HR staff must be honest, trustworthy

bar on nurturing good relations with all staff given their role as the authority in people management.
An employee-sensitive HR department is able to provide a full range of its specialised expertise, and support to the company, in a way that will resonate with the whole organisation ensuring increased employee motivation and productivity.

Staff in the HR department must cultivate cordial work relations with other staff members through their actions and the behaviour they exhibit when dealing with staff issues.
No matter how skilled and experienced they may be their efforts are bound to fail if they can’t propagate good relationships with other staff members.
Effective work relationships between HR and its internal clients form the basis of HR practices that impact positively on company strategies and goals.

Staff recruitment and selection, remuneration, grievance handling, training and other pertinent HR issues result in improved relations between HR and the rest of the staff but this is only possible if the latter sees fairness as engraved in the practices.
Such a setting will also help to build a sound and satisfactory work environment that propels employee commitment towards achieving set company goals.
The corporate sector is littered with cases where HR staff has been accused of digressing from their mandate of “truthfully and conscientiously” serving the interests of their internal customers, by allowing themselves to become “monsters” that staff members are afraid of approaching. More often than not, staff members complain of HR staff that speak down on employees, see themselves as being right about everything, and sometimes use harsh and demeaning words in their interaction

with other staff members. When staff members come for HR services, they want to be treated like they are in a five-star hotel and HR staff should do likewise.
Respectable and trustworthy HR staff must be consistent and inspiring. They must genuinely seek to serve staff through unquestionable dedication to duty and the propagation of sound relationships.
HR staff must be interested in empowering staff members with knowledge and skills so that they are inspired to make a difference in their workstations.

Authentic HR practitioners put staff interests before theirs and they practice heart-based guidance informed by compassion as well as thoughtful consideration of staff issues brought to their attention.
Strong relationships are the foundation of a company culture that impacts on business performance, ensuring sustained competitive advantage.
A company culture becomes a source of competitive advantage when its shaped by a well thought out corporate ethics plan that will influence every decision in the firm.

In addition, the culture should also be crucial in guiding employees’ patterns of thought, choices and action, in the process, helping to form a credible and unique image of the firm that drives customers to buy its products.
The HR department must not be annoying to other staff members. When HR people claim that they are “advocates of employee welfare and needs”, this should be so and undoubted, because doubt will bring disrespect and cynicism towards the HR function, compromising its critical organisational role.

The HR personnel should not be seen to be siding with corporate interests all the time, without any due regard for the interests of the workers.
It should promote an environment of mutual respect, warmth, enthusiasm, open communication and professionalism.

An effective HR department should be trusted to have the ability to consistently practise fairness in all staff issues. Personnel in the HR department should not be seen to be creating chaos and animosities among staff by exhibiting lack of due care and standard work ethics.

They cannot afford to be viewed by staff as symptomatic of the bad that is happening in the country’s business sector today for this will result in the widespread proliferation of unethical behaviours among staff.
One simple tool HR practitioners can use in building strong relationships with employees is to let them know that the HR department notices and appreciates their efforts in their quest to achieve set company goals and objectives.

Humour and good mannerism are also powerful attributes that can be used to galvanise relationships.
Allowing humour and good mannerism to flow will ensure that communication barriers are broken leading to effective HR/staff interaction that spurs the whole workforce to focus on production and achieving set goals.
Employees sometimes bring sensitive information to HR, and when they do this, it is on the assumption that the information will be treated with the strictest confidentiality it deserves, and that it will be resolved professionally. Take for example, a male supervisor who turns a female employee’s otherwise enjoyable work into a series of nightmares because of his unsolicited and relentless sexual advances.

The employee then decides to report this to an HR officer who unfortunately fails to hold the information in confidence, and divulges it to his friends during lunchtime turning it into a hot gossip issue in company corridors.
Will the HR officer and the office he represents be worth of any respect from staff?

When HR personnel fail to uphold the basic principles of trust, honesty and integrity when dealing with staff, their credibility is lost and employees must not be blamed when they start calling them hypocrites and uncouth schemers that organisations can do without.