Althouse: "Everyone... had a story about explaining basic etiquette to boorish colleagues. No, you can’t microwave fish at lunch."

August 3, 2024

"Everyone... had a story about explaining basic etiquette to boorish colleagues. No, you can’t microwave fish at lunch."

"Stop cutting your toenails on your desk. Don’t bring a gun to the office.... H.R. knows that employees and managers are annoyed by its memos, by its processes, by just about anything that interrupts life as it was. When an email is sent nudging everyone to take that 45-minute online course in, say, data security, H.R. can almost hear the eye rolls."

From "So, Human Resources Is Making You Miserable?/Get in line behind the H.R. managers themselves, who say that since the pandemic, the job has become an exasperating ordeal. 'People hate us,' one said" (NYT).

54 comments:

n.n said...: Don't wield scalpels unless... Yes, we have heard them all.; 8/3/24, 9:26 AM
Temujin said...: The HR industry is the home of DEI and Woke, Inc. HR departments are hives of this thinking, and through them and time, they have filled their workforces with such hive minds.

It's a shame when the hive is not behaving as directed.

Also, for those white males on the team, when you're told you're toxic long enough, you tend to start cutting your toenails at your desk. You simply do not care any longer.; 8/3/24, 9:30 AM
Wince said...: "Get in line behind the H.R. managers themselves, who say that since the pandemic, the job has become an exasperating ordeal. 'People hate us,' one said" (NYT)."

H.R. Puf-n-stuf
Who's your friend when things get rough?
H.R. Puf-n-stuf
Can't do a little 'cause he can't do enough; 8/3/24, 9:32 AM
Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...: Life was pretty darn good until Chi-Com change-the-vote Big-Corrupt-Mob Disease was purposefully deployed.; 8/3/24, 9:32 AM
baghdadbob said...: One reason people may hate HR is that it has become a convenient place to accumulate and warehouse DEI hires who aren't otherwise qualified to hold productive positions.

HR then compounds this problem by disrupting productive employees with time-sucking distractions in the form of DEI-related memos, seminars and training sessions. These distractions undermine corporate performance but anyone who complains or fails to comply is branded racist, sexist, misogynist or something ending in -phobic, and forced to endure struggle sessions.; 8/3/24, 9:32 AM
imTay said...: If you think that a course in data security is a waste of time, you may want to consider a career that doesn’t involve computers, but I suspect that these are not the courses causing the most eye rolls; 8/3/24, 9:34 AM
Yancey Ward said...: They hate you for very good reasons.; 8/3/24, 9:35 AM
stlcdr said...: HR is to protect the company, not the employees. It's unsurprising everyone hates HR, it's just more obvious, now.; 8/3/24, 9:36 AM
Iman said...: They’ve earned the hate and disrespect in many cases.; 8/3/24, 9:38 AM
wild chicken said...: not to mention the indian devs and their BO; 8/3/24, 9:43 AM
Wince said...: imTay said...
If you think that a course in data security is a waste of time, you may want to consider a career that doesn’t involve computers, but I suspect that these are not the courses causing the most eye rolls.

How about pronouns? That H.R. class can be made entertaining...

"The subject for today is pronouns!"; 8/3/24, 9:50 AM
FleetUSA said...: Not news.; 8/3/24, 9:50 AM
Narr said...: What rational organization would leave computer security to HR?

Once in a while a commenter here outs his/her/theirself as an HR puke, and I think, "Ah, that fits."; 8/3/24, 9:55 AM
vermonter said...: I’ve ridden in an elevator with someone who microwaved fish and it was not pleasant, so that is good advice.; 8/3/24, 9:58 AM
Achilles said...: The HR industry is a major driver of inflation.

It produces nothing but people get paid increasing the money supply.

The “wage gap” between men and women was closed creating jobs in air conditioning for women in this industry.; 8/3/24, 9:59 AM
Another old lawyer said...: HR shouldn't lie to themselves like that. They were hated before the pandemic.; 8/3/24, 10:06 AM
Sally327 said...: The problem for H.R. is that it doesn't really have any power. It advises, it recommends, it informs. But it doesn't hire and fire. It doesn't have the power to enforce anything. This is a common misperception, though, people thinking H.R. is calling the shots.; 8/3/24, 10:06 AM
Achilles said...: These jobs can only exist when subsidized and protected by the government.; 8/3/24, 10:06 AM
Narr said...: HR on campus all too often used to send us 'vetted' job seekers who didn't meet the bare minimum requirements for the position. By the time I left, they were horning in on supervising our interviews--we had to report every question and answer in detail before we could justify a decision.

When I finally did retire, the HR ditzes--who presumably deal with the issues all the time--were no help as I considered my options.; 8/3/24, 10:09 AM
Achilles said...: Sally327 said...
The problem for H.R. is that it doesn't really have any power. It advises, it recommends, it informs. But it doesn't hire and fire. It doesn't have the power to enforce anything. This is a common misperception, though, people thinking H.R. is calling the shots.

Women and minorities can say this.

White men live in fear.; 8/3/24, 10:15 AM
Sally327 said...: White men live in fear.

