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Also, sadly: "HR is your enemy. The role of HR is to protect the CEO and his team when they do something unspeakable and to smooth the way when firing people."

by harry8 3y ago

Leo_Germond 3y ago
To be clear, the official role of HR is to protect the company, which objectives are defined by the owners, represented by the board, not the CEO. Goals of the CEO and the board may align, but they may not, in that latter case a non-corrupt HR function sides with the board. At the end of the day, the CEO is just another employee.
- coldtea 3y ago
  >which objectives are defined by the owners, represented by the board, not the CEO You'd be surprised how non-involved the board could be. >At the end of the day, the CEO is just another employee. In many cases they can also have a controlling share of the company, and most of their board and C-level be their pals and picks, so there's that.
nickdothutton 3y ago
HR in large firms is the “people risk department”. People introduce all sorts of risk to a company. They sometimes don’t perform, they have bad behaviours that cause secondary effects/blowback on the company (you didn’t protect me from employee X with bad behaviour Y causing me problem Z).
aardvark179 3y ago
HR is not your friend, but to say they are your enemy is overly reductive. The job of HR is to protect the company, which often means ensuring things are done by the book, or that enough compensation is given that it is better to take the money than argue. They aren't your friend, but they aren't your bosses friend either, and if your boss is trying to do something that will get the company in trouble then you may find that you and HR are on the same side. I've seen this happen when a friend's manager was trying to put somebody on a PIP without a good reason and it did not end well for the manager.
- tyingq 3y ago
  That's true, though I think statistically, the higher up the food chain you are, the more likely HR is going to be your friend. Leadership tends to band together and influence HR policy to favor managers over do-ers.
  - 2devnull 3y ago
    I feel like a lot of people I’ve known who work in HR are very much into the high school popular kids clique mentality. Not all. I’ve known very wonderful souls who work in HR but it attracts “people person” types who seem to thrive on gossip and secret communications not unlike a bunch of high school girls.
- acuozzo 3y ago
  > They aren't your friend, but they aren't your bosses friend either To be clear, sometimes they are close friends with your boss. Sometimes they are also the corporate lawyer. I've encountered this situation in the past.
watwut 3y ago
When our company hired HR, a lot improved. They were not my friends, but they did a much better administrative job then the chaos previously.

Also, sadly: "HR is your enemy. The role of HR is to protect the CEO and his team when they do something unspeakable and to smooth the way when firing people."

by harry8 3y ago

Also, sadly: "HR is your enemy. The role of HR is to protect the CEO and his team when they do something unspeakable and to smooth the way when firing people."

Leo_Germond 3y ago

To be clear, the official role of HR is to protect the company, which objectives are defined by the owners, represented by the board, not the CEO. Goals of the CEO and the board may align, but they may not, in that latter case a non-corrupt HR function sides with the board. At the end of the day, the CEO is just another employee.

coldtea 3y ago
>which objectives are defined by the owners, represented by the board, not the CEO You'd be surprised how non-involved the board could be. >At the end of the day, the CEO is just another employee. In many cases they can also have a controlling share of the company, and most of their board and C-level be their pals and picks, so there's that.

nickdothutton 3y ago

HR in large firms is the “people risk department”. People introduce all sorts of risk to a company. They sometimes don’t perform, they have bad behaviours that cause secondary effects/blowback on the company (you didn’t protect me from employee X with bad behaviour Y causing me problem Z).

aardvark179 3y ago

HR is not your friend, but to say they are your enemy is overly reductive. The job of HR is to protect the company, which often means ensuring things are done by the book, or that enough compensation is given that it is better to take the money than argue. They aren't your friend, but they aren't your bosses friend either, and if your boss is trying to do something that will get the company in trouble then you may find that you and HR are on the same side. I've seen this happen when a friend's manager was trying to put somebody on a PIP without a good reason and it did not end well for the manager.

tyingq 3y ago
That's true, though I think statistically, the higher up the food chain you are, the more likely HR is going to be your friend. Leadership tends to band together and influence HR policy to favor managers over do-ers.
- 2devnull 3y ago
  I feel like a lot of people I’ve known who work in HR are very much into the high school popular kids clique mentality. Not all. I’ve known very wonderful souls who work in HR but it attracts “people person” types who seem to thrive on gossip and secret communications not unlike a bunch of high school girls.
acuozzo 3y ago
> They aren't your friend, but they aren't your bosses friend either To be clear, sometimes they are close friends with your boss. Sometimes they are also the corporate lawyer. I've encountered this situation in the past.

watwut 3y ago

When our company hired HR, a lot improved. They were not my friends, but they did a much better administrative job then the chaos previously.