The Human Resources department is supposed to be the center of effective communication and employee engagement, but an eye-opening new report reveals many employees feel HR is anything but.The report, which was conducted by mobile app provider Employee Channel, Inc., was titled “What Every Employee Wants From Their HR Team.” It polled three different U.S.worker segments — office workers, non-desktop (manufacturing, warehouse, etc.) and remote workers.While those conducting the study expected the three different worker groups to have significantly different opinions, the groups all seem to share a common view on the importance of HR and where it is falling short.As Employee Channel CEO Steve L. Adams put it:“It turns out that — regardless of their work environment — people are just people when it comes to communication. They all highly value communication from HR and would benefit from a new digital approach to employee communication.”Some of the highlights from the Employee Channel research:Just 16% of workers from all three segments said HR made them feel “connected and engaged”Almost half of employees from all three demographics said they were “neutral, disagree or strongly disagreed” that the HR team’s communication efforts made them feel more informed or engaged at work75% of all employee groups said HR communicates with them “never or rarely” or only“sometimes.”All of the employee groups from the report also listed “open communication to all employees” as the number two initiative they wished their employer would focus on more.Of course, this is perfectly understandable. People are, by nature, self-centered,demanding animals, and we no longer educate them to act otherwise. So, as an entirely predictable side effect, everybody demands more and is willing to give less. On physical needs, it’s not much of an issue, as there are natural physical limitations to hold one in check. And there are physical signs as well.Emotions are a bit different. Not being ready visible, they are far easier to conceal, or simply ignore. This enables us to have a virtual epidemic of emotionally weak and demanding people, who call for far more emotional support than they actually need, or then they are willing to provide.