Repeat after me, ‘HR is not my friend!’
Posted on October 22, 2007
Filed Under Cold hard career facts, Career Development
There I said it again in case you missed it on my mantra or didn’t hear me on last week’s Animal Show. HR is not your friend. They aren’t your buddy, your pal, your psychologist, your career counselor, or you relationship therapist. They are an agent for the company you work for. They are there to protect the company! Learn it, live it, love it!
So what the hell am I saying? Here’s the deal, lots of people think that because HR has all those posters about EEOC guidelines and other legalese that they must be there to protect the employee. Wrong! Who pays them, not the employee, the company, that’s their first priority. Keep the company out of legal hot water. All the rest is window dressing.
Another misconception is that there is confidentiality in HR. Not so fast my friends. Your HR department is not bound by the same confidentiality agreements as your doctor or lawyer. True they can’t go public with your employee file, and they are bound to certain rules if your new employer calls for a reference. But within the company walls, assuming that the things you tell HR won’t leave the office is naive. Remember, HR is an agent of the company, as soon as you disclose anything to them, that information belongs to the company. So if you’re talking to HR, don’t tell them anything you wouldn’t tell the CEO, because they more or less are the same.
A couple more things to remember; actions such as sexual harassment claims, workers’ compensation claims, going to HR to help resolve conflict, or just generally complaining to HR can be career killers. Yes, HR is bound to protect you, to a point, and to ensure a safe and non-hostile work environment, but you have to know going to HR with these sorts of issues, puts your career with the company at risk. Why? Because now, you’re a potential threat to the company. So think it through before you head to the HR department. Ask yourself how big an issue is this and is HR the best person to help me resolve it? No matter how small the incident, once you’ve gone to HR, you’ve marked yourself and they will be watching.
Finally, all this may sound overly harsh, but this isn’t just my rant. If you haven’t picked up Cynthia Shapiro’s Corporate Confidential yet you definitely should. The career you save may be your own. Want to know more? Drop me a line at scott@careerwaymark.com
Until next time…
So… you’re saying Toby is as bad as Michael thinks he is. And even if I redact something, it still could end up being aired publicly in my office…
Ahh…if only real life were more like ‘the Office’! And HR was just like Toby…what a perfect world.
I love Toby
Scott- I saw your comment on Swerve and realized our names are really close. I thought I would stop by to say what’s up! BTW my wife’s maiden name is williamson, she had to take the on, off.
I always follow the ‘HR is an extension of your company’s legal department’ tip my husband whispered in my ear once.
Great advice.
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