I saw a few posts that, in one way or another, claimed that HR is "completely useless" and that companies would be better off removing 90% of it.
The uncomfortable truth: when leaders say HR is useless, what they're really saying is — our people systems aren't working for the business.
And they may be right. But that's not an HR problem. That's a leadership and operating model problem.
The way HR is scoped, empowered, and integrated into how the business runs determines whether it creates value or becomes overhead.
Why most HR teams fail
They're not empowered, scoped, staffed, or positioned by the organization to enable execution.
So HR becomes:
- Administrative and policy-driven
- Reactive
- Late to the real problems
- Not at the table when decisions are made
- Blamed for outcomes it didn't own
At that point, yes — it feels useless.
What executives actually fund when it's framed properly
- Helping new hires ramp in weeks, not months
- Reducing attrition before it shows up in revenue
- Designing manager spans that don't break decision-making
- Building onboarding that isn't purely based on osmosis
- Creating comp plans that incentivize and reinforce the right outcomes
When those systems work, revenue compounds.
The part most companies miss
You don't need more HR. You need the right HR mandate, capability, ownership, and leadership.
If HR is measured on activity instead of outcomes, it will look useless. If HR is kept out of real decisions and context, it will stay reactive. If HR is expected to "clean things up" without authority, it will fail.
When I'm brought in
It's usually after someone has already decided HR is the problem. Nine times out of ten, the real issue is this:
No one ever designed the people/HR operating system to enable, support, and accelerate how the business runs today.
Ignoring that because it's hard, or because no one owns it, is far more expensive than fixing it.
So if HR feels useless, the question isn't do we need HR? It's: what did we ask HR to own, and did we give it the authority and conditions to succeed?
Rethinking your HR operating model? Let's talk.