HR Isn’t Evil: Understanding Its Role in Supporting People and Performance

Why People Think HR is “Evil” (and Why HR is so important)

I often hear managers and employees say that HR is “evil.” They rarely mean it literally; it’s more of a shorthand for the frustration, confusion, or misalignment that can arise when working with HR.

Once, when I was a VP in HR, someone told me our team was now “less evil.” I took that as a compliment.

So, why do people perceive HR this way?

Common Misconceptions About HR

HR is often seen as “evil” because they:

• Enforce rules and procedures. Most policies exist to ensure the company doesn’t break the law, yet this can feel restrictive to employees.
• Limit over-the-top fun or social activities. Stops on events or parties usually reflect compliance with health, safety, equality, or decency standards.
• Come across as transactional. HR is often overloaded with requests that could sometimes be handled by managers or employees themselves.
• Appear disconnected from business goals. Many executives fail to involve HR in strategic decisions, treating them as support rather than partners.
• Side with the business in performance or disciplinary matters. Their primary allegiance is to protect the organisation.

And here’s the crux: HR exists to serve the business. Their first goal is preventing legal issues, ensuring compliance, and protecting the company. From a business perspective, this is essential work.

HR’s Rebranding: Moving Toward People

In recent years, HR has rebranded itself under names like “People,” “Talent Management,” and “Employee Development.” This shift reflects an attempt to go beyond transactional work into personnel development, wellbeing and welfare.

It’s a positive change, but the reality remains: HR’s core mandate is still to protect the business. Understanding this helps explain why HR actions sometimes feel restrictive.

However, there’s a risk in this people-first approach. Overstepping into management responsibilities can create problems:

• Recruitment decisions. I’ve seen HR overrule managers on hires, saying “yes” when a manager says “not in my team.” This can disempower managers and confuse new hires.
• Learning and development initiatives. Large-scale LMS rollouts often focus on meeting numerical targets rather than improving job performance.
• Agile rollouts or cultural changes. HR sometimes implements new ways of working without fully understanding the business context.
• Overemphasis on engagement scores. Employee Engagement scores can be misused as leading indicators, prompting changes that prioritize happiness over results. High engagement with poor outcomes isn’t success.

The Manager vs. HR Balance

Many aspects of employee development, retention, and engagement are actually a manager’s responsibility. HR can provide tools, frameworks, and training — but they cannot replace the manager’s role in knowing their people, observing their work, and guiding growth.

Managers understand:

• The domain of the work better than HR
• Individual team members’ behaviors and skills
• Who is ready for what responsibility

HR should act as a partner, not a replacement. When they take ownership of tasks that rightly belong to managers, it can lead to misalignment, poor decisions, and frustration.

Why HR Isn’t Evil

HR exists to protect the business, ensure compliance, and provide frameworks that support people and the organisation. When aligned with managers, HR can:

• Drive retention, engagement, and career development initiatives
• Deliver management training to enhance team performance
• Introduce systems and policies that safeguard the organisation

The key is understanding HR’s dual role: protecting the business while enabling people. When managers embrace this, work collaboratively, and align with HR, the organisation thrives.

Embrace HR for Career and Organisational Success

Knowing how HR operates is essential for anyone navigating a career or leading a team:

• HR will side with the business. Recognising this allows you to work strategically with them.
• HR is a partner, not an adversary. Use their frameworks, support, and expertise to enhance your team’s performance.
• Collaboration yields results. When HR and management work together, companies become amazing places to work — both productive and people-centric.

HR isn’t evil. Management isn’t optional. But together, when both understand their roles and work in harmony, they create workplaces that are compliant, effective, and enriching for everyone.