August 3, 3:55 am
Don’t expect confidentiality with HR
One of my favorite bloggers is Alison Green from the Ask A Manager blog. Alison regularly dispenses great wisdom and I recommend you follow her.
Why do I like her? Alison writes heavily from the HR management perspective (HRM – the legal side of human resources) whereas the majority of my work is on the HR development side of the aisle (HRD - the developmental side of human resources). Still, a fair amount of overlap exists, and I like a lot of what Allison has to say.
One of her recent posts has to do with someone expecting confidentiality when going to HR. As Alison points out, HR people are not doctors nor priests, and they have no obligation to maintain confidentiality.
Essentially, HR is there to serve the company. In that role, HR must do what is best for the company. Therefore, any HR rep who pledges confidentiality is putting him/herself in an awkward position, because if something must be passed along for legal reasons, that HR rep’s trust factor is soon gone.
Granted, some things (health issues, pay, etc) are legally confidential, but that doesn’t mean that everything HR-related flies under the ‘confidential’ banner.
I encourage you to read the entire piece and also the comments afterwards.
My thoughts on the matter? “When in doubt, assume word will get out.”
Filed in Management, Workplace, Corporate Culture, Human Resource Management

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