Some job roles are negatively stereotyped. An example of a negatively stereotyped job role is Human Resources (HR). These stereotypes are depicted in your favourite television programmes, films and on social media platforms. This then channels people into thinking that HR is not as it seems…
An example of a much-loved TV show which portrays HR negatively is The Office. The HR Manager isn’t the most liked by employees and viewers…
The reason I decided to write this blog entry is that, before I started my apprenticeship, I was worried that HR was how it was portrayed in the media (i.e. the villains and the ‘fun police’) and I wanted to support and advise people in the workplace, not be ‘disliked’.
I want people who are interested in working in HR to not feel put off by the misrepresentation in the media and to work in HR because it’s a great career to develop and progress in.
Here are the four HR myths that I’m going to debunk:
- HR are the ‘fun police’ …
- We are not the ‘fun police’
- HR is there to do its job and, by using legislation and policies, do what is best for the organisation and employees
- We need to get rid of this ‘us vs them’ mentality as HR employees are friendly and approachable and employees shouldn’t feel worried about asking for advice, raising an issue or a concern to us
- HR is only about hiring and firing …
- Roles in HR vary from working in recruitment, payroll and employee relations to working in policy and diversity and inclusion
- It is also important to remember that hiring employees is not an easy job - it is about getting the right people and retaining them
- Additionally, dismissing an employee is not an easy job
- At my organisation, employees can apply to become investigating and deciding officers and they investigate and hold formal meetings in order to decide whether an employee has committed misconduct in the workplace
- HR make the final decisions …
- Believe it or not…most final decisions are made by managers themselves
- For example - in my organisation we have a Managers’ Advice Service Team who give advice rather than make decisions on behalf of the manager’s, employees, deciding officers or investigating officers
4. HR is a female-only profession
- Although HR is stereotypically female dominant - it is open for all
- Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that 63% of the profession are female and 37% are male
- I personally can see these statistics changing within the next 5 years and I believe we will see a gender balance in HR as it is such a large profession and there are a variety of roles to work in (as mentioned earlier in my blog)
I would love to hear your feedback on this blog so why not share your thoughts by connecting with me on LinkedIn (Olivia Scane) and Instagram (@anhrapprentice).
