How did HR get to be so well paid?

Christine Neville

I resent the power they have. And yes I resent that they're so well paid given that they're not the real talent in any company. I'd never go to them about a work problem as I'd feel they'd only gossip about it and somehow make it worse. They have a huge amount of power too. I know a lady in HR and some of the stuff she shares with me about others isn't right at all. They can look up anything about anyone in the company.

Perhaps the things they do are important, but in a way I view it as a job that pretty much anyone could do. Okay maybe you need a bit of people skills; meaning be more talkative than average, but outside of that I do have to wonder.

PsychoPete

We don't have HR at my employment, we just fight it out like normal people

horgan_p

One of the main pillars of the gig is to help the company avoid getting sued/taken to the WRC/ Labour courts etc etc.

People will pay good money to stay out of court. See also : solicitors.

rtron

C'mon, did the HR person you know share their salary with you?

sam t smith

Christine, you should report the HR lady who is sharing confidential information. Report her to HR.

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003257#Comment_119003257

This is pretty much why HR exists.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244073/how-did-hr-get-to-be-so-well-paid

Good point Christine.....never thought about it much before...... it's all a bit of 'codology' really.....the ironic thing is in the company I work for they ( 2 of them I think??) Have a huge turnover......after 20 odd years I've seen a dozen or so " HR" staffers come & go. As another poster said it's basically all about crossing the 't's' & dotting the 'i's',, just a cushion between management and legal. Can't ever recall anyone going to " HR" with an issue/ problem

Whatdoesitmatter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244073/how-did-hr-get-to-be-so-well-paid

Which re-reg are you

Richard Hillman

HR will constantly tell senior management about how likely they are to be sued. Scares the bejaysis out of everyone and reeps the benefits.

A bit like marketing. Marketing will market how important marketing is. Completely oversell it and senior management suddenly think marketing is more important than it is.

They are 2 branches of a large company that I have absolutely no respect for. I don't rate people who work in those departments as decent human beings.

HR are busybodies, snitches, nosy fuckers. Marketing/advertising/PR are usually sociopaths. There's nothing genuine about them.

Mrs OBumble

My brother worked for a company with no HR beyond payroll.

They had a budget for getting taken to the labour court each year when managers fùcked up. They figured this was cheaper than paying for HE staff and the associated lost productivity.

Christine Neville

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003270#Comment_119003270

She was talkiing about some guy we both know and she said "the only reason he got that job was because...". I would not be surprised if she was willing to tell me his salary if I'd have wanted so.

Christine Neville

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003911#Comment_119003911

I guess Mad Men depicts them well!

BattleCorp

HR is a poxy job.

You are there to bat for the company and not the employee. You are trying to solve problems and get sh1t from one end of the day to the other. You've to try to delicately sort out every lazy, good for nothing dumb fcuk of an employee who has the law on their side. You've to take your orders from those higher up (Directors etc.) and enforce them, even if you don't agree with them and they are unpleasant for the workforce.

It's a sh1t job. More luck to them.

Strumms

i agree with the above. Problem is when you have meetings with them or any sort of electronic communication they advocate their impartiality but if you ever go to them with an issue that relates to management or a disagreement or incident with a manager they are about as useful as a cock flavoured lollipop…tend to talk out of both sides of their mouth simultaneously…

my sole experience was when getting systematically bullied some years ago by a jealous supervisor…

Them: ” I hear what you are saying, but did you ever try and look at it from their point of view ? It’s not an easy job ! “

Me : “ no I look at it from an employment law and company policy point of view, that both forbid this behaviour towards me “

Them : “ ok, but a little more understanding flexibility from your part would be welcomed do you think ? “

Me : “ no, them doing their job legally would be “

Them : “ohhh” 🤣

bertiebomber

HR used to be called personnel, however when they moved to resources then the managers had to be paid well in order to treat the employees as non entities and as nothing more than a resource. Thence the big salaries they are re-numerated to treat you like dirt and at all times cover the firm against you, at all costs . They are rarely on your side and must manoevre you out if you start talking back, thence the big salaries.

whatawaster81

They're not called HR in my company, they're called the Talent Department. Like We're all singing all dancing employees.

