HR Can't Fix Bad Management- But We Can Help Build Better Managers
Moving HR from crisis management to strategic leadership development.
Somewhere along the way, Human Resources became the place managers went when they didn’t want to manage.
An employee isn’t meeting expectations? “Send them to HR.”
There’s conflict on the team? “HR needs to handle it.”
And my personal favorite: “Can we just write them up?”
Then HR starts asking questions.
Have you talked to the employee? Have you clearly communicated your expectations? Have you given them feedback? Have you given them an opportunity to improve? And if you have, did you document those conversations?
All too often, the answer is no.
It would be easy to stop there and say, “Managers need to manage.” And they do. But I think HR has a responsibility to ask ourselves a few questions, too.
Have we given our managers the tools and skills to have difficult conversations? Do they actually know how to give meaningful feedback? When they come to us for help, are we coaching them through the situation or simply giving them a process to follow?
Sometimes, what looks like a manager who doesn’t want to “deal with” an issue is actually a manager who doesn’t know how.
That distinction matters.
It’s easy to put the blame entirely on managers, but HR also has to create an environment where leaders feel comfortable asking for help before a situation becomes a problem.
One of my favorite compliments is, “You aren’t like other HR managers I’ve worked with.”
That’s the goal.
I want managers to come to me before there’s a problem. I want to be someone who can guide them through an unfamiliar situation, challenge their thinking, help them prepare for a difficult conversation, and coach them into becoming stronger leaders.
I don’t want HR to be viewed as the principal’s office.
But there’s another side to this conversation that organizations need to be willing to address.
Did we promote someone into management and essentially tell them to “figure it out”?
When they were identified as a management candidate, did we ask what would make them a successful leader, or did we simply recognize that they were great at their job, process the promotion, and throw them into the deep end?
Being a strong individual contributor does not automatically make someone a strong manager. Leadership requires an entirely different set of skills, and those skills have to be developed.
HR can’t fix everything. We also aren’t always brought into the conversation before leadership decisions are made.
That’s exactly why HR has to position itself as a strategic partner, not just the department called when something has already gone wrong.
We need to help organizations think about leadership before the promotion happens, develop managers before problems happen, and create an environment where asking for guidance is viewed as part of becoming a better leader, not as a weakness.
Managers still have to manage. HR shouldn’t do that job for them.
But if we want better managers, HR has to do more than hold them accountable when they get it wrong. We have to help prepare them to get it right.
HR can’t fix bad management. But HR can help build better managers, and that work starts long before there’s an employee sitting in our office.
