How often do you risk being fired?

[Koolau]

B) Learned one of the most important lessons of my career: That HR Departments aren't there to protect the employee - but rather to protect the Co. from employees.

BING!!!

 

[rodi]

I've been with my megacorp (under various corporate names due to acquisitions/splits/mergers) for close to two decades... So I've had a lot of managers. My current manager is unhappy in his life/job and takes it out on his underlings. He's making us miserable. He's threatened me in ways that make me feel like Milton from Office Space. (Literally threatened to move my cube to the crappiest location possible.) I try to ignore him as much as possible. Since working under him again, I've started fine tuning my escape to early retirement. Nothing like a suckful job to motivate aggressive saving/budget cutting.

I also have a reputation for asking tough questions to people in power. Periodically c-suite execs show up and have a "town hall". Invariably there is something they've just done to decimate our benefits. I've always felt that if they make the decision to cut pay or benefits for thousands of people they should have to face questions from some of the affected folks. Especially since they're usually awarded big bonuses for the "cost savings" done on the backs of people below them. I'm one of the few folks gutsy enough to ask the questions. We've had a series of CEOs and I've asked tough questions, publicly, at events that are webcast to other sites. Every time I have coworkers thank me, and every time I have coworkers tell my I'm risking getting fired. They haven't fired me yet. (I've asked questions about frozen pay, frozen pensions, changing geographical payscales to reduce pay for entire locations, etc.) Our current CEO hasn't held a town hall here in the 3 years he's been with the company. Even though he lives locally and spends half his time here. I think he's afraid of me and my questions. (This isn't just ego - I've had people in other departments volunteer the same theory.)

That's when I...

A) Became an official PITA - in the company's eyes.
B) Learned one of the most important lessons of my career: That HR Departments aren't there to protect the employee - but rather to protect the Co. from employees.

This - both!!!! HR is not your friend. Our company used to have an HR motto "Tie Goes to the Employee". They got rid of that motto a LONG time ago. I've personally experienced the tie NOT going to the employee. I refer to our primary HR supervisor as Catbert - she fits it to a tee.

 

[harley]

'Never apologize Mr Cahill it's a sign of weakness.' Or something like that.

Apologize hell no. In the aerospace business you stand your ground(and defend your numbers). I was fired at Boeing, twice on Skylab, Once on the Viking Mission to Mars and several times on Space Shuttle. In all my cases tempers cooled down and I was never escorted to the gate.

It only counts if Security escorts you to the gate and takes your badge.

heh heh heh -

I like that. According to your definition I was never fired either. Just had a few days of mutually agreed (after the fact) vacation until the boss figured out I was right and he couldn't get away with it.