6 thoughts on “Is HR Dying to Ambush you?

  1. So can you bring your own witness? I've found that not only do Managers lie, so does HR. Unless HR is gullible enough to believe what Managers tell them. I'm neither a manager nor in HR but I have been ambushed and lied to.

  2. I prefer that the manager handle it (that's what they get paid for) and then HR follows up individually with the manager and the person being ambushed in separate meetings. I have found way too many managers are cowards and let HR carry the bad news ball once the meeting begins. They (the manager) needs to feel the pain.

  3. Hey EHRL,

    I think HR can do a lot more than suddenly speaking with an employee about anything (save a termination). If a conversation is required than an email regarding the scheduled meeting and a brief description of the meeting contents. I've had a few instances where HR suddenly pulls me in a room and receive bad news without any warning.

    It seems pretty archaic to require two people in the room for a performance related issue. Regardless of how nice or appropriate management/HR behaves the ratio is still uneven. Why not use a tape recorder? Or even give the employee an option?

    What do you think?

  4. If you suspect it could get ugly, it’s also acceptable for you to ask for a witness of your own. (Be prepared: HR probably won’t like that and may say no.)

    I've had interviews where a witness would have been very useful, when HR claimed that things had been said that I have no recollection of (and would have written down at the time, being that sort of thing).

  5. "We’re [HR] out to help the business (or at least, we should be) …."

    And a good HR manager recognizes that employees are assets, not liabilities, but we all know that the general perception of HR is not one of sunshine, sweetness, and light.

    Perhaps that's because most people's experience (as you're seeing here), either direct or vicarious, is that if/once HR gets involved with *any* situation concerning you, things are *not* going to be resolved in your favor.

    Do you have any suggestions for educating HR professionals to avoid the behaviors which reinforce this perception, perhaps even going so far as to spur HR into thinking of "mere" employees as people instead of replaceable cogs?

  6. I'd like to point out that unionized employees are always allowed a witness (usually a union rep specifically). These are known as the Weingarten Rights. Depending on the makeup of the National Labor Relations Board, these can apply to non-unionized workers as well.

    They did under Clinton, but were revoked under Bush.

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