10 Tips to Protect Your Career from Overzealous Human Resource Managers
Discover the real purpose of HR — behind all the smoke and mirrors
Its very name — the human resources department — suggests a division of the company dedicated to the well-being and advancement of the company’s employees. It sounds like a downright friendly and inviting place, where you can find the help you need to accelerate your career, work through problems, and increase the enjoyment and satisfaction you receive from your work.
The term human resources conveys such a sense of positivity, it’s easy to assume the HR department to be a place designed to serve and benefit the company’s workforce.
Right?
In a word . . . wrong
In three words . . . wrong, wrong, wrong.
If I could suggest a new name that more accurately describes what goes on inside the HR department, I’d offer this: “Department for the mitigation of corporate liability in managing employee discipline, exits, terminations, and transfers.”
The HR department’s number one responsibility is to protect the company from liability
The primary source of this liability originates from wrongful termination lawsuits and damage claims resulting from alleged discrimination or harassment. Notice the emphasis on protecting the company. The HR department represents the company’s interests and assets — not yours.
In short, the HR department is the company, pared down to its most legal and protective persona. When you talk to anyone in HR, consider your conversation — the subject and what you choose to reveal — the same way you would if speaking to a lawyer for the opposing side.
Santa isn’t the only one with a naughty list
In addition to mitigating liability resulting from employee interactions and terminations, HR also keeps a watchful eye on employee behavior, hoping to ferret out potential problems and eliminate the “bad apples” in the earliest stages. Their tools are managing to terminate (managing out), demotion, transfers, and large-scale employee termination via lay-offs and downsizing.
HR is the quintessential incarnation of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. More than one HR manager has revealed how naive most employees are about the department’s function, with most workers never realizing HR’s intentions are seldom — if ever — in the best interests of the individual worker.
One ex-HR manager once related the subtle irony of the department’s typical smoke and mirror approach by recalling HR’s presentation of an in-house motivational seminar designed to promote sensitivity and tolerance between co-workers on the same day they circulated a memo to management, titled, “Make sure the discharge is legal.”
“But I’m the model employee,” you say. “I have nothing to fear from HR.”
Even the best employees can find themselves suddenly engaged in a conversation with HR due to a takeover, buyout, or reorganization. So never let your defenses down. Unless you originate the correspondence, treat any communication from HR as a threat to terminate — even when disguised as an opportunity to transfer, acquire more education, or the possibility of a promotion. Be courteous, professional, and prompt. And never give them a reason to doubt your loyalty.
How can you stay on the good side of HR?
By avoiding the most egregious “sins” cited by HR managers as “actionable offenses requiring intervention.”
You may want to use the following suggestions to create a personal behavior code that defines your line in the sand — one you must never cross. Exceptions are seldom — if ever — justified by the situation, the circumstances, or the aberrant behavior of others. So consider these to be “fatal errors,” with little chance of forgiveness.
1. Never threaten anyone, either with idle intent or physical violence.
2. Never badmouth the company in the presence of others. That includes expressing dissatisfaction with your job, compensation, your supervisor, or company policy. Keep in mind there is no such thing as a “private conversation” on company property. Ears are everywhere, and there’s always a chance someone will overhear you.
If you need to vent, buy a diary and fill it with a daily record of gripes, complaints, and grievances. Remember to keep it locked away at home so no one else can read it.
3. Stay cool and collected under fire. While you may think you’re occasionally entitled to curse, vent, or blow off steam, the results can and will hurt you. Just because the conversation turns heated or you’re put under pressure, there’s no excuse for verbal attacks and derogatory statements — even when they’re true.
Going ballistic may seem like the only option you’ve got, but others will see your emotional outburst as a symptom of fear and emotional immaturity. Even worse, it’s an indication that the other guy got to you, and you couldn’t handle it.
Make it a habit of silently dismissing the stupid behavior and comments of others. It demonstrates you’re operating on a much higher level and, in fact, have the capacity to handle far more serious situations.
4. Avoid making negative comments or innuendo about another employee. Although similar to misdeed number two, expressing negativity about others is so prevalent in the workplace, it deserves more emphasis.
Never trash a co-worker, not even to a trusted confidant. The moment it leaves your lips, it’s out there — a loose missile no longer under your control — and you never know when it’s going to circle back and blow up in your face.
By keeping negative comments out of your conversations, you’ll be safeguarding your reputation and character. Regardless of how poorly another employee is doing, never volunteer a negative opinion about them. If you have responsibility for their performance — and your manager pushes you to deliver a less than glowing evaluation — do it with a positive spin, indicating that with more direct supervision, feedback, or directed assignments, there’s a chance for improvement.
5. Avoid becoming a company liability. This is why the HR Department is continually pumping out all those little signs and posters warning workers to avoid the possession and use of illegal substances, never steal or misuse company property, and never engage in behavior that could be construed as sexual harassment.
So leave the contraband at home, never put unearned company money or property in your pocket, and eliminate sexual innuendo in your conversations with co-workers.
