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HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

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Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#31

Post by Lammy »

hirundo wrote: post #26
Yaa101 wrote: post #8

The problem starts with the name, humans are not resources. Stones. metals and food are resources. It's a slave term to see people as resources. I will never contract myself to those companies and people.

Merriam Webster definition of resource: 1a : a source of supply or support : an available means —usually used in plural 1b : a natural source of wealth or revenue —often used in plural 1c : a natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life 1d : computable wealth —usually used in plural 1e : a source of information or expertise 2 : something to which one has recourse in difficulty : EXPEDIENT 3 :…

You must harvest more Software Engineers.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#32

Post by ivanhoe »

Isn't all human-to-human interaction in groups of more than a few people basically the same as described here? That's basically what the politics are all about, as soon as group grows to more than 3-4 closely tied people hierarchies and clans are formed - and they each have their agendas that are sort of in line with the community goals just enough to fit in, but really are mainly about the personal gains... humans do that at every possible level of social existence

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#33

Post by MattGaiser »

jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Unlike the serf, I can go find another Lord. I can pit the lords against each other for a better deal. I can try and become my own lord. HR has a lot fewer tools than the inquisition. Fear of lawsuits reduces their toolkit even further.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#34

Post by charlesu »

umvi wrote: post #29
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Are we talking about work or life? Sure, private companies aren't democracies, but why should they be? Democracies are extremely inefficient. Imagine if Linux or Python projects were run as democracies and not lead by BDFLs? I can't imagine them being nearly as effective because democratic processes to get new features would always be gridlocked. Benevolent dictators are 10x, maybe even 100x more efficient than democ…

> Outside of work I certainly live in a free society. I can walk up to a rich person ("a lord") and insult him to his face and nothing will happen.

If you really think that’s true, do it on camera. Upload it to YouTube. Let it go viral. See something happens.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#35

Post by t-writescode »

Lammy wrote: post #31
hirundo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Merriam Webster definition of resource: 1a : a source of supply or support : an available means —usually used in plural 1b : a natural source of wealth or revenue —often used in plural 1c : a natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life 1d : computable wealth —usually used in plural 1e : a source of information or expertise 2 : something to which one has recourse in difficulty : EXPEDIENT 3 :…

You must harvest more Software Engineers.

We take a lot of Vespian Gas

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#36

Post by slaymaker1907 »

umvi wrote: post #29
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Are we talking about work or life? Sure, private companies aren't democracies, but why should they be? Democracies are extremely inefficient. Imagine if Linux or Python projects were run as democracies and not lead by BDFLs? I can't imagine them being nearly as effective because democratic processes to get new features would always be gridlocked. Benevolent dictators are 10x, maybe even 100x more efficient than democ…

OTOH, look at how successful Rust has been with its extremely democratic RFC system for new features.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#37

Post by xenihn »

umvi wrote: post #29
jiggawatts wrote: post #14

Many people think that they live in a free democracy. In reality, something like 50% of all working people are employed in a strict hierarchical organisation that is essentially feudal in its nature. Most employees are the equivalent of serfs, overseen by lords, with a king in charge. The common employees don't get a vote. Their managers are not elected. They don't get a say in policy. The managers in turn form a str…

Are we talking about work or life? Sure, private companies aren't democracies, but why should they be? Democracies are extremely inefficient. Imagine if Linux or Python projects were run as democracies and not lead by BDFLs? I can't imagine them being nearly as effective because democratic processes to get new features would always be gridlocked. Benevolent dictators are 10x, maybe even 100x more efficient than democ…

>Outside of work I certainly live in a free society. I can walk up to a rich person ("a lord") and insult him to his face and nothing will happen.

They could cough on you while unmasked.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#38

Post by stretchcat »

hirundo wrote: post #26
Yaa101 wrote: post #8

The problem starts with the name, humans are not resources. Stones. metals and food are resources. It's a slave term to see people as resources. I will never contract myself to those companies and people.

Merriam Webster definition of resource: 1a : a source of supply or support : an available means —usually used in plural 1b : a natural source of wealth or revenue —often used in plural 1c : a natural feature or phenomenon that enhances the quality of human life 1d : computable wealth —usually used in plural 1e : a source of information or expertise 2 : something to which one has recourse in difficulty : EXPEDIENT 3 :…

It may be a valid use of the word resource, but it's still dehumanizing to think of people as resources.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#39

Post by madrox »

I get the impression this author is dancing around some particular bad experiences they’ve had, which is the real subject of this post. Without understanding those details it’s hard to get where this comes from. There’s certainly a lot of unspoken expectations of what HR is.

I’ve worked with HR in many capacities, and find them to be supportive and helpful of both employees and managers. However, what you will not find them to be is sympathetic. They aren’t job relationship therapists any more than they’re mall cops. They are there to make sure workplace law is followed. Beyond that, it’s on everyone involved to be personally responsible for being a professional.

Re: HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know

#40

Post by eldavido »

slaymaker1907 wrote: post #36
umvi wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we talking about work or life? Sure, private companies aren't democracies, but why should they be? Democracies are extremely inefficient. Imagine if Linux or Python projects were run as democracies and not lead by BDFLs? I can't imagine them being nearly as effective because democratic processes to get new features would always be gridlocked. Benevolent dictators are 10x, maybe even 100x more efficient than democ…

OTOH, look at how successful Rust has been with its extremely democratic RFC system for new features.

There are degrees of democracy (as I think your comment rightly points out).

Maximum democracy in this case might be, the RFCs are written by anyone, work on features is started when people vote to start it, and there is widely distributed veto/filibuster power.

A bit less democracy might be that the maintainers select the ten proposals they feel are best, and put them to a vote for people to choose.

I just read a really good book on this topic called "10% Less Democracy". I'd highly recommend it. It shows how "maximum democracy" usually isn't the best setting, at least for governments. Their proposal for tax is interesting: write a 4-page bill in Congress that outlines the % of income to be collected, and maybe some amount each decile should pay, and an unelected tax body (like the IRS) figures out how to make that happen, as cheaply and transparently as possible.

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