HR Isn't Your Advocate, But Ethical HR Can Be

Modern human resources (HR) is often very much like a cheap office chair from Walmart, it's not really there to help you, just to offer the illusion of support. The chair will always be there in the background seemingly encouraging good posture but over time, as you notice your back arching more and your posture worsening, you realize the chair was never really made to help you. It's just there to offer the idea of support when you need it. This is modern corporate HR in a nutshell. It thrives under the guise of supporting you in the workplace but in reality only exists to protect employers, not employees. HR staff will be warm

and welcoming until the moment you file a claim against your employer and then you very quickly realize they are not your friend. As someone who has worked for years in HR, it did not take me very long to realize the primary functional goal of HR is to protect the interests of the employer. You make sure all your i’s are dotted and t’s crossed as long as it protects the company. But as long as the due diligence with employees has been done there is no motivation or expectation to go above and beyond for staff. Companies have slowly weaponized HR as a wolf in sheep's clothes for many years to serve their own interests. Unfortunately, many workplaces operate with this form of HR which is why organizations like First Shift exist. If HR is not your friend, you need someone in your corner to have your back.

Thankfully, more modern HR practices have started to take shape in workplaces, such as ethical HR. Ethical HR is human resources with a primary focus on fairness, integrity, and transparency in all matters. Specifically, it promotes a viewpoint based on employee rights, confidentiality, and championing your employees. In contrast to modern corporate HR, which typically focuses on serving the employers interests, ethical HR aims to build up your employees with support systems to ensure they have all the tools they need to succeed. A great way to imagine ethical HR is like a nice new office chair from IKEA; it actually is made to provide lumbar support for you long term to prevent bad posture.