That's usually who is in charge.; 8/3/24, 10:28 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: That's why people like telework. Its amazing but true, that high IQ doesn't equal common sense. It should be obvious that if you're working around other people you need to not stink, not disturb others with loud personal cell phone calls, or make sexist/racists "Jokes".

But some people with BAs and Masters degrees don't understand that, and have to be told.; 8/3/24, 10:28 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: The fish thing has always been a problem with office workers, because large numbers of people either don't mind or like the smell of cooked fish or ciappino, but some find it extremely offensive.; 8/3/24, 10:30 AM
Leland said...: In my company, required compliance training is managed by the technical lines themselves to assure quality standards to process. That includes digital security, ethics, and company policy. Our HR still feels the need to send annoying emails such as how we should celebrate various “national” day, but they don’t send reminders of company holidays.; 8/3/24, 10:36 AM
Achilles said...: Sally327 said...
White men live in fear.

That's usually who is in charge.

And thus you stumble on the truth of feminism and the HR system.

These women are used to repress some men on behalf of other higher status men.; 8/3/24, 10:41 AM
J Severs said...: HR is not your friend.; 8/3/24, 11:21 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: As they should. HR should be a paper-pushing job, to enter new hires, add raises, terminate employment per those in charge. They should stay out of being investigator, prosecutor, judge and jury.; 8/3/24, 11:27 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: I use to piss off the people who came in to do observation, reports, and "audits" by telling them they are supposed to be "support", not the effing tail driving the house. Especially the ones who had not one ounce of practical operational experience. I looked forward to their one-day "snapshot" of my operations and I would take their findings - especially ones where they didn't know rules, regulations, contract law, and protocol enough, and dissect them in such a devastating way that they wouldn't ever show up again. You are SUPPORT, not critics.; 8/3/24, 11:32 AM
hawkeyedjb said...: "So get used to the memos [about] the goal of a more equitable workplace; like greater diversity..."

This is the crap HR produces, instead of a product or service that is wanted in the marketplace. The farther removed they are from useful production, the more desperately they seek to justify their existence. I worked for clients who wanted systems that worked, and they didn't give a hoot in hell if we had a diverse, equitable workplace.; 8/3/24, 11:41 AM
Jamie said...: HR is to protect the company, not the employees. It's unsurprising everyone hates HR, it's just more obvious, now.

This is the correct perspective. We have a friend, an HR exec, who has always, from her earliest days in the field, referred to herself as "the hand of the Man," and has always expected to be at least disliked by employees.

OTOH, we have an acquaintance, another HR exec, who acts in her work as though she believes her role is to support any employee in any grievance that employee may have. She regularly expresses her conviction that she must hire consultants, and more consultants, and more consultants, to "assess" whether this workplace (which is about 70% women, about 30-40% gay employees - though it is true that lesbians are underrepresented at present, about 30% Black employees, 40% Asian employees, 15% Latino employees, 15% white employees, and literally 5% straight white men) has a DEI problem. The CFO has to push back on the consulting thing all the time. Fortunately the CEO, a white straight woman of liberal but not too progressive bent, backs him up (the CFO is one of the 5% of straight white guys).; 8/3/24, 11:44 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: "Hostile Workplace" laws need to go away. People should not have a cause of action against their employer because other employees are mean, offensive, or even cruel. I'm not saying that the employer can't fire those mean, offensive, or cruel people, but there shouldn't be any inherent liability for the employer for not doing something about those actions. That fear of liability is what drove H.R. departments to become to the controlling, meddling, petty tyrants most people see them as now. Our society is losing the ability of individuals to resolve minor conflicts on their own without involving some sort of outside power structure. The same mentality is why HOAs are now seen in a similar, petty-tyrant role.; 8/3/24, 11:48 AM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I have to say, at the company I work for, HR has been a consistent defender of the interests of employees and a common-sense arbiter of company policy. While I’m not an anti-vaxxer, they vigorously enabled those with “religious” objections, to a degree that made a complete farce of government mandates.

It’s the company culture, not the department. Also, while all of our HR staff are ladies, none are childless cat-owners.; 8/3/24, 11:51 AM
Just an old country lawyer said...: Yet another reason this old lawyer preferred self-employment.; 8/3/24, 11:51 AM
Mr. D said...: What's a real problem is when HR people get elected to Congress. Even worse than teachers' union types.; 8/3/24, 12:08 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “The problem for H.R. is that it doesn't really have any power. It advises, it recommends, it informs. But it doesn't hire and fire. It doesn't have the power to enforce anything. This is a common misperception, though, people thinking H.R. is calling the shots.”

True everywhere I’ve worked. The stink of spineless managers inevitably settles in HR hallways.; 8/3/24, 12:15 PM
loudogblog said...: We had a young guy on our crew who couldn't understand why he got fired for smoking pot at work. He thought it would be OK because he was on his break.; 8/3/24, 12:20 PM
loudogblog said...: Sally327 said...
"The problem for H.R. is that it doesn't really have any power. It advises, it recommends, it informs. But it doesn't hire and fire."

