Human Resources?
Or Hugely Rubbish?
These past 5 years, the latter applies to our HR department. Little Sis works in this field but I refuse to believe that she could be as bad as the faceless, clueless and unhelpful people who we have to deal with.
A couple of years back, when the business was undergoing cutbacks and my job was 'at risk', I criticised the way HR handled my case in particular. No, I wasn't rude to them but I did ask a lot of very awkward questions, which they had no answer for as they hadn't done the appropriate research, ie they didn't have a clue what my job was and lumped me in with everyone else.
This has come back to bite me because the little sh*t in HR who interviewed me got promoted and is now the main reason why I didn't qualify for a bonus last year and why I'm unlikely to get one this year. Still pleading ignorance to what I do it seems.
And it's not just me they've been inept with.
With the business in growth-mode, we have a new recruit starting this month, SW, who until a year ago, worked for a sister company. When she received her contract from HR, the start date was TBC, so she mailed them saying she could start on 10th Jan. In reply, HR mailed her the 'Welcome to XX' pack and some other company info. SW handed in her notice to her current company.
She turned up for work yesterday, only to find that her start date wasn't untl 24th Jan! When asked why HR hadn't confirmed this date with SW herself, the incompetents said that had been my boss' responsibility to do this - what!? They said "Send her home for two weeks" but that's not an answer, as she'd be effectively unemployed for 2 weeks.
Fortunately, it's been sorted that she will start tomorrow but that her pc, phone etc may not be ready for her.
The poor girl - what a crappy start for her!
I've long thought the term Human Resources to be the worst example of business speak. Why not just call your employees cattle and have done with it?
ReplyDeleteYeah it's funny how names change. When I was first working, that department was called "Staffing", then it became "Personnel" and now "Human Resources" which is an awful term.
ReplyDeleteBut one of my closest friends works in HR and I am sure she would never treat people in this way or like cattle. But it is true that HR depts often seem less good at handling people than other depts.
But yes, a rubbish start for sure for SW and the pay-back for you because you stood up for yourself and your rights is well out of order but almost impossible to combat because nothing can ever be proved.
Humph. Not good at all.
Rol - cattle surely get treated better!
ReplyDeleteGina/RB (!) - yeah, you seem to have hit the nail on the head; there are some people who don't work in HR who would do a much better job of handling people because of their people skills.
Oh yes, I seem to appear as Gina now rather than RB, don't I? I am not sure why.
ReplyDelete