“You're in H.R. now, it's ok to be evil” – Catbert
Inadvertly, there is always a Catbert in every organization.
The most hated guy (or cat..) in the strip, Catbert is feared for his penchant of creating new employee policies (read random [sic]) and hence loathed for his boorish implementation methods. The macabre policy maker colludes effectively with the manager ( the pointy haired boss) apparently to make the lives of employees a living hell.
Hence I repeat, there is always a Catbert. The quintessential fall guy, the policy maker, the implementer of employee practices, the HR practitioner continues to live up to the expectations of being the only hope of sanity left in the otherwise zany organization.
Yet in the rather fertile imaginative mind of Mr. Adams, Catbert dons the garb of a red cat with the implicitness of a rather slick devil. Don’t the HR practitioners bear the semblance to Catbert, if the fantasy is a bit tweaked to tone down the levels of normalcy?
If Catbert goes out searching for souls in free rider workers like Wally ( who can sell the remaining of their souls for a donut), the present day HR practitioners go searching for souls in the bodies of job-hopping crazy employees who so as don’t wink before jumping organizations for a lucrative salary offer.
The so called cost centers, the business support group, the HR practitioner’s ways have always been under the “evil” scanner of the employees. The so called keepers of the secrets of the organization, its HR DNA to think before uttering a word, yet it gives the impression to some as being manipulative or secretive.
Yet on other thoughts, have we, the HR practitioners of today, have actually forgot the real essence of our jobs and have become the evil geniuses that we are purported to be?
It might be a good aphrodisiac to self introspect on our present state of being in any organization. It will be well advised to any HR professional to realize that we are paid to look like Catbert and actually not be one.
In spite of being the safe-keeper of organizational policies, instead of implementing same without second thought, it’s our job to observe, analyze and hence understand the impact a policy holds for the entire organization.
To give an example, due to the recent downturn, an organization (real world) thought it appropriate to cut salaries of employees who were not getting revenue for the organization. Now the same organization is facing an exodus of good employees (ironically, who didn’t lose their salaries).
Did the organization’s policy makers think of this outcome? Obviously not! On hindsight, now, do the same policy makers think that this attrition is the result of higher hikes from other employers?
A real Catbert would understand that it’s cannot be the “carrot and stick” anymore for today’s knowledge workers! The results are evident and all across; in surveys, reports etc. Just that we turn a blind eye towards it.
For example, have a look at the results of the following survey from McKinsey Corporation!! When I sent this across to my managers, they dismissed it as another round of HR Gyan !! :)
A real world Catbert better realize that the only way to prevent an organization from devolving into a bloody body shop is a well analyzed and thought-out talent management infrastructure with major emphasis on employee career growth and viable R&R initiatives.
How to do that? That’s another good question to ponder on !! :P :) :)
Sometimes i sit wondering on this photograph of the three heel clicking executives !! Exhilaration through coordination !! The more I watch it, the more I notice that there is no distinguished leader of this motley group !! I know this random photograph is wide open to varied interpretation, still as a HR professional, I like to vizualise this group as the perfect team, who through perfect coordination are marching towards excellence and achievement. :) No distinguished leader, no supervision, just excellent parity and a similar vision !! 
