Dear friend,
In good old days of Personnel Management, this department had acquired notoriety for being "charge-sheet department". A call from this department meant something amiss or some matter related to discipline. Notwithstanding, evolution of personnel management to HR management, the legacy of negative image continued. In many companies, employees interact with HR personnel at the time of selection and thereafter at the time of separation. In between during the tenure there is complete void or alienation.
Even now also, personnel from HR department in big IT companies are ingratiated because they control the issue of visa. It is important to remain in the good books of HR lest they may thwart foreign visit!
Partially the problem lies with management too. Many times management shoots but keeps the gun on the shoulder of HR. Though HR is just a messenger, they are at the front and acquire ill fame.
Controlling visa is apart, in many IT companies, when mass termination of employees takes place, HR has to execute role of a butcher! The way butcher cannot show mercy on the lamb or goat or the animal that comes in front of it, HRs in such cases have to terminate the employees in the defined time limit. Sometimes, few HRs score brownie points from the management because they handle separation smoothly.
What happened in Tech Mahindra during termination of techie was exception. The woman who handled the termination, blew up the whole thing and it laid what goes on inside the big IT companies!
As far as fear of HR is concerned, things are not that bad. Not all HRs, evoke fear. It depends on the type of company. You are blessed to have good HR department wherein personnel from that department diffuse friendliness. Good to be in such company!
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar