The Double-Edged Corporate Sword Of Human Resources
Are they a welcoming place, a friendly listening ear, or are they just the corporate thought police waiting to pounce?
It’s bad enough that we’re referred to as resources in today’s corporate dystopia rather than actual people. I guess that’s most likely why we’re treated like iron ore, bauxite, or just a bunch of sods — crushed up, melted down, and moulded into shapes¹ that, frankly, were never intended to exist naturally in the world.
I suppose at least they left human in the title, that’s something.
Whether or not you actually trust human resources is totally dependent on your notional rank within an organisation. You see, if you’re above the line then HR is considered a peer, a tool, a mouthpiece for your and your company’s ideology — but if you’re below the line they’re the enforcers, the prison guards, the secret police that ensures continued compliance of the worker cogs.
Of course it’s a rather cynical attitude to take, and many people will disagree², but of those people I wonder whether they’ve actually experienced all that HR has to offer within a modern company.
From the day you start in the company, when HR fills up your calendar with endless pointless meetings with everyone else in the company (many of which you’ll never work with again, let…
