More than eight in 10 (86 per cent) U.S. workers say they’re afraid of their human resources representatives, according to a new survey MyPerfectResume.com.
The survey, which polled nearly 1,000 workers in the U.S., found a similar percentage (85 per cent) of respondents expressed hesitation in approaching HR to discuss work-related issues, citing concerns such as doubt in confidentiality (37 per cent) or fear of repercussions (31 per cent). Another third said they prefer to solve the issue on their own or with their manager’s help (31 per cent) or they harboured some uncertainty about their HR team’s response (20 per cent).
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What’s more, nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of respondents said they were hesitant to approach HR for help because they think HR tends to be too involved in office politics. Other reasons cited were that HR focuses on procedures rather than people (68 per cent) and that it’s hard to get a timely answer from the department (67 per cent).
Nearly all (90 per cent) respondents said when they reported an issue to HR, they felt it wasn’t adequately addressed, with some noting in their experience, there was at least one instance in which the department didn’t resolve their issue (47 per cent) or more than once they felt their concerns weren’t adequately addressed (43 per cent).
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