I think mainstream HR comes primarily from the private sector and is primarily about protecting the employer, often against the employee. They often cast themselves in a role of being there to help you, but a common piece of folk wisdom is “HR is not your friend”. I think frankly that a lot of mainstream HR culture is at worst dishonest and manipulative, and I’d be really sad to see us uncritically importing more of that.
I see a lot of this online, but it doesn’t match my personal experience. People working in HR that I’ve been in contact with seem generally kind people, aware of tradeoffs, and generally care about the wellbeing of employees.
I worry that the online reputation of HR departments is shaped by a minority of terrible experiences, and we overgeneralize that to think that HR cannot or will not help, while in my experience they are often really eager to try to help (in part because they don’t want you and others to quit, but also because they are nice people).
Maybe it’s also related to minimum-wage non-skilled jobs vs higher paying jobs, where employment tends to be less adversarial and less exploitative.
I see a lot of this online, but it doesn’t match my personal experience. People working in HR that I’ve been in contact with seem generally kind people, aware of tradeoffs, and generally care about the wellbeing of employees.
I worry that the online reputation of HR departments is shaped by a minority of terrible experiences, and we overgeneralize that to think that HR cannot or will not help, while in my experience they are often really eager to try to help (in part because they don’t want you and others to quit, but also because they are nice people).
Maybe it’s also related to minimum-wage non-skilled jobs vs higher paying jobs, where employment tends to be less adversarial and less exploitative.