I don’t trust my company’s HR department. Is my scepticism warranted?

May 29, 2026 — 3:01am

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I am deeply sceptical about seeking support or guidance from the human resources department to help address behavioural issues with a boss. Poor behaviour is often tolerated or even encouraged.

HR is not and never will be an employee advocate. They are there to represent the best outcomes for the business and in most cases management. This results in many responses from HR deflecting, denying, deferring and seeking any path possible for the outcome with the least negative impact on the business for the smallest use of resources.

These two factors mean employees should be circumspect at best about the help they will get from HR. Are there any independent studies that speak to this issue?

Your question is an excellent one, but it’s also a can of worms. There is no way of summing up every relevant element in a column of this length. So, apologies in advance that this is very much an abridged version of what I know and what I learnt as I dug deeper into your question.

I think your scepticism is warranted. And it can only have been exacerbated by the fact you’ve clearly encountered a below-average HR team in your own work life.

I know........

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