Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column, “ Got a Minute? ” This week: a missing HR department, comparing fun and flexibility and feeling obsolete in your late-forties. There is no legal requirement to have an HR manager. But should there be? Credit: Dionne Gain The large company I work for does not have an HR manager.
Instead, staff in all departments are advised to speak to their direct managers if they encounter any issues. These managers are not HR trained, do not keep anything confidential and are often the source of the issue. It means most staff members feel unable to speak up and don’t have any support in the workplace.
Is it a legal requirement to have HR? Loading For a large organisation to think it can survive without the specialist skills of a human resources manager in 2024 reflects your company leadership. I have seen this a few times before and reckon I can predict what is going to happen. Your bosses think HR doesn’t add value and would rather manage things themselves.
Something goes seriously wrong – someone will lodge a claim for bullying, harassment or worse – and the company will need to get external legal support to conduct an investigation. The outcome of the recommendation will point out everything you have mentioned – a culture of fear and silence, no mechanism to report poor behaviour – and low and behold, one of the recommendations will be your company needs to install a.
