Jennifer McClure recently asked, “Can an Internal Coach or HR Pro Be Trusted With Your Secrets?” It’s a thought-provoking piece worthy of reading, and she concludes, after comparing her experiences inside an organization (where she was once told, “I can’t talk to you about this… You have the authority to fire me”) with her experiences as an external coach (where her value is often linked to her status as an outsider to the organization) that the key difference between internal and external coaches is a matter of “perceived confidentiality.” Not competence.
The comments are fascinating… and too often, not in a good way. Some of the more obviously dangerous comments include:
“I don’t trust HR and will never again.”
“My experience with HR in corporate life has earned my active distrust.”
“Anyone who thinks they can safely confide in HR is dreaming and could end up with a nightmare.”
“Never trust HR.”
“As an employee I’ve learned never to trust HR about anything.”
“Can [HR] be trusted? Absolutely not!”
“HR departments tend to be populated by inept dolts.”
This is strong language. It’s also quite immature.
And the commentators all know it. Here’s something else they know:
Trust is not an HR issue.
Trust is a individual issue.
What, your brother kicks your ass one day and suddenly all men who are brothers are evil? Of course not. If you repeatedly get burned by individuals who break your trust, and especially if this happens to the point where you start stereotyping the group those people belong to, then please, get help of some kind. Because if your only tool for keeping safe is to make overly broad generalizations about other groups of people and then flipping a binary, trust on/trust off switch for all individuals in those groups, then the issue isn’t “them,” it’s you.
Meanwhile, HR practitioners, you also have an issue… and it’s not trust.
It’s power.
You have it, or you’re perceived to have it. Either way, you have to accept it and deal with it. Arguing that there are competent people in HR who are responsible with that power is pointless. Everyone already knows that, yet look at the comments Jennifer McClure’s post is getting.
What people need to see from you is comfort with power. They need to hear you tell them—before they spill the beans—”Remember, I have a dual role here. I have an obligation to the company, and I also have information that I can’t share back with you; please keep that in mind.” They need evidence that you are aware of the (perceived) power imbalance.
Organizationally, HR needs to do a better job supporting practitioners who must navigate the inherent imbalance of power when serving individuals in the company. And I don’t mean with a policy. I mean with active discussion like what we’ll be having at HRevolution 2010, struggle, and practice.
So employees need lessons on building trust, HR needs more comfort with power… and I’m thinking everyone could use a little more comfort handling ambiguity.
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I'm Jason. I make people shine. My mission is to help 1 million people tell their stories better. 
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I would add to “HR needs more comfort with power” that “HR needs more comfort and integrity around power”…you have already provided the perfect example of the integrity conversation – “Remember, I have a dual role here. I have an obligation to the company, and I also have information that I can’t share back with you; please keep that in mind.” This conversation is one of the most critical conversations between HR and the employee as it sets the stage for HR’s boundaries and for employees making choices on what they want to share.
And I concur….NO POLICY to address this!
Its a double edged sword HR also need to have personal integrity to show up and stand up to their Board/senior managers and say “this isn’t right. The way we are doing this, treating these people- (whatever is professionally unacceptable) isn’t appropriate.” Not with a threat such as “if you carry on mr or mrs manager the consequences may be dire in terms of conflict, cost and lawyers” but in a way that asks people to reflect on their own behaviour, contribution, responsibility and look for a sense of reason/fair play.
Why would an employee perceive HR as being their confidante? HR professionals are still employees who are required to maintain company loyalty. Sure, I think it’s good for an HR person to make a verbal disclaimer (dual role comment); however, employees need to be accountable for their decisions to open their mouths. Oh and this article can easily apply to ANY manager, not just HR. You’re talking about people, not positions. People will always be unpredictable and managers have authority (power is an inappropriate word) and just as much influence on staff and senior management…sometimes more than HR. Stop the HR bashing and encourage individual accountability.
@DebExo—Upgrade comfort to integrity. I like that. Because one could be quite comfortable abusing power… and that’s not better!
@Marie—Careful… you sound like a human being! Seriously, and unfortunately, the lack of integrity most certainly does cut both ways. Professionals need to be able to push in both directions.
@Kimberly—While this article happens to be in response to an HR post, I think you put your finger right on it in identifying the universality of the issue. One question… I’m curious about your distinction between power and authority. (I view authority as a subset of power, and specifically power derived through one’s formal position; I chose to use the term “power” because it wasn’t clear if the issue raised in the comments of Jennifer’s post was exclusively a function of HR’s formal role (authority), or a combination of authority + something else.)
Actually, the issue is neither trust nor integrity. The issue is HR has a duty to protect the company, not the employee. If an employee comes to HR to claim discrimination, HR’s responsibility is to protect the company from lawsuits and other public humiliation.
And, as a side product, perhaps help the individual.
Translated by employees: you can’t trust HR. It’s not bashing a class of individuals, it is bashing the inherent position HR has to take working for companies. You can talk trust and integrity all you want, but until HR’s role changes from protecting the company to protecting the employee, those comments won’t change.
@Scott—I’m considering your perspective and wondering… where does it stop? If you can’t trust HR b/c of their obligation to the company, then what about… everyone else?
Not a soul in your company has an obligation to you, yet everyone has an obligation to the company—explicit or implied—thanks to their employment agreements.
So by this logic, should you trust no one you work with? Is there no place for human trust in relationships where contractual obligations exist?
Scott is correct. HR are in place to protect the entity. Protect from lawsuits. Make sure that nothing interfers with “return on equity” to shareholders.
That’s life – accept it.
Kimberley is also correct – why do employees have the need to open their mouths all the time ? Be accountable. Don’t be so green. Protect yourself and don’t incriminate yourself.
Are you sure the truth will set you free ?
Simon, I still maintain that trust is an individual issue and not a departmental one. It’s too bad that your experience with HR included interactions with individuals who did not, or could not, inspire you to get beyond the stereotypes.
I know it happens, it’s just too bad.