I see positive for HR individuals, but negative for company culture. My company is toxic enough that it seems HR individuals have had the same choice as the employees: conform to a certain level of oppression or leave. You asked for positives: my first HR person subtly encouraged me to find my voice, a second started an investigation on my behalf and did a team building event - reflecting to me (and others) strengths and coping style in a constructive way, a fourth subtly suggested a way I could job search outside the company while maintaining integrity. Kudos to HR that the chronic hostility was stopped (although the offenders remain in the company while three of the four HR persons are not). It's unfortunate that in my company HR hasn't had the power to acknowledge the ongoing unconscious gender bias nor correct "hidden" pay gaps. Here's hoping the ship is turning (for good) and the HR individuals can make the positive impact they want to.

Hi Ashley! I am obviously biased with HR because of my position, but I can understand why HR can be seen as what you described. If HR is not practicing as a partner of all things within the business, and more of a policing nature, they will not be any help. This could be at the direction of leadership (or lack of)--but that is a separate topic. Our position should be to serve all of the employees as best as we can, and work with the managers to bring attention to/remove the obstacles for employees to be successful. OR at least that is how I work with my team, and it has proven successful for quite a few years.

Ouch. I’m the HR leader for a 3500 employee global software company and I hope none of our employees would respond affirmatively here. My team works hard to meet employees’ ever increasing and more complicated needs. COVID has only increased the burden on everyone and good employers, like mine, need to respond in a humane fashion by thinking ahead to how to accommodate needs and remain flexible and responsive. More strategically, I would suspect my team members handle issues such as advising on a toxic boss or challenging environment every day. The balance for HR is to walk the line well between being the company’s representative and the employee’s advocate. And to not forget that everyone has a stake in resolving issues at the lowest possible level. I probably sound like the stereotypical HR word spouter but I’m happy to say that we’ve created a culture that demands action. It’s not easy and we aren’t done. Despite constant work on it, we get killed on Glassdoor all the time. If you aren’t getting what you need from HR, it’s likely a sign that you are in a less enlightened company that doesn’t support the problem solving aspect of HR. That doesn’t mean you need to leave unless the environment is truly toxic. It just means that you need to find advocacy elsewhere or lean on managers who are more aware.

Hello Ashley, I know when I was having problems with a supervisor who was trying to get me to reconcile with another employee when I wasn't ready to. HR stepped in and assisted me during a meeting with the same supervisor who at that time was trying to get me fired. HR realized the error that my supervisor made in trying to force me to do something when I wasn't ready to do so and had to have a separate meeting with her. Sincerely, Katrina