Why HR Is Not Your Friend And Why That Matters for Your Career

Let’s clear up one of the biggest workplace myths: HR is not your friend.

And that’s not because they’re bad people or secretly plotting against you — it’s because their job isn’t what many employees think it is.

Here’s the nudge you need to rethink how you engage with HR and protect your career.

1. HR Works for the Business; Not the Employees

HR’s primary responsibility is risk management. That means:

• Protecting the company from legal issues

• Managing compliance

• Ensuring policies are followed

• Protecting the organisation’s reputation

Helping employees is part of the job, but it’s not the core purpose. When you walk into HR thinking they’re a personal support service, you’re walking into the room with the wrong expectations.

2. HR Exists to Minimise Liability

If you raise a serious complaint — bullying, discrimination, harassment — HR’s first thought isn’t, “How do we emotionally support this employee?”

It’s:

“How do we protect the organisation from legal exposure?”

That can mean:

• Shaping documentation to protect the employer

• Investigating in a way that limits risk

• Prioritising procedure over empathy

It doesn’t mean they don’t care… but their priorities are aligned with the company’s survival, not your comfort.

3. HR Is There to Enforce What the Business Wants

If leadership makes a decision you don’t like? HR’s job is to roll it out smoothly.

If you’re underperforming? HR’s job is to manage you through a process that protects the employer.

If redundancies are coming? HR already knew — and is preparing the paperwork, not warning employees.

4. HR Is Not a Confidential Counsellor

This shocks people:

HR cannot promise confidentiality.

Anything you say that may impact the business, legally, financially, or operationally, can and often will be escalated.

So if you’re venting about your manager, complaining about workload, or considering resigning… HR is not the safest place for a casual chat.

5. HR’s “Support” Often Depends on Your Value to the Business

Star performers, niche skills, high-impact roles?

They’ll get more attention.

Employees seen as “replaceable”?

Expect a more procedural, less personalised approach.

It’s not personal. It’s business triage.

6. You Should Still Work With HR — Just Strategically

HR isn’t the villain. They have a role.

The issue is when employees misunderstand that role.

Here’s how to use HR wisely:

• Document everything before approaching HR

• Know your rights under Fair Work before you raise issues

• Communicate in facts, not feelings

• Use HR for formal processes — not emotional support

• Get independent advice when things feel serious

HR is a stakeholder, not a therapist, not a best friend, not a neutral mediator.

Your employer has HR for one reason: to manage the company’s interests.

Your job is to manage yours.

When you understand that, you stop oversharing, stop relying on HR for validation, and start approaching workplace issues with clarity, preparedness, and strategy.