By: Shanil Kaderali
The Real Warning Signs Your HR Team Is Failing
The internet exploded after Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow defended his decision to eliminate the company’s entire HR department. His reasoning was blunt: the HR team was “creating problems that didn’t exist.”
Predictably, the reaction was polarized. Some applauded the move as a long-overdue correction to bloated corporate bureaucracy. Others called it reckless, immature leadership that could expose the company to lawsuits and cultural collapse. While both can be true, beneath the controversy is a legitimate business question most executives avoid asking:
Predictably, the reaction was polarized. Some applauded the move as a long-overdue correction to bloated corporate bureaucracy. Others called it reckless, immature leadership that could expose the company to lawsuits and cultural collapse. While both can be true, beneath the controversy is a legitimate business question most executives avoid asking:
What happens when the HR team itself becomes the operational problem?
To be clear, this is not an argument against HR. Great HR leaders are invaluable. The best ones build culture, protect companies from risk, retain talent, and help businesses scale responsibly.
But failing or poor HR functions can quietly damage a company for years before leadership notices. Most companies wait too long to address HR dysfunction because the symptoms are indirect.
Rarely does a CEO wake up and say, “HR is broken.”
Instead, they notice: High performers leaving; Managers avoiding difficult conversations; Endless meetings with little action; Hiring quality declines which can be fatal for some organizations. Also, increased internal politics with slower execution and rising employee disengagement despite more “initiatives”. Disengagement is huge productivity issue.
Ironically, struggling HR departments often compensate by adding more programs, more surveys, and more language around culture — while real trust inside the company declines.
The issue may not be your employees. Sometimes replacing your HR team isn’t toxic leadership.
Sometimes it’s overdue leadership.
But failing or poor HR functions can quietly damage a company for years before leadership notices. Most companies wait too long to address HR dysfunction because the symptoms are indirect.
Rarely does a CEO wake up and say, “HR is broken.”
Instead, they notice: High performers leaving; Managers avoiding difficult conversations; Endless meetings with little action; Hiring quality declines which can be fatal for some organizations. Also, increased internal politics with slower execution and rising employee disengagement despite more “initiatives”. Disengagement is huge productivity issue.
Ironically, struggling HR departments often compensate by adding more programs, more surveys, and more language around culture — while real trust inside the company declines.
The issue may not be your employees. Sometimes replacing your HR team isn’t toxic leadership.
Sometimes it’s overdue leadership.
HR Should Enable Performance — Not Slow It Down
Every department exists to improve company performance.
Sales drives revenue: Operations drive execution and Finance drives discipline.
HR should drive alignment, accountability, hiring quality, and employee performance.
The problem starts when HR shifts from being a business enabler to becoming an internal political system.
In Breslow’s case, he argued that Bolt had developed a culture of “entitlement” and low productivity after years of rapid growth. Whether you agree with his delivery or not, many founders quietly experience the same frustration: the company becomes slower, and less accountable as layers of HR process expand.
A strong HR department should reduce friction. A weak one often institutionalizes it.
Sales drives revenue: Operations drive execution and Finance drives discipline.
HR should drive alignment, accountability, hiring quality, and employee performance.
The problem starts when HR shifts from being a business enabler to becoming an internal political system.
In Breslow’s case, he argued that Bolt had developed a culture of “entitlement” and low productivity after years of rapid growth. Whether you agree with his delivery or not, many founders quietly experience the same frustration: the company becomes slower, and less accountable as layers of HR process expand.
A strong HR department should reduce friction. A weak one often institutionalizes it.
Replacing HR Doesn’t Mean Eliminating People Operations
One important detail from the Bolt story was overlooked: Breslow did not eliminate employee support entirely. He replaced traditional HR with a smaller “people operations” structure focused on training, resources, and execution.
That distinction matters.
Modern companies still need:
The question is not whether companies need people operations. The question is whether the existing HR structure is helping the business move faster and healthier — or creating bureaucracy disguised as culture.
The best modern HR teams act like operational partners, not internal referees.
They help managers lead confidently, reinforce accountability, and align employees around business goals.
Weak HR teams often do the opposite: they centralize power, overcomplicate communication, and unintentionally create dependency.
That distinction matters.
Modern companies still need:
- Recruiting
- Compliance
- Compensation planning
- Performance management
- Conflict resolution
- Leadership coaching
- Employee development
The question is not whether companies need people operations. The question is whether the existing HR structure is helping the business move faster and healthier — or creating bureaucracy disguised as culture.
The best modern HR teams act like operational partners, not internal referees.
They help managers lead confidently, reinforce accountability, and align employees around business goals.
Weak HR teams often do the opposite: they centralize power, overcomplicate communication, and unintentionally create dependency.
AI Is Accelerating the Conversation
Part of the reason this debate is exploding now is because AI is changing how companies operate.
Administrative HR work — scheduling interviews, drafting policies, onboarding workflows, training documentation, and internal FAQs — is increasingly automated.
That means HR teams are forced to justify their value in more strategic ways and HR teams are being cut at many organizations.
Companies no longer need large HR departments just to manage paperwork. They need lean, high-impact people leaders who can: Improve hiring quality, coach managers, strengthen culture, and increase organizational performance.
This is why many startups are shifting from traditional HR models toward: People Operations & Talent Strategy; Organizational Effectiveness as well as Leadership Development Enablement. The title matters less than the outcome.
If the function improves clarity, performance, and trust, it works. If it creates confusion, politics, and operational drag, leaders eventually replace it.
Administrative HR work — scheduling interviews, drafting policies, onboarding workflows, training documentation, and internal FAQs — is increasingly automated.
That means HR teams are forced to justify their value in more strategic ways and HR teams are being cut at many organizations.
Companies no longer need large HR departments just to manage paperwork. They need lean, high-impact people leaders who can: Improve hiring quality, coach managers, strengthen culture, and increase organizational performance.
This is why many startups are shifting from traditional HR models toward: People Operations & Talent Strategy; Organizational Effectiveness as well as Leadership Development Enablement. The title matters less than the outcome.
If the function improves clarity, performance, and trust, it works. If it creates confusion, politics, and operational drag, leaders eventually replace it.
The Risk of Overcorrecting
That said, some executives may take the wrong lesson from the Bolt situation.
Removing HR entirely without building leadership discipline underneath can become catastrophic. Weak leaders sometimes blame HR for problems they created.
Removing HR entirely without building leadership discipline underneath can become catastrophic. Weak leaders sometimes blame HR for problems they created.
The Better Question CEOs Should Ask
The real question is not: “Should we fire HR?” The better question is:
“Is our people function improving company performance and culture — or protecting dysfunction?”
Because the best HR teams are not bureaucratic. They are strategic. They help companies scale without losing accountability. They support employees without lowering standards. They protect culture without suffocating performance.
And when they stop doing that, leadership has every right to rethink the structure. The companies that win over the next decade will not necessarily have the biggest HR departments.
They will have the most effective ones.
“Is our people function improving company performance and culture — or protecting dysfunction?”
Because the best HR teams are not bureaucratic. They are strategic. They help companies scale without losing accountability. They support employees without lowering standards. They protect culture without suffocating performance.
And when they stop doing that, leadership has every right to rethink the structure. The companies that win over the next decade will not necessarily have the biggest HR departments.
They will have the most effective ones.
