By Kyle Patrick Smith, CEO of HRKyle Services

The internet exploded when reports surfaced that Bolt’s CEO fired the company’s entire HR department.

HR professionals were furious.

LinkedIn filled up with outrage, think pieces, and predictable corporate commentary.

And quietly…

a lot of business leaders understood exactly why it happened.

After spending more than 25 years working inside Corporate HR before launching HRKyle Services, I understand it too.

That does not mean I believe HR is unnecessary.

Far from it.

I believe great HR departments are absolutely critical to organizational success.

But I also believe some HR departments have drifted so far away from their original purpose that leaders, managers, and employees barely recognize what the function was supposed to be anymore.

And that is the real conversation nobody wants to have.

HR Was Supposed to Help Organizations Function Better

At its best, HR helps organizations become stronger.

Great HR:

• helps leaders lead better
• improves hiring processes
• develops employees
• strengthens communication
• stabilizes organizations during change
• helps companies navigate difficult decisions
• protects culture without suffocating the business
• creates consistency, trust, and accountability

The best HR professionals are practical problem-solvers.

They understand people.

They understand operations.

They understand business realities.

And they understand that employees are not robots, policies are not personality replacements, and culture is not built through corporate slogans.

The best HR departments make organizations stronger.

The worst ones create fear, politics, delay, and confusion.

Somewhere Along the Way, Parts of HR Lost the Plot

This is where many leaders became frustrated.

Not because they hate HR.

Because they no longer recognize what parts of HR have become.

Over the last several years, I have watched portions of the profession drift toward performative corporate theater instead of practical workforce leadership.

Simple issues became complicated.

Managers became afraid to lead.

Employees became afraid to speak honestly.

Everything became formalized, scripted, investigated, escalated, documented, filtered, and over-processed.

In some companies, HR stopped functioning like a business partner and started functioning like an internal regulatory agency.

And employees noticed.

So did executives.

So did frontline managers.

Meanwhile, social media filled up with “HR influencers” giving leadership advice despite having little or no meaningful Corporate HR experience.

A lot of the loudest voices in the space built personal brands before they built organizational credibility.

Running HR from a LinkedIn comment section is very different from leading people through:

• layoffs
• restructures
• mergers
• terminations
• employee relations crises
• operational failures
• leadership breakdowns
• workforce recovery efforts

Real HR is difficult.

Real HR requires judgment.

Real HR requires nuance.

And real HR requires understanding that businesses still have to function.

Politics, Ideology, and Performative Culture Hurt Trust

This is another part people are uncomfortable discussing openly.

HR was never supposed to become a political department.

It was supposed to become a people department.

Somewhere along the way, parts of Corporate HR became deeply intertwined with ideology, public positioning, performative messaging, and corporate activism in ways that made many employees uncomfortable.

And here is the truth:

Most employees are not waking up angry about diversity.

They are waking up wanting:

• respect
• opportunity
• fair treatment
• competent leadership
• stability
• career growth
• honest communication
• workplaces that function properly

Employees can absolutely support inclusion while also becoming frustrated when messaging feels forced, performative, disconnected from reality, or used as a substitute for actual leadership.

Most employees can tell the difference between authentic culture and corporate theater.

And leaders can too.

That frustration has been quietly building for years.

Leaders Are More Frustrated Than Many HR Professionals Realize

A lot of executives feel like they are constantly navigating:

• unnecessary bureaucracy
• fear-based decision-making
• endless process creation
• hiring delays
• overcomplicated communication structures
• language policing
• leadership hesitation
• HR departments disconnected from operational reality

Again…

this is not about hating HR.

It is about leaders feeling like HR stopped helping organizations move forward and started making it harder for organizations to function effectively.

Many leaders do not hate HR.

They hate feeling like HR has become disconnected from reality.

And eventually, some executives revolt against that environment.

That is why stories like the Bolt situation resonate with more leaders than many people in the profession want to admit publicly.

The Problem Isn’t HR

The problem is what some companies allowed HR to become.

Because great HR still changes organizations for the better every single day.

I have worked with incredible HR professionals who:

• transformed workplace culture
• protected employees during difficult transitions
• improved hiring quality
• developed strong leaders
• stabilized broken organizations
• improved communication and accountability
• created workplaces where people genuinely wanted to stay

That work matters.

It always will.

But the profession also has to be honest with itself.

If employees fear HR instead of trusting HR…

If managers avoid HR instead of partnering with HR…

If executives feel slowed down instead of supported…

then something has gone wrong.

The Future of HR Belongs to Practical Leaders

The future does not belong to performative HR.

It belongs to practical HR.

Business-minded HR.

People-centered HR.

Operationally aware HR.

HR professionals who understand both workforce realities and business realities.

HR leaders who build trust instead of fear.

HR teams that focus less on appearing important and more on being effective.

Because HR was never supposed to become a department people feared.

It was supposed to become a function that made organizations stronger.

And the companies that remember that will win the future of work.

Is Your HR Department Helping Your Business… or Frustrating It?

That is the question more organizations need to start asking honestly.

Because the answer is not eliminating HR.

The answer is building HR functions that actually support:

• leadership
• employees
• communication
• accountability
• hiring
• culture
• operational success

At HRKyle Services, we help organizations take a practical, business-focused look at how their HR function is operating in the real world — not just how it looks on paper.

That may include:

• Fractional HR Leadership
• HR Audits & Organizational Assessments
• Talent Acquisition Strategy
• Leadership Advising
• Workforce Transition Support
• Employee Experience Reviews
• Recruiting Process Evaluations
• Performance Management Strategy
• Culture & Communication Assessments

Sometimes companies do not need more HR.

They need better alignment between HR, leadership, operations, and employees.

And sometimes an outside perspective is the fastest way to identify where trust, communication, and effectiveness started breaking down.

If your organization is struggling with turnover, leadership frustration, hiring challenges, employee distrust, or operational disconnect between HR and the business…

let’s have a real conversation.

📞 330-541-5533
📧 Kyle@HRKyle.com
🌐 https://www.HRKyle.com

Smarter Hiring. Stronger Teams. Better Outcomes.