The Cranky Middle Manager Show #80 The Evil HR Lady
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #080 (MP3 10.1MB 31:34 Min)
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Do you ever get the feeling that people in HR are not only in your way, but downright evil? Are you in HR hiding your more evil tendencies behind a Cheshire cat grin? Then you’ll love our chat with the author of the Evil HR Lady blog.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we take a break from high-minded views of leadership and nobility and get down and dirty on the subject of Human Resources….what do we really think of them? What do THEY think of us? Never asked yourself that one did you?
Our show is dedicated to the Egyptian God Thoth- god of the egyptian scribes…the first HR people, evil or otherwise is open to interpretation.
2:48 The quote of the week from Thomas Jefferson. Remember, resistance to tyranny is obedience to God. Resistance is NOT futile, despite the Evil HR Lady and her ilk.
3:34 Welcome the Evil HR Lady. Usually, you only see HR when you’re getting hired and when you’re fired….oh except for paperwork. She seems normal enough, what is it about HR that intrigues her? It sure ain’t people, which is strangely comforting in a way.
7:24 She works for a really big company, so let’s find out- exactly what does HR do and how is it different than OD (Organizational Development)? The good news is that sometimes they’re so busy fighting each other the rest of us get left alone.
10:56 We digress into trainer venting… oh nothing like people checking Blackberries in class to warm the cockles.
11:34 Can’t we all just get along? What departments drive HR crazy and vice versa? The main culprit is Finance…the Marketing and Sales Weasels come 2 and 3.
15:03 You actually heard it here first- HR is not there for the employee, it’s there for the company. That’s why she gets so many questions to her blog. The main concern seems to be performance appraisals. Why is that so difficult? Because they suck.
Oh, and in her opinion, most managers are lazy and they stink at giving feedback. This conversation is going well…..
20:09 But what’s the alternative? Lots of feedback, written goals and regular meetings would make everything simpler. Yeah, we’ll get right on that. Here’s a solution though….write your own performance appraisal and let your lazy boss cut and paste.
23:21 Hiring and firing is a big issue on her blog. In her humble opinion, people don’t get fired enough. Seriously.
25:29 Some resources-
Our boy Patrick Williams Guerilla HR blog (check out our interview with him here)
28:45 In conclusion, she talks about overhauling the compensation structure. Basically they want you to quit over money…… you heard it here first.
Don’t forget to post to the blog and have your say. Or you can just drop me a line…..
Don’t let the weasels get you down.
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 pm
[...] 3:45 Welcome Gautam Ghosh, author of A Management Consultant’s Blog. I found him through The Evil HR Lady Blog. You can check her out in Episode 80. The big challenge in India seems to be managing hypergrowth. [...]
May 10th, 2007 at 10:00 am
[...] 3:45 Welcome Gautam Ghosh, author of A Management Consultant?s Blog. I found him through The Evil HR Lady Blog. You can check her out in Episode 80. The big challenge in India seems to be managing hypergrowth. [...]
October 8th, 2007 at 2:15 am
[...] I’m happy to be in the company of our good friend The Evil HR Lady. (You can hear our interview with her here). Thanks to Michele Conlin for exhibiting such good taste. Now if she’ll only remove the stigma of being thought of as an HR blog…….I feel so dirty. [...]