How HR Got Misrepresented (Again)

A recent Sunday Times article, “How HR took over British Business and got in the way of actual work,” makes for provocative reading. It raises a few valid concerns — but let’s be honest, they exist in every industry sector. What’s frustrating is the article’s narrow lens and imbalance.

Trying to describe the full scope of HR by looking only at a handful of employee relations cases and some clumsy training examples is like trying to describe a house by peering through the downstairs loo window.

Yes, there are times when HR processes feel bureaucratic, or when compliance work is heavy. And yes, some things are not always managed as effectively as they could be. But that’s the nature of human beings — not something unique to HR. In fact, a huge amount of HR’s work is dealing with the consequences of poor decisions and behaviours that begin outside of HR.

But that’s a fraction of the story. What the article misses — and what many leaders know — is the scale of value HR brings when it’s working as it should.

Beyond “hygiene factors”

Of course, HR plays a role in compliance, fairness, and culture — the underpinnings of how people experience work. But the profession’s real contribution comes in two other, often invisible, dimensions:

• Strategic business partnering. The best HR leaders sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the CEO and executive team, shaping strategy, aligning organisation design, and ensuring leadership capability matches the company’s growth ambitions. This is not “getting in the way of work” — it is the work of building a sustainable, competitive business.

  
  

• Centres of expertise. Whether in talent, reward, leadership development, or organisational effectiveness, specialist HR expertise enables growth that wouldn’t otherwise happen. From building leadership pipelines, to sourcing or developing scarce technical skills in high-complexity industries, to steering major cultural transitions — these are value-creating activities with a direct line to business outcomes.

  
  

Where the real debate should be

The real question isn’t whether HR “has too much power.” It’s whether HR is bringing the right capabilities to the table:

• Is HR helping the business attract and keep the talent it needs?

• Is HR enabling leaders to deliver transformation, not just administer process?

• Is HR using evidence and analytics to help organisations make better, faster, fairer decisions?

  
  

When the answer is yes, HR isn’t an obstacle — it’s a competitive advantage.

A final thought

Articles like the Sunday Times piece make for catchy headlines.

But they do a disservice to the profession — and to businesses — when they ignore the scale of HR’s impact. From shaping leadership effectiveness, to enabling strategy execution, to creating resilient cultures where people can thrive, HR is not in the way of work.

HR is how the work gets done, sustainably and at scale.