Great Lakes Wire

A recent survey by job site MyPerfectResume found that of 1,000 respondents, 86% of workers fear their human resources representative. Further, 85% reported that they hesitated to go to HR to discuss their work-related issues.

There wasn’t much information about the sample taken, but this issue is a concern for the human resources department. Additionally, in many organizations, HR is often not viewed as being aligned with management.

Where does this apprehension come from? After all, isn’t HR designed to support and advocate for employees?

The report cites several areas where HR is falling short:

- Doubt of confidentiality – 37%

- Fear of repercussions – 31%

- Perceived ineffectiveness of HR – 37%

- Preference to solve the issue on their own or with their manager’s help – 31%

- Uncertainty about HR’s response – 20%

The negative perceptions that workers hold about HR are:

- A whopping 71% of workers responding felt HR is too involved in office politics.

- 68% believed HR focuses on procedures rather than people.

- 67% state it’s hard to get timely answers from HR.

The report asked why employees believed what they said about HR and respondents gave several reasons from their personal experience:

- "90% of respondents felt their issue was not adequately addressed."

- "43% of respondents cited that more than once their issues were not adequately addressed."

So, what should HR be doing to respond to this dismal rating?

The report states within an organization, Human Resources needs to really look at how it responds to its employees individually. HR practices need to be evaluated and an honest look at how employees are responded to needs to occur. Human Resources needs to ensure they are respecting and maintaining employee confidentiality. They should practice good security around information, supporting employees that present themselves to HR with their problems while following through on those problems and issues that are brought to them.

But is this all on HR? An organization’s HR may simply not have the time to fully engage with workers when in many small and medium-sized companies the HR department is comprised of barely one qualified HR position per 100 employees. And the “department” is generally responsible for any number of HR areas such as policies and practices, at least some portion of benefits administration, compliance, compensation, attendance and leaves, and in some organizations safety and health. Add discrimination and harassment investigations to this and the time those responsibilities take, and HR may not have any real time left to fully engage with workers’ other concerns.

The report states that without self-correction by Human Resources departments, problematic organizational issues can arise including low morale, reduced job satisfaction, increased turnover, poor company culture, and ultimately no alignment of workers with company policy and goals.

ASE Connect

ASE members have access to several online libraries that provide extensive information about best practices in human resources. For those needing extra help—temporary or part-time—ASE provides experienced professionals through its Staffing Services department.

By Michael Burns courtesy of SBAM-approved partner ASE. Source: MyPerfectResume's "HR Perception Report" (6/6/2024).

Click here for more News & Resources.

###