the top priority for us is to help deliver an organisation’s business plan and create a great working environment for everyone who works there. If you have good working relationships, your company has invested in you with life-changing training and/or development, you’ve been challenged and feel appreciated, that’s down to great people management. These things don’t happen by magic.

For a FREE hr function health check – just complete our People Puzzles Profiler, and we’ll arrange for a People Director to talk you through the outcomes and what this means for your business.

Or you can call us on 0808 164 5826.

 

Ally Maughan, Founder

James Lloyd, People Director