Overcoming HR Stereotypes

By Ashley Dugger

Have you ever proudly mentioned to someone that you work in Human Resource Management, only for them to reply with something along the lines of “Oh, so you hire/fire and plan parties” or “You work in HR, you only care about the company and not the employees”? Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of something like this: “HR doesn’t understand the business or data.” 

While everyone’s perception of what an HR professional does may differ based on their personal experiences with their HR departments, educating employees, leaders, business owners, and others about the true nature of HR is critical as we continue to see a strong, positive shift of HR being viewed as a strategic business partner and work to overcome stereotypes that may still exist in some organizations about what HR really is and how we contribute to business success.

SHRM published an article in 2017 exploring some of the most common portrayals of HR in movies and television series. If you are a fan of “The Office,” then you won’t be surprised to hear that the article described how Toby, the HR manager from the show, was highlighted as one example of how film/TV commonly portrays HR as the villain or the rule enforcer. I’ve dealt with this stereotype personally as employees would often joke that they were coming to the principal’s office or “going to jail” when they would stop by the HR offices.

Over time, our department made sure that we put as much time and energy into being visible around the organization and outside of our offices to chat with employees about non-work-related topics as we did with covering required trainings, updates, policy adherence, etc. This helped us build genuine relationships with our workforce that, in turn, created trust and a sense of psychological safety that allowed them to start stopping by our HR department just to talk, to discuss harder topics they might have felt uncomfortable raising before we had stronger relationships, and to overcome the “HR as villain” stereotype. When I left that organization, an employee said to me, “You’ve changed the way I view HR forever,” and to this day that has stuck with me as a reminder of how bringing an open, empathetic approach to all interactions with employees is critical to overcoming this perception of HR as villain/rule enforcer/compliance police.

Using appropriate humor at work is another way you can work to build and strengthen relationships with employees while at the same time overcoming another HR stereotype: that HR professionals are so serious and focused on compliance that they are unapproachable! HR professionals often rely on a positive sense of humor to get through tough times, build resiliency, and move forward when mistakes are made. Using humor outside of the HR department can help you overcome this stereotype of being unapproachable if you build connections and make work more enjoyable. 

Sometimes you can build such strong trust with employees that their willingness to confide in you actually goes too far, and they start to see HR in the stereotype of “guidance counselor” or “psychologist.” Setting clear, appropriate boundaries with employees on the role of HR in regard to how you support both the organization and the employees for things like physical/psychological safety, inclusion, organizational culture, preventing and responding to harassment/discrimination, and ensuring compliance is a great approach to making sure you don’t fall into the stereotype of guidance counselor but still ensure employees know you are there to support their success. 

One of the most recent stereotypes I’ve had HR professionals reach out about how to overcome is that “HR doesn’t know the business” or “HR isn’t strategic.” In reality, successful HR professionals must do both of these things. Knowing the business and increasing your business-acumen skills allows you to make more strategic decisions, not only for the HR department but also for supporting organizational goals and success. 

Academy to Innovate HR recently noted that the reality of being successful in HR is that you have to understand how a company operates to be profitable, how to use business acumen and data literacy to make decisions and be a strategic partner for leadership, and how HR uses business and data knowledge to increase their profile as a trusted partner in the organization. Take initiative to increase your knowledge in these operational areas by asking someone in your accounting, marketing, or operations department to let you job shadow them, or to do a lunch-and-learn session to better understand their functions. LinkedIn Learning has a variety of online courses, videos, and resources to expand your understanding of business acumen and data-driven decision making. Work with your local SHRM chapter to benchmark how other HR professionals are shifting the perception of HR from administrative to strategic partner and share resources for continued learning in these focal areas. 

While numerous stereotypes still exist regarding HR professionals and the work we do, we can all play a part in shifting the narrative and helping those we support and work with to better understand the role that HR can play in business success and employee experience. Showing up as a credible HR activist and demonstrating through high-quality outcomes that drive the business and employee experience to positive new heights will help solidify the perception of HR as a data-savvy strategic thinker, critical decision maker, and supportive partner.