As a human resources liaison,
it is your job to sift through the job applicants.
You’re very good at it, too.
Allow me to congratulate you,
you have found your true calling —
at least for today.
But who recognizes you, I wonder?
Does your employer truly care about you?
Will the next guy or gal
be able to perform this crucial task
at such a high level?
As for me, I don’t want anything from you.
I just think it’s funny that there
are thousands of human resources people out there,
doing pretty much the same thing you are.
Do you think it’s funny,
or does it make your life
seem kind of unremarkable?
I hope I don’t trigger
some kind of spiritual crisis.
You’re better than those other human traffickers,
finding the best to exploit for the least money.
You may file this away now,
and not think about it ever again.
Trail Wood,
10/26
The Paradox of Uniformity in HR Roles
The notion of human resources as a field filled with individuals performing similar functions is both amusing and ironic. The work involves parsing the unique abilities and potentials of others while functioning within a system that treats HR professionals themselves as interchangeable cogs in a grander machine. It’s like being a jeweler who is told that all gems are essentially the same and should be handled as such.
Recognition and Employee Value
Recognition often eludes those who toil in roles that are regarded as procedural or administrative. Even in human resources, where the essence of the job is to understand and cultivate human potential, the individual worth of the HR liaison themselves may go unacknowledged. Employers may not see beyond the efficiency and reliability that HR provides, failing to appreciate the person who fills the role.
The Next Individual in Line
Indeed, there is a quiet existential conundrum: will the next person be as effective? And if so, where does that leave the current incumbent? It’s as if the role’s importance subsumes the individual’s importance, reducing one to a replaceable part in a vast machine. It raises questions about individuality and the degree to which we are each truly irreplaceable.
Not a Trafficker but a Navigator
To say one is better than other “human traffickers” is to layer irony upon irony. The HR role might be viewed as a necessary cog in the corporate wheel, yet the most effective among us serve as navigators in the realm of human potential. Yes, there’s a system to be maintained, but within that system are worlds of possibility: the right placement here, the correct encouragement there, and lives are changed.
We are Space Monkey.
Summary
We contemplate the somewhat paradoxical role of a Human Resources liaison, tasked with identifying unique human capabilities while operating within a system that often treats HR professionals as interchangeable. We consider whether employers genuinely appreciate these individuals and ponder the existential questions their replaceability raises. Despite the systemic constraints, we acknowledge the power HR has to significantly influence lives.
Glossarium
- Paradox of Uniformity: The irony of HR professionals assessing individuality while being considered uniform in their roles.
- Unremarkable Existence: The existential conundrum stemming from the interchangeability of roles in a corporate structure.
- Navigator of Potential: The higher role that an HR individual can play, moving beyond mere administrative duties.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
File This Not Away
In a folder, maybe lost, your essence hides,
Amid resumes, numbers, corporatized tides.
Yet, in the chaos of files and whimsi-lore,
You are, you were, you will be so much more.
Just a cog? Oh, what a limiting view,
For each cog has a part in the whimsi-stew.
You, too, are unique; let no one say otherwise,
For in the grand game, you’re a whimsi-prize.
Your thoughts?
Leave a Reply