If you'd like an imperfect, but fairly predictive, hint at how an organization treats its employees, take a look at its corporate structure. Specifically, look at who HR reports to. You can generally find this on corporate websites under “About” for most organizations with more than 50 employees.
There are basically four generally accepted ways to structure HR in non-union organizations. Here they are with why the positioning matters:
HR reports to CEO – This is ideal. This structure means the head of HR is on the senior management team and has a seat in the important meetings. It means the organization considers the input of HR in major decisions, which, admittedly, could be bad decisions, like to layoff. But it also means they part of any expansion or restructuring discussions and the HR needs are being taken into account from day one. It also means that other senior officers are peers with the HR head, meaning, they are accountable for their behavior.
HR reports to Operations – This is also good, as it signals that the organization considers their employees to be a part of company operations, which they obviously are. It does, however, remove HR from the big table, meaning that things are filtered through the head of Ops.
HR reports to CFO – Light red flag. HR as a function of finance means that the organization considers only the financial implications of its employees. Hiring, firing, raises and benefits decisions are going to be filtered through a financial lense. Never good.
HR report to General Counsel/Legal – Huge, flashing bright red flag. GC is concerned ONLY with the risk liability of the organization. So if HR is there, that means the organization weighs the risk of carrying employees above all else. Employees are considered liabilities, not assets.
Obviously, there are exceptions, and things are different from org to org. But in general, the place HR has at the big table says a lot about what the company thinks about employees and what it considers when making decisions.