15 Crazy True Day-in-the-Life Stories from Real HR Managers

Earlier this week, I shared some stories about what real HR looks like. Human Resources deal with people and people will always have new problems. I shared the article on LinkedIn and Facebook and I got more new stories. 

If you’re an HR person you’ll nod in agreement with all of these. If you’re not in HR you’ll reaffirm your decision to go into something sensible.

  1. Robin Halford: Let’s see: My HR experiences over the years include (but are not limited to): Crazy Guy with An Axe, I Don’t Believe in Drug Testing, My Resume Should Include A Boudoir Photo of Me, I’m The CEO and I Can Sleep With Whomever I Choose, It’s Okay To Stalk My Medical Director While Simultaneously Believing My Supervisor is Stalking Me in the local Sears, Stirring the Pot is My Primary Job Function (I’m a Scientist), and Threatening the Life of My HR Rep is How I Spend My Spare Time. To name but a few…
  2. Jon Hyman: “No, you can’t store an 8-ball of coke in the ceiling tiles.” (And that was the CEO!)
  3. Christine Stevens: Two I’ve seen happen:  -Telling an employee, yes, you must wear underwear and no, you cannot “Sharon Stone” the courtroom. -Telling an employee that no, you cannot purposefully fart right before you leave the elevator and leave the rest of the passengers to suffer your emissions.

To keep reading, click here: 15 Crazy True Day-in-the-Life Stories from Real HR Managers

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6 thoughts on “15 Crazy True Day-in-the-Life Stories from Real HR Managers

  1. You can’t make these stories up, as they have really occurred. After wiping away my tears of laughter, I was reminded of the fact that only 7000 people stayed behind to clean up the mess left by that massive crowd at the 1969 Woodstock event. Goes to show that we have more narcissists than those who deal with reality. Work is not a party and it requires interaction with others that you work with and you have do your work as directed with effort and not pass the work on. Great article.

  2. “No, you cannot use the maintenance workshop during the weekend to create spare parts for you vintage car”

    I don’t find this crazy at all. When I was a child this was common practice and considered a benefit of the job. As long as you left the workshop in a clean and tidy state and didn’t damage any equipment, you could use it for whatever you wanted at the weekend. It was a nice way for working class people to supplement their income by making things in their spare time or just for their hobbies. I guess nowadays there are issues with insurance etc… so it’s not a common practice anymore.

    1. I had the same reaction, Noemie. I was thinking it would not be weird for someone to use the workshop when it was not otherwise being used. And as someone from the tribe of We Who Do Not Waste, I had to see unused capacity.

      But I also see the point about the insurance.

    2. I think it depends a lot on the business. My thought was that there are places that wouldn’t have a problem with it, but they’re probably an exception. And there are issues. Machine shops are hazardous, and injuries not uncommon. Is that work related? What if the employee isn’t a trained machinist? Modern CNC machines can cost millions of dollars, and are quite capable of destroying themselves if mishandled.

  3. Terrific! I feel better knowing “other duties as assigned” applies to HR as well.

  4. My first day on the job at my current employer, I entered the Ladies’ Room, only to discover that a toilet had overflowed and was flooding the room. I duly reported it to management and was told to “get a mop” and clean it up. Although I was a “casual” (temporary, non-career) employee, the job for which I was hired in no way could have been considered a maintenance or janitorial one.

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