6 ms·

Is every company having a HR department not enough?

by Danihan 9y ago

jacalata 9y ago
Apparently not. Was that a serious question?
- Danihan 9y ago
  Yep, and the answer isn't apparent to me at all. I believe HR departments handle this sort of thing very well in the vast majority of cases.
  - kelukelugames 9y ago
    What do you mean "believe?" At Uber, HR covered up bad behavior. At my last company the HR rep quit due to discrimination.
    - Danihan 9y ago
      >At Uber, HR covered up bad behavior. If that's true, which it may well be in that case, I'd say that Uber is an exception to the rule and the HR department was simply run in a (frankly) idiotic and irrational manner. HR departments are intended to protect the company from liability. Generally speaking, they do that by taking standardized actions regarding harassment claims because otherwise they open the company up to lawsuits and negative PR. (see Uber) Most company HR departments take harassment VERY seriously for this reason, especially if the harassment was written in black and white, such as Susan Fowler claims her harassment was.
  - jacalata 9y ago
    So your argument is that there is no existing problem that needs dealing with.
    - Danihan 9y ago
      Correct. HR handles 98% of cases and the legal system captures the outliers.
ben_jones 9y ago
I had this conversation the other day. HR exists to protect the firm, if that involves sweeping things under the rug, disparaging victims, or enabling illegal behavior by high performers, they will, and historically have, done it.
- Danihan 9y ago
  HR departments are intended to protect the company from liability. Generally speaking, they do that by taking standardized actions regarding harassment claims because otherwise they open the company up to lawsuits and negative PR. Basically, it's irrational to try to cover up or ignore harassment in the vast majority of cases. Which is why HR is a perfectly decent solution for most of these issues, and we only hear about a few outliers in the media / law suits.
  - abiox 9y ago
    > Basically, it's irrational to try to cover up or ignore harassment in the vast majority of cases. how did you reach that assessment? this would seem to only apply to behavior that was openly visible and recurring.
  - vkou 9y ago
    HR does what their bosses tell them to. If the company culture is more conductive to sweeping the transgressions of a director under the rug, then to firing them, then HR will do just that. After all, the director/c-level/partner is making them millions of dollars, and well, most people won't file a lawsuit over a few dozen inappropriate comments or invitations to a hotel room. (Good luck getting a reference after you do.) Engineers are also supposed to build bug-free software, but when your boss tells you to ship the product, you're going to ship it. If the company gets sued because your product has bugs, you're not going to be personally liable.

Is every company having a HR department not enough?

jacalata 9y ago

Apparently not. Was that a serious question?

Danihan 9y ago
Yep, and the answer isn't apparent to me at all. I believe HR departments handle this sort of thing very well in the vast majority of cases.
- kelukelugames 9y ago
  What do you mean "believe?" At Uber, HR covered up bad behavior. At my last company the HR rep quit due to discrimination.
  - Danihan 9y ago
    >At Uber, HR covered up bad behavior. If that's true, which it may well be in that case, I'd say that Uber is an exception to the rule and the HR department was simply run in a (frankly) idiotic and irrational manner. HR departments are intended to protect the company from liability. Generally speaking, they do that by taking standardized actions regarding harassment claims because otherwise they open the company up to lawsuits and negative PR. (see Uber) Most company HR departments take harassment VERY seriously for this reason, especially if the harassment was written in black and white, such as Susan Fowler claims her harassment was.
- jacalata 9y ago
  So your argument is that there is no existing problem that needs dealing with.
  - Danihan 9y ago
    Correct. HR handles 98% of cases and the legal system captures the outliers.

ben_jones 9y ago

I had this conversation the other day. HR exists to protect the firm, if that involves sweeping things under the rug, disparaging victims, or enabling illegal behavior by high performers, they will, and historically have, done it.

Danihan 9y ago
HR departments are intended to protect the company from liability. Generally speaking, they do that by taking standardized actions regarding harassment claims because otherwise they open the company up to lawsuits and negative PR. Basically, it's irrational to try to cover up or ignore harassment in the vast majority of cases. Which is why HR is a perfectly decent solution for most of these issues, and we only hear about a few outliers in the media / law suits.
- abiox 9y ago
  > Basically, it's irrational to try to cover up or ignore harassment in the vast majority of cases. how did you reach that assessment? this would seem to only apply to behavior that was openly visible and recurring.
- vkou 9y ago
  HR does what their bosses tell them to. If the company culture is more conductive to sweeping the transgressions of a director under the rug, then to firing them, then HR will do just that. After all, the director/c-level/partner is making them millions of dollars, and well, most people won't file a lawsuit over a few dozen inappropriate comments or invitations to a hotel room. (Good luck getting a reference after you do.) Engineers are also supposed to build bug-free software, but when your boss tells you to ship the product, you're going to ship it. If the company gets sued because your product has bugs, you're not going to be personally liable.