I am a middle manager, I am high enough to be burned when things go bad but not compensated like it and low enough to do actual work. I get to see things from both sides often. I abhor corporate culture but I also under that sometimes manager are just trying to get by with what they have.
Anyways, I ran into a meeting with my department head and the conversation was about succession planning. I really thought it was a good idea, in our department we have quite a few employees looking to retire and hiring has been a nightmare for a lot of reasons. I myself will be hit a few times by retirements soon so I do want to avoid any major delays in getting replacements. What I quickly realized for the first time is that the new HR system tracks how valuable and likely an employee is to leave, can they be promoted (vertically or laterally), how easy it is replace, etc. I know the company that makes our HR software is at the cutting edge but I kind of got taken aback at what they’re tracking. This really isn’t just about retirement this is about predicting how valuable you are, do we want you and could we replace you now.
I know this won’t likely make it much easier to hire or terminate someone right away, they need a lot more to refine the software to make it really useful, but this really just makes it more like I am just a number and not a human. Be ware is all I have to say.