"As companies matured, so did HR. The function expanded to include hiring, pay, benefits, training, grievance handling, and legal compliance. On paper, this evolution gave HR a broad view of how people experienced work-and the potential authority to shape it. But that authority was never fully claimed. Instead, HR generally settled into administering systems and policies designed by others-especially the C-Suite."
"In a recent Wall Street Journal interview, University of Virginia business school professor Allison Elias explains how this history is experienced today. Employees don't see HR as a driver of better leadership or a healthier workplace. They see a function that listens but rarely acts, collects feedback but seldom follows through, and lacks the authority-or the courage-to intervene when leadership behavior is the root of the problem."
A century ago, HR originated to manage unsafe, adversarial workplaces by reducing friction, retaining workers, and protecting output. Over time the function broadened to hiring, pay, benefits, training, grievance handling, and legal compliance, gaining a wide view of employee experience but seldom exercising authority to shape it. Employees commonly perceive HR as listening without acting, collecting feedback but failing to follow through, and lacking the power or courage to intervene when leadership behavior undermines trust, clarity, dignity, or psychological safety. HR now faces an opportunity to reinvent its role, and research links employee well-being to stronger long-term organizational performance.
Read at Fast Company
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