That's not always true. At the last two corporations that I worked for, HR were the only ones who had the authority to hire and fire people. All we could do as management was to make recommendations to HR on who should be hired and fired.; 8/3/24, 12:29 PM
Narr said...: One of the best HR fiascos I recall was during one of our twice-yearly training days, when the library would be closed and all the faculty and staff subjected to various forms of indoctrication (I just made that word up).

One of the programs was a comely young black woman from HR, assigned to advise us on professional demeanor. She wore tight jeans, a tight leopard-print top, high heels, pounds of bling, and enough scent to choke a trench full of doughboys. Some friends and I traded knowing looks--OK, she's going to use herself as a bad example--but boy were we wrong.

I never saw her again. Probably she has continued to fail up.; 8/3/24, 1:08 PM
James K said...: "The problem for H.R. is that it doesn't really have any power."

Where I work, failure to complete the required courses means losing log-in credentials. At least that's the threat. And there's no way we can hire anyone, even a part-time temporary person, without going through HR. For one thing, my employer requires a background check on any new hire.

The data security courses are the least annoying, and maybe even borderline necessary. As to HR's expertise, as far as I can tell they just purchase these courses from some other company, they don't produce them.; 8/3/24, 1:10 PM
rwnutjob said...: HR's one real job is to support a manager in his firing of people they don't like.

My son worked for one of the two big investment companies, the one that had never had a layoff. He said he figured out how they got rid of people. They find people they want out & monitor their email for any violation. they had fired fix people that day.

When our HR director in my $3b company; a seriously gorgeous blonde, added pronouns to her email signature, I decided that it was time to retire.; 8/3/24, 1:59 PM
n.n said...: Men in women's spaces... bathrooms. Yes, it's all been said, but social progress and other liberal memes.; 8/3/24, 2:25 PM
lamech said...: Colin Quinn "HR is the law enforcement arm of the office"

1:16 clip https://x.com/iamcolinquinn/status/1789013259078520932

... as 'Dirty' Harry Callahan stated about Personnel, "That's for assholes"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGCMyF-sA58; 8/3/24, 2:39 PM
guitar joe said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/3/24, 3:13 PM
Lawrence Person said...: The problem is not security training, the problem is wokeness and HR being the thin edge of the wedge used to infect the company with social justice.

As well anyone at the Washington Post should understand.; 8/3/24, 3:35 PM
Aggie said...: Corporate America went swirling down the drain when they started giving HR Managers a seat at the executive level. They wield an inordinate amount of power, and none of it is wise, or well-informed - in my experience. They very often rise quite high within an organization, because it is their job to get the goods on people, and in my experience, the job attracts precisely the wrong kind of people for precisely that reason. It is Authority, without Responsibility. And they often have an ear in the corner office to whisper poison into. I've seen it time, and again. They deserve every bit of the abuse that they complain about; It pays to remember that you are the human resource they wield power over. We used to call them : 'Human Remains'; 8/3/24, 4:07 PM
Another old lawyer said...: I had an CT attorney who reported to me for a time. CT law had specific training requirements on sexual discrimination and harassment for supervisors so I had to take extra training. The mandated training was by video purchased from an outside vendor, and largely consisted of actors in vignettes that attempted to illustrate questionable behaviors, violations, compliance, etc. In every vignette, however, the names of the male characters were ALL euphemisms for penis. Names like Johnson, Dick, Willie, Rod, Wood, Weiner, etc. I just kept laughing while I watched. I never could decide whether HR hadn't actually watched the training before purchasing it for use, or had watched but missed the obvious euphemisms. Neither said anything good about our HR team.

Absolutely true story.; 8/3/24, 4:25 PM
Disparity of Cult said...: Microwaving a medley of raw broccoli, celery, and onion in the break room is also not advised. Oh, the humanity!; 8/3/24, 4:26 PM
Narr said...: For all the surface conflict between academe and corporations, most academic administrators are slavish adherents to whatever snake-oil their corporate counterparts dream up.

I saw it happen every few years--the academic admins fall in love with corporate practices just as the corporations move on to other ones.; 8/3/24, 4:34 PM
Dave64 said...: 1: HR personnel
2:Lawyers
3: HOA board members; 8/3/24, 5:03 PM
effinayright said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/3/24, 6:38 PM
effinayright said...: Even thirty years ago when I was in the internet router business, HR managers were notorious for taking offense and tracking down people in CustService and Manufacturing---IOW the low males on the totem pole---for their various heretical social views.

Obese white and Asian females....every single one of them. Hundreds of horny young men in that facility and none went near the "vagina dentata" gang.

I can't imagine why......

Any similar experiences out there?; 8/3/24, 6:39 PM
pious agnostic said...: The only purpose of HR is to protect the company from lawsuits.

They are not, and never have been, the friend of workers.; 8/3/24, 7:11 PM
McCackie said...: If everybody hates you ..... you are the problem.; 8/3/24, 9:43 PM
Kevin Walsh said...: HR is in charge of firing people and taking away their livelihoods. No sugar coating can change that, it's immutable. As people, they can be nice. But the job is cold-eyed.

I couldn't do it.; 8/3/24, 10:27 PM