No. Maybe. Yes!
Well, whatever is your answer, you are right.
No, because if the HR in your company is unethical and unprofessional, they will never admit to it.
In this case the answer, the official one, will be - No.
Maybe, because HR is about confusing employees by interpreting the policies as per the liking of the management in such companies.
Otherwise, why do you think they will allow an unethical and unprofessional HR team to be there in the first place?
In this case the answer will be - Maybe.
Yes, because facts speak for themselves. This, unfortunately, is the true answer though.
However, no one will ever admit to it.
In this case the answer, the true one, will be - Yes.
So if you are in a bad situation in your corporate life where should you look at?
Company culture.
Company culture.
That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
In some sense a company with a bad culture will breed a bad HR and vice-versa.
How do you know the HR in the company you work with is unethical and unprofessional?
Here are some signs that you can watch out for:
- They talk to an employee who has resigned behind the back of the reporting manager. They just want to show how smart they are in retaining employees. They think reporting managers are fools and can go to hell.
- The head of HR carries a sick, condescending attitude. He thinks that only he is the smart person around. Others don't know much.
- The head of HR is unethical to the core. He is an ass-licker and keeps the management in good humor. He thinks employees are like tissue papers and hence no point in wasting your energy on addressing their genuine concerns.
- They get all kind of rituals started in the organization like 1-on-1, skip level meetings, group meetings, open forums, open house, all hands meeting and what not. The intent is not to change anything but to confuse everyone.
- They allow the management to put in place a reporting structure that breeds coterie culture. In fact, the head of HR in such companies is part of the coterie and does all non-sense to perpetuate coterie culture.
- They communicate to employees using funny language when ever something at their end goes really wrong. Instead of owing their mistakes and saying "Issues have been reported" they talk like clowns and say "We have been given to understand".
- They write disparaging and unnecessarily long emails on trivial issues. For them 0.01 difference between two numbers on a scale of 1 to 6 is something of a big concern and they create big, bad scene about it.
In case you are stuck in such an organization, you will find yourself in humiliating situations very often than not.
You will be getting unprofessional and childish emails from time to time.
You will be getting to hear humiliating comments from time to time.
You will see silly acts being performed by the coterie every now and then.
You will see the head of HR behave like a schoolboy in front of the principal, the top man!
In such situations, you must plan to leave immediately.
However, make sure you remain ethical and professional till you are not able to move on.
Remember, ethics and professionalism do matter, in the long run and in the good organizations.
Don't become a pig in the dirty pond you might be in right now.
Stay put.
But remain ethical and professional.
