Only Human
By Betsey Nash, SPHR
I just thought of a great title for a book about the exploits of a human resources manager, “Fifty Shades of Gray” (or, for smaller employers I could issue a revised version, “Under Ten Shades of Gray”).
Just like the original, my tome would be full of ecstasy and pain, freedom and bondage, as it tracks the escapades of a recent human resources graduate drunkenly careening into a job with a rich, handsome, eccentric entrepreneur.
He has her sign a non-disclosure agreement before they can work together and she naively thinks it’s about company trade secrets.
My version too, would be all about dominant/submissive relationships. ‘Cuz isn’t that what the workplace is all about? Heck, the original title for the real “Shades of Grey” trilogy was “Master of the Universe.” Doesn’t that sound like your boss?
This is not to say that the boss doesn’t still need to be in charge, but the days of a workplace built around a dominant boss and submissive employees are mostly a thing of the past, felled by the realization that collaboration between people of complementary skills and talents more often breeds success.
Nevertheless, I received an email from a reader who hinted that the old reality exists at his workplace and he wondered what roll the HR manager should play in it all? The email asked if there were a rule or law in California ensuring that HR managers enforce the rights of the employer and employee equally.
“It seems like some of the HR folks out there tend to always default to protecting the employer, at nearly any cost, [ignoring] strong indications the employee is not being treated fairly,” he wrote.
This is a great question. The simple answer is “No,” there is no law or rule. But, as well all know, that’s not enough of an answer. And here comes the gray.
Employers are bound by law to treat their employees “in good faith;” that is, honestly, with the intention to be fair. We in human resources are bound by professional ethics to be the gatekeepers of the border between fair and unfair; to look out for the rights of the employee as the employer runs their business.
But how far do you go in serving the employees before you do so at the expense of the business? At one end of the spectrum was my Home Depot store manager, who told me that my job was to keep him out of jail, and at the other, the employer who lets his employees take advantage of him all day long because he is afraid of being sued.
Rather than referee an endless game of Us vs. Them, I see the HR pro’s job as identifying the employer and employees’ mutual best interests, and to help the employer build their relationships and the business on them.
It cannot be news by now that happy employees produce more and stay longer than unhappy ones. So it behooves an employer to do all they can to support their employees’ pursuit of the business goals in ways that serve the employees’ needs. Those needs are well documented — purpose, mastery, recognition, growth, and to know that they are cared about.
There are no workplace laws regarding fairness in general, although Lord knows, there are plenty of laws. An employee takes his chances that his boss is not a jerk and that their HR manager knows that HR’s job is more than letting the boss do whatever he wants.
HR’s job description may include endless shades of gray but this much is pretty black and white.
Betsey Nash, SPHR, with more than 20 years in the business reminds everyone that HR is not for weaklings. She can be reached at: . Only Human is a regular feature of Tolosa Press.
