Horror stories from HR
When we experience something unpleasant, it’s easy to want to escape. This applies to work too, but you don’t want your employees to actually wish they could leave their jobs, right? With the spooky season of Halloween upon us, we’ve decided to share some HR horror stories. The stories we’re about to tell are entirely fictional but inspired by real events. So, get comfortable and hold on tight to that pillow — things are about to get scary!
Oh! Did you arrive today?
It was a dark and stormy Friday morning in November when Pernille was about to start her first day as an architecture apprentice. Despite the eerie and chilly weather, she was in great spirits as she made her way to the office where she was set to begin, though she felt that something was off. Pernille hadn’t heard from her boss since the day she signed her contract and agreed on a start date (that was more than 2 months ago 😱).. “Hmm, he’s probably just busy,” she thought as she walked.
When she arrived at the office on that cold morning, she rang the doorbell and stepped into the office space. A chill ran down her spine as she noticed the puzzled looks from her new colleagues.
The boss strolled out into the open-plan office. “What?! You’re here today?” he asked Pernille. A wave of fear swept over her, and she was sure she had done something wrong, even though this was the day she was supposed to start. “Well, I guess it’s probably better if you start on Monday,” the boss said with an awkward expression. Pernille had no choice but to head back home. She had never doubted starting a new job more than she did now.
The boss who were scared of speaking with the employees
It was a seemingly ordinary day in June when Fredrik sat at his desk. He was the team leader of a department where he worked. Although everything seemed normal that day, something felt off. The daily manager hadn’t stepped out of his office all day. In fact, as Fredrik thought about it, he hadn’t done so in months. It was almost as if he was scheming something sinister for himself.
Fredrik decided to address the situation with his boss. He walked into the cold, dark office. “Hey! Let me ask you something,” he started. “You haven’t come out to see us in a long, long time. You haven’t shown any interest in how things are going!” The boss looked up at him with a blank expression on his face, sending a chill down Fredrik’s spine. “I prefer to be on my own. Don’t ask the employees to tell me how things are going. It stresses me out and it’s really uncomfortable,” the boss exclaimed. “It’s better if you handle problems with customers on your own!”
Naturally, Fredrik found this very strange, so he made a suggestion. “But you need to communicate with the employees and have an overview of how things are going in your company.”
In the end, the boss agreed to talk a little with the employees. “Remind me to chat with the team once a month,” he told Fredrik. Fredrik had done his best, but it was almost in vain. The atmosphere in the office was cold, and employee motivation was low, and that’s how it would continue to be for all eternity.
Ghosted
It was a cold day in the dark season of the North. Kai was a popular guy among his colleagues and generally enjoyed where he worked. He hadn’t really thought about changing jobs, but on that cold day he received an unexpected job offer he couldn’t refuse. Naturally, he couldn’t accept it right then and there, so he said he would sleep on it until the next day.
The next day, as you might have guessed, he decided to take the job, so he called to accept the offer and said he was looking forward to meeting all his new colleagues. When he arrived at the office that day, he went to see his boss, who was happy to see Kai. “I have some difficult news to share with you,” Kai said. “I’ve received a job offer that’s so good I can’t say no to it.” The boss’s expression soured. “That’s too bad to hear, but if you’ve made up your mind, there’s not much I can do,” she replied. After a brief, somewhat awkward conversation about the job, Kai left the office.
A new day came, and Kai and the boss shared the news with the other employees, and it was as if a darkness settled over the entire office. The other staff members looked disappointed, and it didn’t seem like there would be any pleasant conversations by the coffee machine that day.
In the months following his resignation, Kai felt like a ghost. It seemed the employees noticed he was there but didn’t reach out to him. When he asked management about something, they barely responded, and if they did, it was in a really eerie tone. Kai, who had previously been a popular figure in the office, was now being ghosted by the team. This was painful for Kai, who had liked the people he worked with until now. Yes, he could actually see himself coming back one day in the future, but now the bridge was burned, and his old job lost the chance to bring him back.
Why do we share these stories?
Well, it’s simply to highlight a glimpse of the horror stories that exist in the HR world. Whether someone is leaving a job, starting there, or if they’re planning to stay, it’s essential to care for the employees and ensure they feel good at work. They are, as we’ve said so many times before, your most important resource in your company. When employees are unhappy at work, the organisational culture suffers. Either way, the dissatisfaction stems from an already poor culture. This is neither sustainable for your business nor for those who work there, so make sure your company isn’t featured in one of these stories! Give your people a treat, not a trick!
