HR in the contemporary workplace

Mar21

Yup, I’m pretty tough on human resources offices. No doubt this orientation is grounded in the shared stories of so many workplace bullying targets who report being abandoned or set up by HR. Rare is the bullying account that expresses appreciation for HR’s intervention.

However, I fully concede that HR often is in a difficult place, caught in the cross fires of organizational politics. It’s why I’ve posed the question of whether an ethical HR officer can survive in a lousy workplace.

It’s also the case that ethical, pro-active HR practices typically fall under the radar screens. Why? Because if HR is doing its job in a good workplace, then we’re highly unlikely to hear about it!

In any event, here are past posts that emphasize HR situations and actions when things aren’t going so great:

1. “Workplace bullying is bad for business” (2012) — Linking to a Worcester Business Journal op-ed I authored that discusses HR’s role in dealing with workplace bullying situations.

2. Are HR professionals bullied at work? (2011) — Unfortunately, independently-minded HR officers are potential bullying targets, too.

3. Quiet cover-ups (2011) — When HR is complicit in covering up bad behavior.

4. The “exit parade” as a worker termination protocol (2011) — All that’s missing is the firing squad (pun intended).

5. Can an ethical HR officer survive at a bad company? (2010) — A very challenging question.

6. SHRM opposes workplace bullying legislation (2010) — Disappointing. Very disappointing.

7. Don’t assume that HR is your buddy (2010) — HR plays a vital role in the workplace, but workers should not mistakenly regard HR as their ally.

8. HR as grim reaper (2009) — Being the terminator can come with costs.

9. “HR was useless” (2009) — One of this blog’s most popular posts, placing a common worker complaint against the purposes & loyalties of HR.

Recycling: Dealing with workplace bullying

Dec16

Targets of workplace bullying who are weighing their situations and options may find these articles from the blog helpful. Because these posts have appeared over the three-year span of this blog, there is some repetition and overlap in the information and guidance contained in them.

After being bullied at work, what next?

Bullied at work? Avoid making these common mistakes

Possibilities (resources for those considering career shifts)

“Should I stay or should I go?” Career insights from Seth Godin and The Clash

Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder and workplace bullying

No magic answers: “What should I do if I’m bullied at work?”

Should you confront your workplace bully?

Recycling: The Golden Rule at work, hanging together, and personal reinvention

Nov22

With the holidays beckoning, here are three past articles that offer some positive ideas and messages:

1. What if we applied the Golden Rule at work? (October 2010) — Did you know this “rule” has its roots in many faith traditions?

2. Can communal responses to tough times lead us to better lives? (October 2010) — Hopeful, humane, and creative thinking for difficult times.

3. Seth Godin: Seven keys to personal reinvention (September 2010) — Better than a New Year’s resolution.

[Editor's Note: In addition to maintaining a list of articles that have remained very popular on this blog -- see the Popular and Notable Posts page -- every month or so I'm recycling relevant posts from more than a year ago. Hopefully they will be of interest to newer readers.]

Recycling: Perspectives on the workplace anti-bullying movement

Oct28

For those who are veterans of the American movement to stop workplace bullying, the commentary in these posts may be old stuff, but for relative newcomers to the cause, they may provide helpful background:

1. A brief history of the emergence of the U.S. workplace bullying movement (January 2010) — A brief history of a (still) very young movement.

2. Immersion in the Twisted World of Abuse at Work (January 2009) — Reflections on the 6th International Conference on Workplace Bullying, held at the University of Quebec at Montreal in 2008.

3. The U.S. Workplace Bullying Movement at 10 (December 2008) — Assessing the progress of, and challenges facing, this nascent social movement.

Recycling: On making a difference, engaged leadership, and a New American Dream

Jun20

From the archives of this blog, cogitations for change agents:

1. Advice to Young (and Not So Young) Folks Who Want to Make a Difference (October 2009) — “If you want to make a difference, find something you care about and stick with it. Look around you: Most of the difference makers have staying power. They are driven by heartfelt commitment and a desire to do something meaningful.”

