{"id":1239,"date":"2024-12-01T13:24:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T13:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/?p=1239"},"modified":"2024-12-01T19:31:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T19:31:06","slug":"true-confessions-of-an-hr-administrator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/?p=1239","title":{"rendered":"True Confessions of a University HR Administrator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The 21 Group has received information from an individual who has recently worked in the HR department of a UK university. The testimony paints a picture of corruption and betrayal of trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not naming the university. It may be an extreme case, but many aspects of the testimony will ring true to academics at most UK universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amongst the most alarming features is the attitude of the Vice Chancellor who is indifferent to this behaviour. It is the failure of leadership of those at the very top that allows such corruption to flourish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I am an HR professional. Until recently, I worked in the HR department of a UK university<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the most corrupt place I have ever worked.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HR Director openly blusters that she\u2019s untouchable. If the Vice Chancellor or senior management receives a complaint against the HR Director, it is passed to the HR Director to write the response. She exonerates herself. The HR Director\u2019s exculpatory text is sent to the complainant under the VC\u2019s name. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is usual for letters written by the HR Director or other high-ranking HR personnel to be sent under the names of others. These are other senior academics who are in on the scam like the Heads of School. Or they are well-minded but ineffectual academics who can be easily manipulated and are happy to act as a \u2018postbox\u2019 for HR. For example, the HR Director knows that those looking for promotion won\u2019t rock any boats.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It means that the responsibility for many of the misdeeds of the HR department cannot be traced to the perpetrators. The signatures on the letters are those of others<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a charmed circle of senior management and Heads of School. They’re untouchable as well. Don\u2019t bother complaining about behaviour of members of the charmed circle. It is you who will be investigated<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HR Director doesn\u2019t believe in evidence. She thinks that it’s not needed for an HR investigation into you. Normally, she appoints a patsy or \u2018tame academic\u2019 to conduct the investigation. The \u2018right conclusion\u2019 is whispered into the patsy\u2019s ear. If the HR Director has really got it in for you, then she has access to a battery of external HR consultants, lawyers and barristers who can respond to a knowing hint. They can ruin your life while reaching the conclusion she wants.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire Grievance system is corrupt. The HR Director and other powerful members of the HR department have their favourites who will always be exonerated. And they have a blacklist of those who have crossed them. If you\u2019re on the blacklist, heaven help you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where I worked, there was no pretence at following any of our written policies. They were routinely ignored. If anyone kicked up a fuss, we would just \u2018revise\u2019 the written policy on the web<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We purposefully do everything slow. It\u2019s not unusual for our HR investigations to take 2 or 3 years. We know it grinds our victims down. Whatever timescale is written in the policies, it\u2019s fantasy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a set time to send the investigation emails out. Friday afternoon between 4.00 to 5.00 pm is the \u2018HR hour\u2019. We know it means the victim will stew over an unreasonable email all weekend.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We swagger like gangsters. I mean, who are you going to complain to \u2026 HR? That will just get you into more trouble<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I began to think of leaving because the corruption and manipulation was getting me depressed. The salary was good, but I felt dirty. This is not what I went into HR for.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, at a forthcoming court case, my \u2018witness statement\u2019 was composed for me. It did not represent the facts correctly. It was finally a river that I could not cross<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The 21 Group is happy to receive further reports about bullying, harassment and misconduct at the UK universities. Please use contact@21percent.org.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you went into University HR with good intentions and have witnessed poor practices, we are also keen to hear from you. All communication is in complete confidence. We will not reveal your name or university. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 21 Group has received information from an individual who has recently worked in the HR department of a UK university. The testimony paints a picture of corruption and betrayal of trust. We are not naming the university. It may be an extreme case, but many aspects of the testimony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1239"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1239\/revisions\/1254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/21percent.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}