The recent sexual harassment scandal at Uber highlighted how irrelevant HR was in preventing a toxic workplace, as reported. Instead of viewing HR as a partner in fostering a workplace that respects and rewards diversity, many Silicon Valley companies see it as a hindrance to progress.
"You’re in a race to build your product and get to market, and anything that doesn’t directly contribute to that, including HR and even financial controls, is low priority when you’re first starting up,” said Magdalena Yesil, who was an early investor in more than 30 tech firms. “Of course, without HR at a time when you’re hiring very quickly, you don’t have anyone training new employees about what behavior is acceptable or not.”