Story 211

I was an HRBP at Citi for just over 3 years. I had enough. Enough of the lack of leadership from a CHRO who had no business in that role whatsoever. Enough of working in a continuously “transforming” business that had no idea what, how, or when to transform anything. Enough of being gaslighted about what was taking place in the business. Enough of being asked to lie to employees about what was going on in the organization. Enough of absolutely zero strategic work with a primary focus on RIFs while drowning in assigned cases. Enough of of being asked to support employees in countries that we didn’t know anything about. Well, you get it.

I have been reading your stories and can absolutely believe everything that you said is going on and I’m sure more that no one talks about or may even know. The rot runs deep and starts at the top. Nothing I’ve read surprised me – maybe because I’ve been in HR a mighty long time, or maybe because I’ve seen it or heard about it first-hand.

If you do get laid off, don’t sign a damn thing until you have counsel review the document. If they tell you that they don’t negotiate severance agreements, that’s a lie. I’ve seen them do it for people globally – not just the US. Their inconsistency will eventually catch up with them. If they think you’re litigious, you’ll probably get a sweeter package.

Please understand that the HR powers that be decided in their lack of wisdom to create a “global” HR team. So those of us hired to support US employees in the US were told about a year ago that we would now be supporting teams globally. That’s right. We’d be supporting employees in countries with employment laws we knew nothing about. And to add extra icing to the layoff cake, many of us, myself included, were asked to explain the layoff to folks in countries we didn’t know anything about.

Imagine getting laid off and you have a call with the HR team that is supposed to help guide you and they don’t know a damn thing and can’t answer a damn question for you. And to top it off, the team that is charged with preparing your separation agreement is so backlogged, you’ll probably be finished with your notice/garden period before you ever see the agreement that you have to sign in order to get your separation pay. Oh, and that won’t get paid to you for at least 6-8 weeks after you return your signed agreement (unless you’re lucky enough to live in a country that mandates payment after a period of time).

HR is absolutely there to protect the interests of the company. But most of that happens at the SVP and above level. For the poor HR team members who are VP and below – they’re just part of the giant machine and cogs in the wheel who aren’t paid to think, just execute. Unfortunately, the ones paid to think don’t, or worse, they just don’t care.

Jane doesn’t give a damn about the employees – she only gives a damn about the stock price, stockholders and her big bonus.

The biggest thing I learned at Citi is that I never, ever want to go back. I like to sleep at night and I sleep like a baby now.