2. Wheatley’s call for fearlessness and engagement (July 2009) — Organizational change expert Margaret Wheatley: “If leaders took the time to engage people instead of clamping down on them, not only would employees perform better, they’d also be more innovative and focused.”

3. Greider’s New American Dream (May 2009) — Journalist William Greider: “Here is the grand vision I suggest Americans can pursue: the right of all citizens to larger lives. Not to get richer than the next guy or necessarily to accumulate more and more stuff but the right to live life more fully and engage more expansively the elemental possibilities of human existence.”

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Recycling: Beware of concentrated power, economic sociopaths, and shattered assumptions

Apr11

From the archives of this blog, here are three posts of possible interest:

1. Why concentrated power at work is bad (Nov. 2009) — Power does indeed corrupt, and the workplace is no exception. A brief look at what power does to our heads, literally.

2. Defining the Economic Sociopath (Nov. 2009) — Just who are these people plotting schemes to fatten their wallets and leave everyone else struggling? Some 18 months after I wrote this post, not all that much has changed.

3. Why severe workplace bullying can be so traumatic (July 2009) — Bullying at work shatters our assumptions about a just and decent world. Applying insights from a book by psychology professor Ronnie Janoff-Bulman.

Recycling: Recipe for an abusive boss, our inner child at work, and the recession as stressor

Mar2

From the archives of this blog, here are three posts of possible interest:

1. Recipe for an Abusive Boss: Power + Low Self-Esteem (October 2009) — Reporting on a study showing when and why people in power at work act abusively.

2. Yikes! Our Inner Child at Work (May 2009) — Hmm, maybe that shrink isn’t wrong for taking us back to our childhoods.

3. The Recession as Stressor (April 2009) — Reporting on a study about the negative health impacts of the recession.

Recycling: Sweeping it under the rug, inflated self-images of bosses, and why worker dignity is radically middle

Feb1

From the archives of this blog, here are three previous articles of possible interest:

1. Ethical employers handle employee complaints fairly and promptly; lousy ones sweep them under the rug. For more, go here to this March 2009 post.

2. Many bosses have an awfully inflated opinion of themselves. Go here for a February 2009 post that cites survey data and then appeals to a celebrity CEO for advice.

3. Proposed workplace bullying laws and other legal measures to safeguard worker dignity aren’t as left leaning as some might claim, says Radical Middle Newsletter. Go here for a January 2009 post that puts an interesting spin on legal efforts to advance a “dignitarian” agenda at work.

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[Editor's Note: In addition to maintaining a list of articles that have remained very popular on this blog -- see the Popular and Notable Posts page -- every month or so I'm going to be recycling relevant posts from more than a year ago. Hopefully they will be of interest to newer readers.]

Recycling: On core groups, workplace bullying as torture, and organizational cultures

Jan7

From the archives of this blog, here are three previous articles of possible interest:

1. Do “core groups” reveal who is in charge and who is not? A Boston perspective, here (February 2009).

2. How do workplace bullying targets describe their experiences? It’s a form of psychological torture, according to an important study, summarized here (February 2009).

3. What kind of organizational culture do you have? For more on a framework that yields remarkable insights, go here (April 2009).

Recycling: On holiday cards, studying philosophy instead of business, and spending & giving

Dec9

As of this month, Minding the Workplace is two years old! While a cluster of articles remains very popular (see the Popular and Notable Posts page), other pieces have come and gone. Some of the latter offered commentary of ongoing interest, so periodically I’m going to highlight them in “Recycling” posts. Here’s the first bunch:

1. Have you ever received an unsigned holiday card from a boss? Check out “No Ho Ho: Unsigned Holiday Cards” (December 2008).

2. Can studying philosophy instead of pursuing an MBA make for better managers? Check out what one management consultant has to say, here (January 2009).

3. Are spending and giving moral obligations of being gainfully employed? My thoughts, here (January 2009).

Minding the Workplace

The New Workplace Institute Blog, hosted by David Yamada

Category Archives: Recycling