Can HR Actually Help Workers?
How implementing employee-focused HR strategies can unlock freedom and joy at work.
Because I am a Millennial, I have seen every episode of the U.S. version of “The Office.” The show paints a bleak, sometimes goofy, but primarily banal picture of the reality of office work. One character who epitomizes this perspective is human resources representative Toby Flenderson, played by Paul Lieberstein, who was also a writer for the show.
Toby’s character is, for lack of a better word, sad. It’s a running joke that branch manager Michael Scott, played by Steve Carrell, absolutely hates him—probably because Toby doesn’t seem to do much apart from tepidly enforce rules that dim Michael’s attempts at fun. Toby’s personal life is continuously ridiculed: In the episode “The Fight,” Toby tries to encourage Michael to sign some paperwork so everyone in the office can go home, to which Michael replies, “Toby, you don’t even have anyone to go home to.”
Toby feels like the personification of everything we hate about HR. He’s a stickler for rules, he’s involved in firings and downsizing, he doesn’t seem to do anything positive for employees, but somehow he’s still granted the authority to speak as a representative of the company. Basically, if Toby has something to say, it’s never good.
It makes sense that Toby’s character would be written this way, since The Office is supposed to exaggerate the trials and tribulations of modern-day working culture. But this parodic depiction of HR—as a company-serving entity that doesn’t make life any better or easier for workers—isn’t how a human resources department should function.
In the latest Boss Barista episode, I talked to coffee professional (and close friend) Eric Grimm about human resources—what we think of it, why so many of us have negative experiences with it, and how it can function better. Eric recently completed an intensive HR course as part of their work for Glitter Cat Barista (an organization that provides support, training, access to resources, and mentorship for marginalized hospitality professionals), in the hopes of using that training to guide and help implement more positive HR policies in coffee shops. Initially, Eric was skeptical—they had a “take what’s useful and leave everything else behind” attitude about the training—but ultimately learned a lot about the potential of HR tactics for small businesses:
I think that’s the first thing you think: “Oh, now there have to be rules.” I think that’s also what a lot of coffee company owners who don’t want their employees to unionize then say, “You have so much freedom. If we go down this path of unionization, or if we go down this path of having very specific HR, then there are all sorts of rules. There are all sorts of rules that everybody needs to follow and it makes it into this regimented existence.”
But that really does not have to happen. There is so much room to interpret, to joyfully interpret all of these things that can ultimately not only help out baristas, but can help out coffee company owners as well, can make everybody’s lives easier. Can put everybody on this right path to as much social justice as you can accomplish in a coffee company.
Our modern conception of HR is personified in that Toby Flenderson character—the drab, ineffective office troll whose job is ambiguous at best. But if you view HR as a key tool, whether in the hands of a dedicated full- or part-time employee or a consulting service, it can help shape the culture of your business and make your goals clear and demonstrable.
Think of it this way: HR is really an invitation to analyze what’s working and what’s not. If you’ve ever been told that the service industry is a sector with high turnover, a good HR person might ask, “Why is this happening? And if I value employee longevity, how can we work to keep people happier longer?”
Obviously, this isn’t happening in most companies. Many folks probably recognize the Toby Flenderson character from their own lives—or they work for businesses that are “too small” for an HR professional and eschew “rules” for a seemingly more laid-back environment, perhaps scarred by bureaucratic HR departments at past jobs. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Recently, I helped Chicago’s Hopewell Brewing Company refine a statement about its Code of Conduct. One of the phrases we talked a lot about is “rules are freeing.” I think that applies to how we think about HR, and addresses a key hurdle preventing people from implementing their own practices: Rules sound scary, but they’re actually incredibly liberating—if you’re willing to follow them.
I understand why some people worry that implementing rules means letting go of control. If you’re a business owner or a leader, that’s probably true: You will let go of the freedom to do what you want, when you want. But in return, the people around you gain peace of mind and can feel safer at work, and it could make a big difference to employee retention, morale, and overall company culture.
I keep coming back to Eric’s use of the word “joyful” in “joyfully interpret.” Rather than restrict, rules can in fact build a workplace full of joy and clarity. Knowing that they’ll be supported and taken care of by managers and bosses, and that there are clear systems in place to solve conflicts peacefully, can help workers feel happy and safe in the spaces they occupy.
Hold up! You made it to the bottom of this article! Thank you so much for reading! If you could do any or all of the following things, that’d be incredibly helpful!
Click the ‘heart’ at the bottom to say you liked this article!
Consider checking out my Patreon!
Share this with a friend, on your social media, anywhere! Here’s a button for you to do so!