6. Never be the instigator of rumor or gossip. Some years back, the water cooler became a metaphor for an impromptu meeting area on company property. It might be the parking lot, the break room, the bathroom, or yes, even the water cooler. Regardless of where it takes place, it’s the main distribution point for drama and distraction, with the topic usually centered on office rumors.
My advice? Stay out of it. Make it a point to protect yourself from the busy-bodies and blabbermouths who love to spread rumor, conjecture, and gossip.
Management is always on the lookout for “agitators” who incite discontent or raise the anxiety level of other employees. If you’re pressed for a comment, just smile and say nothing. Your response will leave the impression that regardless of whether you know or don’t know, you’re not saying anything about it. You’re making it clear it’s information you cannot or will not share — because you know better. Over time, you’ll be respected for it.
Yes, others may try to coerce or bait you into revealing what you know, and while the temptation to take the spotlight can be overwhelming, the rewards of keeping your mouth shut are far more valuable in the long run.
7. Treat company email and inter-office correspondence as if it were public. Here’s an axiom for using email you should commit to memory: Never put anything in your email correspondence that you wouldn’t want to be said publicly. Email isn’t secure, and after it’s received, you no longer have any control over its distribution and who ultimately sees it. The same is true with any communication taking place under the company umbrella.
Regardless of the assurance you’ve received confirming your conversation is private or privileged, once your words are part of a retrievable file, you’ve lost the advantage of plausible deniability. Worse, your comments and opinions — especially those containing innuendo or framed within a negative context — can be used against you if you’re ever targeted to be managed out.
Use the company channels of correspondence for business only. Always use professional dialogue and avoid any personal references, slang, or innuendo. If you feel the need to criticize or convey an attitude, feeling, or suggestion that contains a negative inference about company policy, programs, customers, or employees, ask yourself what the repercussions would be if your email was broadcast to every employee within the company.
In short, don’t do it.
8. Avoid revealing proprietary information in front of the competition. It happens more frequently than you realize. You’ll typically run into competitors at trade shows, marketing conventions, a customer’s place of business, or industry association meetings. There’s also the inevitability of seeing them in restaurants and other public places.
How do you behave when finding yourself face-to-face with a competitor? Here’s a general rule: Be cordial and professional, and when it comes to business, keep your mouth shut. Never, never, never (that’s three in a row, so pay attention) talk about price, profit, markups, costs, market share, or anything having to do with money, customers, or a particular job or project. If you’re overheard by someone who wishes to harm you professionally, you could be accused of collusion or price setting, a violation of anti-trust law.
When engaging the competition, smile, talk about the weather, the traffic, your trip to Yosemite — but steer clear of business. If the other person asks a question about your sales, a company project, or internal changes in responsibility or leadership, say you’re not privy to that kind of information. Or, you can be more direct and respond with: “I can’t say. As you know, those subjects are proprietary.”
Avoid phrases like, “I haven’t heard,” or “I suppose we’ll find out later.” This infers there’s a situation under consideration, and that fact alone could be the very thing your competition wants to know. Asking about rumors, conjecture, and industry scuttlebutt is part of a competitive strategy — and it’s your job to protect the company’s secrets.
9. Never openly or publicly disagree with a supervisor or any member of a management team. If you believe it’s in the best interest of the company for an individual to be made aware of your opposing opinion (because you know something they don’t), then objectively and privately present the new or overlooked information that substantiates your viewpoint.
Make it clear your objective is for them to have all the facts before making a final decision and, regardless of what they decide, you will support it.
10. Avoid making a legal claim (of any kind) against the company. Regardless of your rights as defined by law, bringing formal legal action against your employer is applying the kiss of death to your career.
Granted, there are situations in which you may have good reason to go after the organization
But here’s the real question: Do you plan to continue working there? If the issue can be resolved “off the books,” you may be able to preserve your future with the company — if you really want to stay.
However, if you take your grievances public with a formal complaint or lawsuit, you’ll be labeled a whistle blower — a headache for the company and not someone they will want to keep. Being able to settle, manage, or otherwise successfully negotiate problems is what management expects from their best and brightest.
From the company’s mindset, airing their dirty laundry in public is de-facto proof you’re not senior management material. So before making a formal complaint, look at alternatives in the form of private discussions, suggesting corrective action or behavior or, if necessary, a transfer to another department or division.
Bottom Line
Your career is an asset that needs the same level of protection as you provide for any of your other “equity-rich” possessions. You would never think of owning a home without insuring it against damage. Likewise, you should protect your career by eliminating behaviors, attitudes, and conversations that cast a less-than-professional image of yourself.
© 2020 Roger Reid. All Rights Reserved.
Find more tips & strategies for personal and career success in Better Mondays
Roger A. Reid, Ph.D. is the founder|host of Success Point 360 Podcast and author of Better Mondays: The New Rules for Creating Financial Success and Personal Freedom (While Working for the Man) and A certified NLP trainer with degrees in engineering and business, Roger offers tips and strategies for achieving higher levels of career success and personal fulfillment in the real world.
