As everyone in the corporate world knows – or should know – Human Resources (HR) departments at many places have serious problems. ‘Woke HR’ figures in as merely one among many. But it’s a new one, and maybe that’s enough. Large organizations probably need HR or something like it. And when done well, HR can do wonderful work. But actual HR in many places protects companies from external and internal criticism. And – like middle managers – it prevents communication between rank-and-file workers and executives. That’s the opposite of what a good HR department does.
However, even in a broader narrative of problems, Woke HR stands out as particularly annoying.
Woke-Washing?
Many critics hone in on a specific practice called ‘woke-washing.’ In other words, companies use social justice – especially racial justice – language to sell products or otherwise financially benefit from appearing ‘woke’ on racial issues.
We see woke-washing when companies slide racial justice terms into their marketing materials without contributing to the combating of racial injustice. Meanwhile, many of the same companies fail to pass basic diversity tests in their own corporate hierarchies.
Does woke-washing happen? Yes, it does. Plenty of companies grandstand about racial justice on social media without doing anything about it.
What is Woke HR?
But that’s a very specific form of Woke HR. I’m more interested in it in broadly. Woke HR happens when HR adopts social justice language and use that language out of context or otherwise badly.
And that happens a lot. Even a quick look at HR shows widespread use of words like ‘privilege,’ ‘ally,’ and so on. In their typical home, these words pick out efforts toward social change. But placed in an HR context, they slide into its core focus: serving the interests of the company over those of its employees.
‘Woke HR’ is notoriously bereft of new or original ideas. They cover over this lack of originality in various ways – appeals to ‘best practices,’ ‘industry standards,’ and so on. So, they can’t use difficult theoretical terms that originate outside their own industries. This has the impact one might expect. When HR departments use these terms, they often end up serving ends opposite to the ones they’re supposed to serve.
But what annoys me most as a philosopher is the fact that HR uses these words badly even on basic analytical grounds. They use them to mean very different things from what they’re supposed to mean.
The Impact (Not Intent) of Woke HR
In addition to lacking originality, Woke HR falls prey to ‘consultants’ and other grifters. And so, not only do they botch the language and make things worse, they also waste company time and money in the process.
Employees, of course, take notice. Overwhelmingly, they oppose Woke HR and wish HR would knock it off. They see little value in it.
So, as far as Woke HR goes – perhaps they’re sleepwalking, but they’re hardly woke.
