看老印教授破口大骂HR

[jumphigher]

Dear XXX (Dept Chair),

I am enclosing my responses to the BMS office staff survey that YYY (HR director) circulated on Friday. I am sending the responses directly to you because I look to your leadership to address the concerns I have raised. I have copied YYY, as well as our faculty colleagues, in the spirit of transparency and to encourage an open discussion. As noted in my response to Question #7, I hope that we can take up this discussion at our next faculty meeting.

My responses are direct and intentionally so. They are meant to be constructive, and I trust that they will be received in that spirit.

Thank you,

XXX (老印教授)

Survey response:

1. What are you most interested in learning about during the “Meet the Staff” event?
I want to understand why the work ethic in the BMS office has deteriorated to the point that it is demoralizing, and at times embarrassing, to be associated with it. There is no pride in its operations, culture, or leadership. The office now carries a negative reputation across the College. How did we get here, and who is responsible for turning it around?

2. Are there specific staff roles or individuals you’d like to hear from?
Yes, whoever is ultimately accountable (Dr. xxx? Dept Chair). I expect them to respond directly to the concerns raised in my answer to question #1. Silence or deflection is no longer an option.

3. Are there any processes or workflows you’d like us to explain during the event?
Yes. For routine administrative tasks such as purchasing, travel, reimbursements, space allocation, maintenance, promotions & tenure, and equipment service contracts who is in charge? Who ensures requests are processed in a timely, transparent, and professional manner? When delays occur, who takes ownership? Right now, the system operates in a vacuum, and no one is ever accountable.

4. What’s one thing we could do to improve communication with you?
This is not about “one thing”. Communication is broken across the board. Start with the basics: be professional, courteous, and collegial. Respond to emails in a timely manner, even a simple acknowledgment with a timeline is better than silence. Use appropriate and professional language in all communication. Treat requests from faculty, staff, and students as part of your job, not as intrusions. Respect is a baseline requirement in any functioning workplace. The BMS office must start functioning as one.

5. Do you have any suggestions for how our department could better support your work?
Yes. First, establish a baseline of professional conduct: Be present and reachable during standard working hours (e.g., 8–4 or 9–5), either in person or, if working remotely, via email, phone, or designated communication platforms. Respond to inquiries promptly. When someone is out, their responsibilities should be reassigned, and out-of-office replies must include an alternative point of contact to prevent unnecessary delays and dropped tasks.

Beyond these basics, the department should implement the following changes to create a truly supportive administrative environment:
• Designate clear points of contact for key functions (purchasing, reimbursements, travel, etc.), with published names, roles, and response time expectations so faculty know whom to approach and what to expect.
• Institute cross-training among staff so coverage is seamless during absences or transitions. No critical task should be held up because “only one person handles that.”
• Develop a staff workflow guide that documents standard operating procedures for core administrative processes. Faculty should not have to guess the correct sequence or chase down fragmented information.
• Establish a faculty–staff liaison system or regular check-ins where administrative staff proactively engage with faculty to understand evolving needs and preempt problems.
• Introduce a case management or request tracking system to provide visibility into the status of ongoing requests and reduce email chaos and finger-pointing.
• Foster a culture of accountability and collaboration by setting clear expectations around professionalism, responsiveness, and mutual respect. Administrative support should not feel adversarial. It should feel like a partnership.
Above all, there needs to be a shift in attitude. Administrative roles are not about gatekeeping or avoidance. They are about enabling the department to function at a high level. That means embracing a service-oriented mindset: “How can I help?” should be the default, not the exception. “How can I help?” should replace evasive or dismissive responses like “It’s on my list,” “It’s not up to me,” or the all-too-familiar tone of “Why are you bothering me?” The difference between dysfunction and excellence often comes down to how seriously people take that idea.

6. Are there any tools, resources, or services you wish we offered?
Yes. A transparent accountability system for the BMS office. One that tracks and rewards responsiveness, efficiency, and professionalism and exposes dysfunction when those standards are not met.
In addition, the following tools and resources would improve operations and foster a culture of accountability and service:
• A centralized ticketing or request tracking system for administrative tasks such as purchasing, reimbursements, and maintenance. This would create visibility into the status of requests, assign responsibility, and ensure timely resolution.
• Public-facing service-level expectations or response time standards for common administrative functions, similar to current standards in professional service organizations. For example, “Routine purchasing requests will be acknowledged within xx business days and completed within yy business days unless otherwise noted.”
• Quarterly feedback surveys from faculty and staff on the performance of the administrative office, with anonymized results shared publicly to promote transparency and improvement.
• Office hours or rotating “service desk” coverage staffed by team members who are accountable for triaging and resolving day-to-day issues in real time.
• Clear escalation protocols when requests go unanswered or unresolved, so faculty are not forced to chase vague or unresponsive email threads with no recourse.
Implementing even a few of these tools would help establish a culture of accountability, clarity, and mutual respect, essential traits in any high-functioning academic environment. BMS must become one.

7. Would you be interested in follow-up sessions or office hours with staff?
Yes, but only if they lead to tangible action and structural change. I am not interested in sessions that simply go through the motions of listening without explicit intent to address the issues raised (i.e., performative listening). When the issues are systemic and when dysfunction has persisted for a decade or more, polite euphemisms only protect and enable the status quo. For a start, an effective approach to deal with responses to this survey would be to bring each question and each response into open discussion at a faculty meeting. That would demonstrate seriousness, transparency, and a willingness to engage meaningfully. Having the Dean, the head of Human Resources, or another external leader present would reinforce that these concerns are being taken seriously at the highest level, and that meaningful change can be expected.

[mikokoro]

It sounds pretty constructive. Or, in other words, the school management sounds really terrible.