On HR, Calls for Accountability, and the "If You Don't Like It, Then Leave" Mentality

I talk about the field of Human Resources a lot. Most people would say that I'm draggin' HR as a profession. Because of that, over the years, many HR "professionals" have sent me private messages telling me to leave the field if I can't respect the hard work that HR "professionals" have on their plates. Some have even gone as far as to tell me to leave the field publicly on my platforms. And let me say that the diehard HR "professionals" who get so up in arms about how I talk about Human Resources and aim to check me always give me a nice hearty chuckle.

An absolute side-splitter.

Y'all are hilarious. You mean to tell me you look at the field of Human Resources and its practices and transactional mindsets and approaches masquerading as empathy, and you're OK with it? You don't think there's anything to call out? You don't see things that "seasoned" HR "professionals" are doing that continue to harm people in workplaces that need to be addressed? Don't you see anything happening in the workforce that HR negatively contributes to, which gives you pause? Don't you see the decades-long patterns of behavior that have created the deep distrust that folx have of Human Resources at play?

What are you, that dog sitting in the flaming cafe or something?

But somehow, my calling these things out, proposing solutions, and holding HR folx accountable makes me the person who needs to leave HR.

If you're in a field that you can't hold a mirror to, criticize, and call to task, then you need to find a new line of work.

And if you can't be called to task to do better and to evolve yourself and the field you're in, then you need to wake up and realize that I'm not the problem and thou doth protest too much.

HR as a field, industry, and profession are not fine. You're just too comfortable with everything around you being on fire while being the right hand of the king.

Connecting Awesome People Podcast Appearance!

Image Description: An encircled picture of HR consultant Pharoah Bolding can be seen on a striped background. The words “Featured in today’s episode” are above the encircled picture in green and white. To the upper-right of the encircled picture in a blue and white circle. In the circle is a white silhouette of a microphone. Under the microphone is Pharoah’s name in green and white letters.

Hey, y'all! I'm on this week's episode of Cinder's Connecting Awesome People podcast! We get real and candid about the trauma of being Black, melanated, and intersectional in the workplace. We also talk about HR and DEI. And, if you know me or follow my work, you already know this wasn't some "baby gloves" conversation.

You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/57osaWxRCNIFHEWGegukLX?si=JOonioSyQKGNSWzuJVC38A

Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/connecting-awesome-people/id1728583997

[Image Description: An encircled picture of HR consultant Pharoah Bolding can be seen on a striped background. The words “Featured in today’s episode” are above the encircled picture in green and white. To the upper-right of the encircled picture in a blue and white circle. In the circle is a white silhouette of a microphone. Under the microphone is Pharoah’s name in green and white letters.]

This Week's Opening Thought: November 13, 2023

This week's opening thought: Some of y’all have genuinely shown how devoid you are of humanity, global compassion, and empathy over the past few years, haven't y'all? I mean, damn. A global pandemic, multiple boiling points coming to a head around centuries of racism, white supremacy, and hate in the United States, and countless lives lost to war, disease, hatred, and oppression, and some of y’all are still out here playin’ devil’s advocate or sharing toxic “hot takes” with no regard for who you harm or disregard as valid and human.

If, after enduring almost five years of collective and individual harm and trauma and watching as people in your communities, workplaces, and across the globe are enduring extreme trauma and strife, you can’t find an ounce of compassion for others and empathize with how hard things are for so many people without caveats or quips about how your “views” on local and global matters as a “good person” are more valid or how you don’t have privilege and your experiences mean more than those of others?

You’re proof positive that empathy, compassion, and decency are not inherent but learned.

And please believe that this is not a “white people thing.” Some of y’all are out here highly melanated and highly problematic.

It’s not that hard to care about the lives and trials of others, but some of y’all act like it’s akin to doing Calculus while dodging arrows on a tightrope.

On Nat, Magical Girls, and the Intersection of Justice

Sometimes, my energy is magical girl energy.

Sometimes, my energy is Nat Turner energy.

Either way, understand that justice is always at the center of who I am.

Also understand that you do not wanna come around me with hate and bigotry and catch me on a day where the Nat Turner in me pulls out his Sailor Scout wand to dispatch you and your ugliness.

Believe that.

On Clothes, Comfort, Identity, White Supremacist Workplace Culture, and "Professional" Attire

It's wild to me that people who consider themselves "high-level professionals" still throw out "advice" around "professional" attire. Y'all ain't got nothin' better to do with your time? Don't you have a meaningless seminar to conduct somewhere for a bunch of "professionals" who don't want to be challenged but want to act as they have been for clout?

At the beginning of my career in Human Resources, I used to "dress the part": business casual from head to toe: polo shirts, khakis, dress shoes, short haircuts, no facial hair. I did it because I was keen on being taken seriously.

I hated that sh--.

Every morning I looked in the mirror, I could see it eating away at my soul. It made me feel inauthentic, like a caricature of myself. And I still wasn't being taken seriously. If anything, I was being treated like a token, which made me constantly sad and angry. I don't know what my breaking point was, but I got up one morning, and instead of grabbing a striped polo shirt, I grabbed a Batman t-shirt.

And I've never looked back.

The moment I stopped dressing like a corporate HR goon was when my career changed, for better and worse. But I would've never been able to embrace the better if I stayed in the space of conformity. I've lost opportunities, left money on the table, and endured trauma and harm because I don't fit the "professional" image that white supremacist workplace culture almost demands from melanated folx. But I'd rather have a few fewer dollars in my pocket than cosplay as a" professional" daily. And real talk?

Who cares about this clothing thing at this point?

Why is this nonsense still important to people?

For the past few years, we all have lived through a collective trauma event, and we're still coming out of the worst of it and trying to take care of ourselves, earn a living, and maintain a job or career. Why does anyone care if someone's wearing a Care Bears shirt and some pajama pants while doing their job? Did the work get done? If it did, what's the problem? Regardless of your positionality in a workplace, if you're spending time and energy judging somebody wearing flip-flops and board shorts, you need to see that this is a "you" problem. It sounds like you need to sit and unpack your ingrained white supremacist patriarchal need to police others and maybe look into why you want homogeneity and conformity in the workplace.

And don't pull out that "you represent [insert company here] and you should dress as such" defense. That's weak and archaic. Most companies don't have a dress code or enforce the ones they have. Most weren't verbalizing this "concern" until a damn pandemic found many of us at home sitting in our comfy clothing, realizing we don't need to be in business clothes and uniformity all the damn time to be considered good at what we do.

Sheesh. Let it go, y'all. It is not the key to success some of y’all act like it is.

One of these “business gurus” recently posted, "Dress not as who you are but who you want to be." The first thing that popped into my head was, "Well, I wanna be a happy, healthy, comfortable, joyful, thicc Black man who wears t-shirts that display my voice and interests."

I'd say I'm nailing it.

Let's make the space for others to nail it too.