Performance reviews tend to be monitored by HR, so they control the hiring, firing, and the giving of promotions or salary increases. Then, there's the absolutely shocking fear many managers have of being called out for sexual harassment (regardless of whether it's true or not), during which HR (in many companies) will be the judge, and jury, before it's sent to the more official external examiners. Doesn't help that HR tends to be populated almost entirely by women, so it's hard to argue against them... as with the "advancement" of HR theory, woke or feminist theories in the workplace, any resistance to them can be put down as sexism, or whatever.

HR has managed to insert itself into the framework for almost every important decision that relates to the operations and management of a company. Of course, they're going to pay themselves well, especially when it's "bad form" to talk about your salary with another employee. I can remember when nobody cared if someone knew your salary and what commissions you earned. Now you can be reprimanded for sharing your own personal information, such as salary amounts, with other employees.

It's absolutely nutty.

CrookedJack

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119003888#Comment_119003888

It's Brid Hegarty again.

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006220#Comment_119006220

How are things at the Billy Barry club?

whatawaster81

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006378#Comment_119006378

Not bad. Actually a large company with 800 employees.

backwards_man

As a director, I can say having a good relationship with HR is key. I have gotten a huge amount of support when dealing with some very tricky situations with my team. I dont relate to most of the comments here, in any company I have worked for HR and Payroll are two distinct departments, they do not decide their own salary (the concept is ridiculous ), and they are there to make sure the company abides by employment law.

Donald Trump

They have to be well paid. After all, it is usually their soul that they are selling (if they have one to begin with)

Cluedo Monopoly

It's is very very difficult to get good experienced HR staff. HR managers often have an inferiority complex with functional/people managers which is why they often go on little power trips with new employees. They don't make decisions, they implement. Employers make labour law mistakes all the time, HRs job is to minimise those but they rarely really involve themselves with growing the talent because they haven't a clue what's going on.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006325#Comment_119006325

I have never involved HR in performance, progression or pay related discussions. They do not decide who is hired or fired either. They do the admin. Some can appear to be in senior management circle but they aren't really.

Squatman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006165#Comment_119006165

TEll me more. DM if you need to. sounds great.

hope it went ok for you in the end. never forget that HR is to protect the company, and not you.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006750#Comment_119006750

In every company I've worked in, which had a HR department, they set the procedures to be followed, and either, sat in on performance reviews, or were there to check the records of the review afterwards. When I was a manager, performance reviews needed to be signed off by HR before the recommendations could be acted upon.

Oh, and I didn't say that they were in senior management. I said they've inserted themselves into the framework... there's a difference.

Cluedo Monopoly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119006829#Comment_119006829

Why were they in performance reviews when they did not work day-to-day with the person being reviewed? I have only seen that for PIPs. How do they have the capacity to attend every performance review? Some companies do them quarterly. A performance review should be 1:1 Manager + Report. I'd run them personally. Intimidating to have them in a review.

The senior management comment was a general add on point.

cml387

A key metric for HR is absenteeism.

So they have to come up with ways of stopping people being out sick or else the HR manger (and of course ultimately the HR staff) get their asses kicked.

That's really a hiding to nothing as far as I can see.

cloudatlas

Yes I greatly dislike them, I see them as a barrier to get to people who can actually help, i.e. legal, accounts, higher up people with authority.

The HR qualification is seen as a doss subject in any business school and easy points.

BattleCorp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119010427#Comment_119010427

You should try have a go at HR and see if you think it's a doss. It's a pure poxy, thankless job. Problems from one end of the day to the other.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119007441#Comment_119007441

Because in many companies, the metrics by which employees are judged are determined between HR and management, with HR being present to ensure those metrics are being applied "fairly". The fears over discrimination, bias, or whatever have put many companies in the position of wanting a HR representative participate in many similar processes. In my experience, performance reviews would be quarterly.

And I agree that reviews should be 1:1.. but it is what it is. The American way of having HR heavily involved has become rather important in some companies.