What Happens When You Have Problems With Human Resources?

During the course of my research and interviews on workplace bullying I found that half of those sharing their workplace experiences with me found Human Resources to be helpful and the other half received absolutely no support. Stephanie (not her real name) spent a year in a very toxic workplace environment, during which time she kept notes to document her situation. She went to Human Resources with her documentation on numerous occasions and never received any help to alleviate her terrible working conditions. She told me that the only reason she “wasn’t devastated” by her boss’s behavior was that he treated the other seven people in her department the same way. A year after she left that job for her new employment she learned that a Human Resources person was brought in from company headquarters and fired both her former boss and the Vice-president in charge of Human Resources.

After reading Stephanie’s notes please share your experiences with Human Resources.

He yelled at me for the way I picked up the phone. He would stand over me saying “Pick up. Don’t put on hold. Don’t call back.”

He yelled at me when I thought the call was for him but it was my line.

Every morning I had a ‘touch base’ meeting with my supervisor. I was told that he would tell me when I should come into his office. One morning he said “this is the last time I’m going to tell you, I don’t want to have to tell you again you have to be here [in his office] after you put your stuff down every day.” (Meanwhile, he had never told me this before).

I tried to say I thought it was that he would tell me when to come into his office- but he said, “no I’ve made it very clear that isn’t correct.”

He insulted my powerpoint in front of others.

Tony was displeased with some work that I did. He said things like “it’s not that complicated, why are you not understanding, this isn’t that difficult.”

I asked him not to speak to me that way. The next day he told me it’s insulting that I asked him not to speak to him that way yesterday, that business is business and he’s gone out of his way a lot for me and that’s the way it is. I tried to speak and he told me not to talk. He said I’ve gone out of my way a lot for you- you need to realize I’m under a lot of pressure and that happens- it’s not like I called you a blanking blank (swear words). He told me I shouldn’t talk. He told me he wouldn’t change a thing of what he said to me the day before.

One day he asked when I needed to be home – insinuating that I was Jewish because it was a Jewish holiday. I said I wasn’t and he was like “well your dad is” and I said “no he is not.”

While making a dinner reservation for him, he asks me to look online. I ask Nicole (co-worker) if she has an opinion on where they eat because she’s been there, and she suggests a place. I tell him and he then yells and says “did I ask you to ask her?? No I didn’t. I didn’t ask you to ask Nicole, I didn’t ask you to ask Annie, I didn’t ask you to ask Gerri, I didn’t ask you to ask Laura! You’re wasting my time.”

He yelled from his office after a presentation I had made, saying “Stephanie, did you pass kindergarten coloring???”