Nobody likes their HR?

Last week while traveling to work I was interacting with a co-passenger. When he came to know I am in HR, bang came his response, “Nobody likes their HR. In my first organization which was a leading IT company, my HR did not give me a raise in 2009. When I asked her about the same, she had told me that at least I did not get a pay cut due to recession like others. I did not like her response. She could have given me at least a 5% hike. You people do not call back after interviews, you do not respond after receiving resumes”. I think we are the most talked about and ridiculed professionals. I have not researched statistics, but I am sure if someone would, the result would be us, with the largest numbers of memes and jokes online.

I did not, could not react for a few seconds. I see so many things being shared daily about HRs. I don’t react to any of those. That is their perspective. But believe me, I love my profession and I have learnt so much by following great HR leaders who play a crucial role in changing people's lives. I thought giving him this insight and our side of the story. Am I justifying wrong doings of all unprofessional HRs? No, just sharing a few pointers about those of us still fighting it out each day.

First, all HRs are not recruiters. PERIOD.

Speaking of recruiters, I started my career as one and managed them for a very long time. Yes, they do not always respond after you give an interview. But do you know that in most of the cases the response is stuck at the hiring manager or interviewer’s level and after repeated reminders they do not get the response themselves? If they could say “yes, you are selected” they would be the happiest person on earth, since that would reduce a little piece from often-unbelievable targets. If they could tell you clearly “no, you are not selected” most of them would. Because that would save them from one more call from the hundreds daily calls they need to make. So many times, they receive the response from the interviewer “he is good but keep him on hold. I want to see few more profiles”. Now what do they tell the candidate? The senior recruiters manage, but the inexperienced one fumbles. It is not easy to say NO.

Now you might ask me, if the job is so high pressure why did they choose to become a recruiter? Because of the demand and it often does not require experience. You can learn on the job. But sadly, they are always taught about skill sets to select the resumes but often they don’t get the training on people skills like many other professions. A huge gap there. Coming back to not getting a response after sending a resume. Not all companies have or invest in ATS (Applicant Tracing System) with automated email responses. For a job posting in a leading job site, a recruiter receives somewhere between 400 to 1000 resumes for a vanilla skill. A large part of which are forced application with zero match with the required skills. Job seekers feel it is absolutely fine to send a profile without even going through the JD and required skill sets and still talk rubbish about the HR if they don’t get a response.

Now come the Talent Management people often known as Generalists. Expectations of employees and employers from them are sky high. They are often ridiculed as rangoli makers. Yes, they make rangolis and often organize rangoli competitions because that is an integral part of Indian festivities. Many employees love it as it gives them a homely vibe during the festivities. If you don’t like that event, please stay away. There are many other fun events that are organized. Join them.

If people leave the organization no matter the reason, the HR is answerable. Why? because attrition is often tied to their KRAs. If people are leaving the organization due to poor technologies or projects with limited scopes, even then, HR takes the blame. I did not get my desired hike. No, I will not understand the HR does not pay from their pocket or out of their whims and fancies. Blame the HR. They are a scapegoat for all situations. There are so many more things I can say since I am a passionate HR. But let me wrap it up.

My travel mate in the end apologized to me and acknowledged that he was ignorant about our profession. Like all professions, there are good, bad, and evil within us too, I agree. You might have come across an unprofessional HR, but there are good ones too. Please do not generalize. I still receive phone calls for professional guidance from my co-workers whom I have not worked for more than 5 years. I still get invited to ex-colleagues’ life events whom I had managed as an HR in the past. There are co-workers who have turned good friends. I have so many LinkedIn connections who send me resumes daily. I try to respond to all though I am not a recruiter. I truly cared for the professional well being of my people. I have scolded them like their teacher to impose discipline at times but never made them feel bad. I don’t remember when I became their ‘Didi’ from Sunetra to many, after they or I moved on from the organization. After spending 16 years in this profession, I feel so good with the beautiful relationships I made, and I will cherish them throughout my life. None of them made me feel bad about being an HR and I am sure I could somewhere make a difference in their mind about HRs.