The HR Trust Crisis

I recently saw a post in my social media feed for an Economist article, “How HR Took Over The World.” It’s an account of HR’s surge in size and influence – growing rapidly in headcount, budget, and executive clout due to a variety of factors – and how AI is now threatening to reverse this trend. While I didn’t gain new insights from the article, the comments section was chock-full of negative sentiment toward the HR community that provides a brutal window into how the function is perceived.

Here’s a taste of the vitriol:

“AI would probably have more empathy than anyone who works in HR.”

“When the company needs you, HR is extremely visible and involved – but when you need them, they suddenly disappear.”

 “HR often fails to embody the ‘human’ part of their name, and most of their tasks could be done more reliably and consistently by AI.”

 “Who, when they are growing up says ‘I want to work in HR one day’ where the ability to suck up and be a fake human being daily are the most important skills?”

 “HR took over the world? It still struggles and whines to get a seat at the table.”

 “The most unnecessary profession in the world – control freaks creating more ways to control an already overly stifled workforce.”

 “HR protects incompetence, pushes inefficiency, sets employees up for failure, and pushes nonsense practices and ideologies in the business world.”

While difficult to digest, these comments describe a reality that many HR functions have created through decades of prioritizing compliance over employee experience, building processes that serve HR rather than employees, and failing to execute basics with excellence.

When employees say HR "disappears when you need them" or “lacks empathy,” they're signaling a fundamental breakdown in trust. I see this criticism as a valuable wake-up call for the profession. AI will inevitably automate the transactional HR work, and this creates an opportunity to focus on what only humans can do: build genuine trust, coach managers through difficult conversations, and create experiences that make people feel valued rather than processed.

Most HR professionals enter the field to help people thrive at work, but a long-standing focus on risk mitigation over human connection has eroded the very trust we need to be effective. The path forward requires humility about where we've fallen short, courage to fundamentally redesign our role, and a commitment to prove our value through flawless execution of the basics. If you're ready to rebuild trust with your employees and transform your HR function from a source of frustration into a genuine partner, I'd welcome the opportunity to help you navigate this shift.

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