Is it normal i've worked in 2 workplaces and still don't understand who hr are?
What do HR actually do besides the famous 'hiring and firing' and why would it ever be in my interests to talk to them as a low-level employee? Nobody has ever explained this to me before.
From what I've picked up from my workplaces, HR exist to officialize whatever my line manager says, and I've never been encouraged to talk to them except when my manager said I needed to get them to sign an administrative form. But online sources seem to suggest otherwise - even like they could actually be on my side. What's the score here??
It was my line manager who recruited me and who encouraged me to leave (in my last workplace anyway), HR just 'rubber stamped' whatever she said. The last time I spoke to HR they just looked at me in the way people look at you when they know you're in trouble.
Can someone please enlighten me? Whose side are HR really on, and how much do I need to be concerned about things I say being potentially used to get me fired?