HR is not your friend | Hacker News Reader

HR is not your friend

miserablyemployed.com

38 pointsramijames16 comments

> “Anonymous Surveys” are a trap

This is both something I know is true, and also something I struggle to understand. I can't get my head around why company leadership would ever consider true anonymous feedback from down the org chart as anything but an incredibly valuable resource. Surely this could be a bad thing for some execs who are doing a terrible job and this would be evidence against them, but I would think that the majority would still want that information so they could remove those members from their ranks.

Honestly, I'm in the same boat with this. I find it so frustrating. The core concept of anonymous feedback to honestly assess issues so that they can be dealt with seems so critical. I'm sure that in some orgs it is actually anonymous. The problem is that I'm ALSO sure that in some orgs it is categorically not. This means that you must assume that it is always not, because your job is on the line. Those orgs who can't act in good faith have poisoned the well for everyone.

So the thing is these anonymous surveys are just a way to "incriminate" managers. Most surveys are structure NOT to ask "Do you think Leader X is bad". It is more about "Do you understand what Leader/Org X is doing". So a "no" here means either "you" are the problem for not understanding or your manager for not clearly "explaining" what Leader/Org X is doing. So managers now have an extra job of selling some top-down vision with very limited data (relative to where there in the ladder) but without using the words "because VP X said so".

Top level leadership finds it valuable, which is why they do these surveys in the first place. Middle management is another matter.

Middle management have the most to lose (they get the blame for poor employee satisfaction), and they also have sufficient resources and authority to hunt down dissidents.

Seems insane that leadership would give managers the ability to deanonymize answers, then.

Much of the world is insane.

All correct, but remember, especially in the bay area: you always meet twice in life.

So be careful burning down those bridges if meeting with HR went sideways.

You will be at peace when you understand:

(1) You should not work at a place that does not pay you well, also taking into account the risk to your employment.

(2) Realize every day that it could be your last at that employer.

(3) You should doggedly be working on a side hustle in your spare time to be free from the employment trap.

HR is a misnomer. It should be CR - Corporate Resource.

I wonder how much is true for European employees, which enjoy much stronger worker protection.

It's true for EU and UK. You're protected and have more rights as a worker, but generally HR (in my experience) is definitely not considered your friend in most matters.

In my previous workplace, colleagues were not each others' friend as well.

Things are different now

"Things are different now"

Work colleagues are not friends and certainly not family. Regardless of what the corporate cultural ambassadors would have you believe.

Holy self-evident claim batman!

On a more serious note, if you're high enough up the food chain to afford such services and have significant downside risk, I'd recommend running anything you are unsure about by your own personal counsel first before running it by your firm's compliance and legal department.

I mean, this seems pretty obvious when you say it out loud. Of course the incentives are bent towards a compliance or legal department and not towards you. Of course you should protect yourself first and foremost.

Fact check: true

Reply on news.ycombinator.com