Employees’ Grievances Against and Within HR – Part II – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1032

Employees’ Grievances Against and Within HR – Part II – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1032

Dear Colleagues! This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1032 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans Blogs are published by Asrar Qureshi on its dedicated site https://pharmaveterans.com. Please email to aq.pharmaveterans@gmail.com for publishing our contributions here.

Credit: Mikhail Nilov

Credit: Thirdman

Credit: Vlada Karpovich

Preamble

In the last post, I gave a broad review of employees’ grievances against HR. In this post, I shall present the viewpoint of HR on the situation. This is not exactly ‘Shikwah (grievance)’ and ‘Jawab e Shikwah (counter-grievance)’, but rather ‘Shikwah dar Shikwah’. It is so because HR has its own side to tell what makes their job tougher by the day.

HR Position in the Corporate

HR gained much significance during the last decades. It evolved and took hold of the entire organization. Some years ago, HR reigned supreme, and HR Heads were dreaded by the line managers in many companies. They had opinions about every matter in the company. Their role however bordered on undue interference and was resented. As a result, the management decided to clip the wings of HR somewhat, which is the case now. 

Other changes also occurred meanwhile. HR scope was expanded in Pakistan also in the light of the worldwide developments. These are good developments because they cover the entire human resource affairs, from selection and recruitment till their departure, and everything in between.

HR is supposed to be accessible to all staff. They are the only department where people can approach without following the hierarchy protocol. Based on this principal, people do approach HR for relief of their grievances.

HR is With Employees – But

The biggest grievance of HR is that employees behave irresponsibly, do wrongful acts, and unnecessarily cause disturbance in an otherwise peaceful environment. Too many discipline related issues are reported which take undue time and do not leave enough time for productive, progressive, developmental work. If most, or ideally, all employees follow the rules, work diligently, and contribute to making the workplace environment work-friendly for everyone, the HR will have plenty of time to work in more important work.

HR is Overloaded, Understaffed, Overworked, Underpaid, and Unrecognized

Five (or seven) key activities are now entrusted to HR. Selection and Recruitment, Compensation and Benefits, Learning and Development, Performance Management, and Talent Acquisition and Management are cardinal. In some places, Organization Development, and Promotion of Brand Employer, are also thrown in. 

In a sizeable organization, the HR has their plate full, rather overflowing. Each of these functions takes time for planning, execution, and analysis, which is not always available. The result is that HR may not be able to add value which it can and is supposed to do.

While the organization size enlarges, the most hiring is done in business area. HR does not get new positions and is always understaffed. HR staff’s compensation packages are not as lucrative as some other functions. While they make appointments of senior staff at fat salaries in other functions, their own staff is underpaid. 

HR mostly suffers from both ends. The employers think HR is too worker-friendly and causing undue increase in expenses, while the employees believe the HR is with the management, not with them. So, HR remains unrecognized, and unappreciated.

HR is Not Autonomous

Contrary to public perception, HR is a part of the corporate, not an autonomous body, and all corporate norms are applied to it in the same way as these are applied to other departments. They have a boss to tackle, and they have their peers in other functions with whom they have to survive. This makes them dependent on others like other functions.

Whenever a grievance is received, HR is obliged to work on it. The final decision is not taken by HR alone, it is taken by the management as a whole and it may not be in favor of the complainant.

HR would like to provide maximum relief and facilities to staff, but it cannot take decisions independently. The decisions are taken in the light of the policies formulated by the corporate. HR cannot go beyond policies and cannot alter or make new policies independently.

HR is Not Supreme or Supreme Court

The perception that HR is over and above all other functions is false. In ranking, HR may be somewhere in the middle of the organization, not at the top. Or it may be among the top rank among others, not alone there. By virtue of this fact, HR cannot act beyond its mandate.

The cases which are brought to HR usually have two parties: aggrieved party, and the aggressor. As is needed, the HR will investigate, try to find facts, and fix the blame, or dismiss it as frivolous or baseless. It is akin to dispensing justice like in any other such system. After impartial inquiry, HR is required to recommend actions, which may or may not be approved, or may be changed. 

The compulsions that affect the verdict in our country’s civil and criminal justice system, prevail here. There are business exigencies, and favorites, and maybe approach from other quarters. Let me present the fact a case of sexual harassment in an otherwise good organization. The male boss in late fifties had eyes on his youngish female junior of his department. Finally, one day, when they worked for some time after hours, he grabbed her and tried to kiss her. She valiantly resisted and ran away. She knew that her boss was a good friend of head of HR, but after deep thinking, she reported the case to HR. Serious as it was, it was taken up by the head himself, who investigated and found the boss guilty. Being a good friend, the head of HR consoled the female colleague and told her that her boss had been severely reprimanded, and the matter was closed. Had it been someone else, he would have been fired summarily. It is common observation that most businesspeople get away with irregularities and malpractices because they bring business, and their bosses support them.

HR, even if it is firm in uprightness, it has to bend rules to accommodate other seniors. 

Sum Up

HR and management and employees make a triangle which can help deliver great results for the organization. However, deep soul searching is urgently needed to find, understand, accept, and resolve key issues affecting the performance of HR.

Concluded.

Disclaimers: Pictures in these blogs are taken from free resources at Pexels, Pixabay, Unsplash, and Google. Credit is given where available. If a copyright claim is lodged, we shall remove the picture with appropriate regrets.

For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intent to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, however, it happens unintentionally, I offer my sincere regrets.