Is it possible to have HR that employees don’t hate?

On the latest episode of The New Way We Work, we look at what an employee-centric human resources department would look like.

Some things about workplace culture feel universal, and negative experiences with human resources is one of the biggest. The profession has a long history of being the butt of office jokes and much maligned in pop culture.

A big part of that is the belief that HR exists not as the name suggests—to be a resource for the humans that work for a company—but rather to protect the company from liabilities presented by the people that work there. But a lot has changed about the HR industry and its role within companies since its inception around the time of the industrial revolution.

As the needs of both companies and employees have evolved, human resources has grown to include roles overseeing compliance;?harassment and bias training; diversity, equity, and inclusion responsibilities and goals; pandemic health and safety; remote and hybrid work policies; evolving attitudes and demands around benefits; and more. Once seen as out of touch and inefficient, the industry is now in the middle of some of the biggest workplace issues.

That expansion can bring big challenges and opportunities. The HR industry is expected to grow by 10% over the next decade, attracting millennial and Gen Z employees who are likely to change the face of human resources even more.

So, what would a progressive, employee-centric human resources department look like? Is there a future where HR is no longer the butt of office jokes?

On the latest episode of The New Way We Work, I spoke to Lars Schmidt, who is the founder of the HR consultancy Amplify, host of the Redefining Work podcast, author of the book Redefining HR, and a regular contributor to Fast Company.

Changing HR’s reputation

Schmidt says that HR’s bad reputation is earned from the way the field was set up to be a compliance role for the company. But current HR practitioners are on a spectrum. He says there’s only a small share that are integrated throughout the business. “They’re relied upon for the value they bring to the strategic operations and, ultimately, the bottom line of the business” he says, but “that’s maybe 10%.”

On the other end of the spectrum, he says, is “that ‘old school legacy kind of transactional personnel’ of stereotypes; that’s probably 20%.” The remaining 70%, he says, has the potential to move toward the leading edge that balance both the needs of employees and of the company. The potential for that 70% to move up depends on the ambitions of the individuals within an HR department and how the company wants to think about the role of HR.

As Schmidt points out, there has been a lot of change in the field of HR over the last three years. One of the?biggest shifts, he says, is the way companies are viewing the roles and skills needed. Historically, HR was a place where professionals spent their careers without a lot of mobility inside and outside of the function, but that’s no longer the case he says.

“There’s a lot of people moving into the field from design, sales, marketing, IT, data science—functions that historically had nothing to do with HR,” Schmidt says. “Now they have lots of those types of skill sets and dispositions in the field. We have different viewpoints and perspectives that are bringing a much richer look at how we think about the field.”

Trust and transparency

As companies expand the definition of what skills are need and the roles that make up a modern human resources department, there are a few crucial elements that leaders need to demonstrate.

“Looking at some of those companies that have HR teams that are really respected, they have people leaders who are able to be really relatable to their employees,” Schmidt says. “Their ability to relate to their employees and be open and real with them—that goes a long way to earn trust.”

The other important piece, he says, is to deliver on promises or be honest when you can’t. “It’s great to get feedback on what employees want, but [you need to] share progress or say, ‘We know you really want to do this thing, but we can’t, and here’s why.'” he explains. “Those are the things that help HR teams connect with their employees and build that trust, because the trust is really the currency of that relationship.”

For more on the future of HR, including how AI and Gen Z will change the field, listen to the full episode.

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