HR folks are generally the worst and most incompetent people in a company. I think companies often push people they cannot fire into this department.
With some exceptions. In that company I noted above, there actually was a competent HR person. She was the entire department, due to the company small size. (about 50 people worked there at its height) One of the few I saw that actually did what an HR department is supposed to be doing.
This company may have been small, but the nonsense was at a huge company size. Like I said before, it was my first "professional" job after college. This company unique position in its industry allowed the b*lls**t to continue for many years. No one at the time could do what they do, so they could get a premium price and people were happy to pay it.
It was founded by a married couple in the late 1980's. At the time they were no different from any other in that industry. The were very small, and struggled to gain their footing. This was the story told from the handful of employees left from the early days, and it sounded like working there was actually fun and rewarding. Many times were seat of your pants sort of thing.
During the 1990's they got some great contacts (how they did, I could never figure out), and got some amazing contracts with some major firms. They bought expensive equipment to fill those contracts and did real well with it. Up to that point they did all the work with a group of people who they hired without really looking deep into their backgrounds and didn't care much about college or even high school had been attended etc. So they had some people who were loyal because nobody else would have hired them to do what they ended up doing. Not a bad thing, most of the those folks could and did do their jobs well.
So at that point the couple thought, we need to be more "professional" since we are growing. So they hired the HR lady. I was the HR ladies first hire (they had done it themselves up to that point). Unfortunately for the HR lady, myself and the people she hired after me, the couple weren't quite ready to give up control of hiring.
The wife was the worst, she would talk the talk, using every buzz word you could think of. But when it came down to it, she was a control freak. Everything need to be cleared by her. Even management were micromanaged. The managers (before they had learned) decided to increase morale by fixing up the break room (since many tech firms at the time were doing things like that). They put in games like a dart board, ping pong table, a couple of computers so people could check email etc. New tables and chairs, a couple more microwaves and an additional fridge to complete it. It was awesome and people loved it. For the three whole days we had all that stuff.
Since management hadn't cleared it with her, she was mad. Really mad evidently. All the stuff was returned. Even her husband (her business partner!!) could not talk her out of it.
The biggest problem with the wife running things, her interests had moved on from that business. She was more interested in her other interests, hobbies (since for the first time in their lives they had money) and a second business she wanted to start. So when nobody was allowed to make a decision the business suffered badly. You couldn't ask hubby either, because she second guessed him even.
At that point all of us hired by that HR lady had targets painted on our backs. We all got fired over time, along with that HR lady. By the time I got fired, the end game was clear. They had begun to screw with longtime clients, many they had probably busted their butts getting in the 1980's. They didn't care, since most were not "big time" like newer flashier clients. But they still brought home the bacon. The problem was the product we did was being eaten away (quickly) by better technology. Technology we had nothing to do with (we weren't a tech firm). They needed those older clients because they weren't going to new tech and frankly many wanted to keep doing business with them.
You won't be surprised to know that company no longer exists. The couple is now divorced (I think they had separated even before I got fired) and live across the country from each other (she in Florida, he in California). He now runs a business licensing to others the work he once did, but can't do anymore. She is out of the business doing something else.
It was an experience I never expected and sometimes wish I hadn't. It was pretty bad.