5 ms·

HR has 1 job. Protect the company, they aren't your friends at all. If announcing a teammates passing helps the company they would do it, if they don't think it

by jddil 5y ago

HR has 1 job. Protect the company, they aren't your friends at all. If announcing a teammates passing helps the company they would do it, if they don't think it would they wouldn't. No emotions come into this. (this is not to say you can't have friends at work, but the company is not your family and will drop you the day you aren't productive any longer)

Angostura 5y ago
> HR has 1 job. Protect the company I see this from time to time and it irritates me. I'm not in HR. I know some people who are and people who go into that line of work often do care about making people's lives better. Certainly if that conflicts somehow with a a requirement to protect the company, they may have to prioritise the latter. But that doesn't mean that they have 'one job'.
- jddil 5y ago
  I think it does. At the end of the day they will (and should) choose to protect the company above all else. That's their only job. They can also want to help people, have a ton of empathy and be literal saints. But that's their personal motivation and not what the job actually is.
  - Angostura 5y ago
    I'd be interested to see the logic applied to other jobs. What's your job using this kind of reductionist logic? Are there any jobs that aren't "protect the company" in some way?
    - jddil 5y ago
      If you're working for a for-profit company .... uhh no? And I'm a software engineer, I solve business problems with code. If I decide to to write some code that doesn't help the company I would probably be fired or at least put on a PIP
      - styren 5y ago
        If there's one thing I've learned from mgmt it's that happy teams make for performant teams. The employees trust that I'll support them in creating a fulfilling work environment and look out for them. If I'd take all decisions with the companies profits in mind I'd break that trust which wouldn't lead anywhere good. When an issue arises I'll sometimes be on the side with sr mgmt, sometimes with the team, sometimes it will be more complex than choosing sides. Not all decisions can (or should) be boiled down to dollars and cents. Perhaps you should ask someone in your HR department to tell you more about their mission as I doubt they'd share these views.
      - Angostura 5y ago
        That's right your job is to protect the business by producing code that maximises profit and doesn't put them at risk. That's all you do
- ngngngng 5y ago
  > people who go into that line of work often do care about making people's lives better. That's a fine motive, but it's similar to joining Facebook in order to help people improve their attention span
georgebarnett 5y ago
I see this often and it is a ridiculous over simplification. This entire thread has stories of broken corporate culture causing people to leave the company and somehow you’re translating that as win for HR? In most cases, HR aren’t the ones “dropping” you (it’s your manager). They’re the ones ensuring it gets done in a way that least disruptive to the rest of the org.

by jddil 5y ago

Angostura 5y ago

> HR has 1 job. Protect the company I see this from time to time and it irritates me. I'm not in HR. I know some people who are and people who go into that line of work often do care about making people's lives better. Certainly if that conflicts somehow with a a requirement to protect the company, they may have to prioritise the latter. But that doesn't mean that they have 'one job'.

jddil 5y ago
I think it does. At the end of the day they will (and should) choose to protect the company above all else. That's their only job. They can also want to help people, have a ton of empathy and be literal saints. But that's their personal motivation and not what the job actually is.
- Angostura 5y ago
  I'd be interested to see the logic applied to other jobs. What's your job using this kind of reductionist logic? Are there any jobs that aren't "protect the company" in some way?
  - jddil 5y ago
    If you're working for a for-profit company .... uhh no? And I'm a software engineer, I solve business problems with code. If I decide to to write some code that doesn't help the company I would probably be fired or at least put on a PIP
    - styren 5y ago
      If there's one thing I've learned from mgmt it's that happy teams make for performant teams. The employees trust that I'll support them in creating a fulfilling work environment and look out for them. If I'd take all decisions with the companies profits in mind I'd break that trust which wouldn't lead anywhere good. When an issue arises I'll sometimes be on the side with sr mgmt, sometimes with the team, sometimes it will be more complex than choosing sides. Not all decisions can (or should) be boiled down to dollars and cents. Perhaps you should ask someone in your HR department to tell you more about their mission as I doubt they'd share these views.
    - Angostura 5y ago
      That's right your job is to protect the business by producing code that maximises profit and doesn't put them at risk. That's all you do
ngngngng 5y ago
> people who go into that line of work often do care about making people's lives better. That's a fine motive, but it's similar to joining Facebook in order to help people improve their attention span

georgebarnett 5y ago

I see this often and it is a ridiculous over simplification. This entire thread has stories of broken corporate culture causing people to leave the company and somehow you’re translating that as win for HR? In most cases, HR aren’t the ones “dropping” you (it’s your manager). They’re the ones ensuring it gets done in a way that least disruptive to the rest of the org.