So for the most part I'm very lucky that my company is, in general, very un-Dilbertlike in nature. It's got it's elements, but as corporate environments go, it's quite sane and pleasant.
However, Dogbert, evil human resources director, strikes home.
Latest example. As I've mentioned before, every Friday, our department provides bagels. Of course, we need to cut these bagels. Up until last week, there was always a nice big sharp knife or two to accomplish that feat. But last week it was missing, and it's still missing this week. While mutilating today's bagel with a standard table knife, I mentioned that it was still missing. A coworker explained that our HR head has decided that it's too much of a liability and has forbidden there to be such a sharp knife provided.
And yes, she's given that much micro-management power at this company because she's been here forever.
Everyone complains about her, that she's difficult to get along with and that she has too much control, but she remains in charge.
And here's the real kicker. These bagels are paid for out of the engineering department's budget and are supposed to be for the engineers. There are always more than enough to go around, so it's not a big deal if a couple people from outside the department have one. But in recent weeks, I've been noticing that every time I go out there, I see more people from HR, finance, etc. than engineers there. Seems word has spread. And I BET that's why the HR director has suddenly (after, oh, 5 years of having a knife without an issue) taken an interest in "our safety". Bah.