HR has a really bad rep (understandably).
I never really wanted to work in HR but pandemic hit and I needed a job and ended up moving up to HR BP.
My job is annoying a lot of the times with admin stuff, but the bulk of my job includes bolstering employee engagement. I don't affect their pay and I don't fire them (their general managers can override me on everything). I generally fight back against firing people if I can and try to work with leaders to make sure they know how to be decent to their employees (giving feedback, coaching, treating people consistently).
I handle investigations, help with onboarding, guide employees on filing for leave of absences, etc. But I feel icky whenever I tell people I'm in HR. I don't really do anything bad I dont think, its the connotation. I love working with the employees and helping them navigate things. I don't typically get many issues, I conduct investigations but I work with warehouse people so a lot of it is just arguments taken too far.
But overall it feels slimy when I hear people talk about HR as a whole. But I care about my employees. And I hate firing people. I almost never support a termination because I like to consider an employees standpoint and make sure we exhaust every other avenue. And when I talk to my coworkers, they often feel theyre what stands in the way of leaders making unfair choices.
But I just overall don't know what to do
(To give insight, I was brought into HR with the best boss ever. She took us out to drinks, would say things like “work shouldnt be your life, go home” and all of the warehouse employees loved her. She was known as “the person you go to when your supervisor fucks up”. And I want to be like her but in my new setting, my new boss is so out of touch and I hate it and it makes me hate HR)