H aRRgh!!

Having just read a couple of snippets from the above blog I am somewhat dismayed and a little concerned about the picture this type of communication paints to the wider world about HR Professionals (and I use that term loosely on this occasion).

I am a Senior Member of an HR Team and have worked in an HR environment for over 12 years and whilst there are occasions when one does feel a certain sense of satisfaction at having to deal with a particularly difficult member of staff I cannot get over the glee that seems to have been adopted by this individual at general disciplinary issues.

It is not funny or clever to dismiss someone for bad parking, or indeed for poor attendance. If these are serious issues in the workplace they should be viewed as such. I am only glad that this person does not work for me or the company I work for.

Personnel Today you should know better than to trivialise important management issues and the person who is writing this blog should be ashamed of themselves for their bad attitude and general bigotry, it is a shame we can't all be as perfect as you - clearly you have never asked a silly question at interview when you have been nervous and trying to show that you have been keeping up with current affairs.

I can only reiterate that I am disappointed.
Regards
Emma Lister
Human Resources Business Partner

Emma

Where do I start?! You have raised many points, so it's probably best if I respond to these individually.

1. You have stated that you are "somewhat dismayed and a little concerned about the picture this type of communication paints to the wider world about HR Professionals".

I personally think it paints a fairly positive picture, if you take the blogs for what they are, i.e. my inner thoughts. HR has long been viewed by many as being manned by stuffy, humourless individuals incapable of adopting any modicum of common sense. I know for a fact that most of our managers believe we protect our employees too much, where as we are only doing what is right for all concerned, primarily the company. Maybe this blog will show some of these people that we do get as wound up about things as them, but ultimately we have to deal with things in the correct manner.

Believe it or not, I do wholeheartedly believe that I follow legal guidelines with regards to employment law. Whilst I may have some slightly 'maverick' views on certain issues I would never allow myself to be anything less than professional as I am fully aware of the potential consequences.

2. When I say I have had to get rid of a temporary agency worker for bad parking, the real underlying reason for him having to be let go, as was hinted at in the blog, was his appalling attitude towards authority with
regards to this issue. I maybe didn't make this clear, but if I was to go into great detail on every matter which I write about on the blogs, I would be missing the point of them entirely.

In terms of sacking people for poor attendance, would you really defend someone who has ignored their terms and conditions and flouted the rules on attendance for no good, apparent reason? I understand some people do suffer appalingly with certain issues, and I would never make light of anything remotely serious (my blog post of July 12, 'From One Extreme to the Other', should show this). However, if someone continually takes Fridays off because they are 'sick', I will not lose any sleep over them losing their job. I've been brought up to get to work unless I absolutely cannot make it in, and to do the job to the best of my abilities when I am there, showing respect to those in authority. I may have 'strict' views on work attendance, but if more people shared these views then this country may be in better shape than it is currently.

3. "I am only glad that this person does not work for me or the company I work for". I can only presume that this is directed at me rather than the people who I needed to relieve of their duties. If you wouldn't want me working for you, that's fine. Thankfully I work at a company where I am very highly thought of by the management team, so I'm probably best off staying here. Our personalities would probably clash given your response to my light-natured blogs. If you did have me working for you though, you would know that I am very professional, exceptionally competent, always there, always willing to work extra hours if needed, and always able to bring a smile to the faces of my colleagues who appreciate that life and work cannot be serious all of the time.

4. To accuse me of bigotry is verging on the libellous. Your only saving grace is the fact that I have made reference to 'prejudice' in a couple of my blogs. Yet, if you read the content and accept a certain degree of 'tongue-in-cheek' humour, you would come to realise that while I can sometimes be guilty of judging people too quickly, I would never pre-judge a person for any reason. A bigot is someone who pre-judges someone, this is something I would not do, even if I make 'jovial' references to Union members and people who cannot shake hands properly.

5. You state that, "clearly you have never asked a silly question at interview when you have been nervous and trying to show that you have been keeping up with current affairs". I presume this is a reference to the person who asked if he would be fined if he smoked in the building? Two points to raise here; a) it wasn't an interview, it was an induction for a temporary member of staff as is clearly stated in the blog; b) the individual displayed no sign of nerves and in fact was so ridiculously arrogant that I can only presume he was asking such questions to wind me up!

Clearly this blog isn't for you, and that is fine, the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same. Hopefully most people will realise that a lot of what is written is merely my way of letting go of all the frustrations that build up throughout the day. I have to be a pictue of professionalism at work, but I am only human and things will frustrate me, quite often as you will have read! However, I would never let my standards slip at work, and while I may make light of things here and behind closed doors at work, I will never deal with a situation in anything less than a completely professional manner.

Yours

H R Hartley

For the record, I think parking is a very funny reason to fire some one.

I agree with Emma, todays blog was in rather poor taste. Dismissing someone for any reason is never a nice task, and it certainly should not be used as the joke of the eveing in the pub on saturday.

agreed we all have our frustrations within the role, but you are dealing with peoples lifes, that really isn't somethig to be joked about.