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Why We Hate Hr?

Better Essays

Ten years ago, Keith Hammonds wrote a 4,000-word first-person narrative that sent shockwaves through the people management community. Its title: “Why We Hate HR”. The piece still reverberates through HR today, and Workforce thought with the passage of a decade, which has seen two presidential election cycles, the worst recession since the Great Depression and the approval of sweeping healthcare legislation, that it would be a good time to revisit HR’s standing in the corporate world. So, to paraphrase Hammons, Do we still hate HR?

Upon the first read of Hammonds’ “shot heard ‘round the world” article, one would consider it to be a poignantly appropriate article that calls the polarizing function of Human Resources to the carpet. However, a second or third reading of the article, Hammonds’ extraordinary words begin to show their flaws. Given the subjective nature of HR, it wouldn’t be difficult to muster up some relevant anecdotes that support his argument. So let’s skip the fancy rhetoric and call Hammonds’ article for what it is, lazy; and here’s why.

It’s divisive

At no point in Hammonds’ piece does he offer a solution or a light at the end of the tunnel. Instead he chooses to appeal to his readers’ baseline emotions, frustrations, coupled with some confirmation bias and generalizations to strengthen his argument (sound like a political candidate we know?). On the surface, yes it’s easy to see why people aren’t thrilled with HR. That said, a poorly constructed HR

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