ASK HR: Desist from discussing your supervisor’s flaws with team members

In the middle of last month, I discovered that my husband has been cheating on me with a colleague. They even a three-year-old son. What do I do? The pain is too much and I’m losing my mind. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • You could also point out that there is perception from the team that the process is not fairly applied.
  • Another alternative was to select a few staff to approach her and share the team’s frustrations —staff who get along with her to ensure she is more receptive.

Q.I work for a State corporation. We have had many challenges with our head of department, who is not only high-handed but also condescending. She is also divisive. I am fed up with her behaviour of selective promotions. Sometimes back, we collected signatures requesting for a meeting to address departmental issues, but it never went through.  Worse still, the supervisor and human resource managers went ahead to punish staff. The entire department was dismantled. People were transferred to hardship areas and others to different departments.  This move has caused jitters in the company. Was  this the professional way of handling staff complaints? Are HR managers allowed to work in cahoots with rogue managers? Kindly help us understand.

 

I empathise with the situation but you should have handled it better. You need to understand team dynamics so that you are able to coexist in teams. Among the team members, there are some who will seek favour from the head of department and in return inform her about the discussions the team is having regarding her. Therefore, even though you find her behaviour unprofessional, desist from discussing the same in the team since most probably, the information gets back to her.

What you did had several effects which were mostly perceived as negative. You questioned her authority, demonstrated to her fellow managers that she is not  capable of heading a department and of course injured her ego as a person. The collection of signatures could be perceived as defiance to her authority. The positive effect is that there will be no selective discrimination because the entire team participated. Do you have departmental meetings, would this have been an ideal place to raise the issue but in a professional manner? You could have considered asking “what is the criteria of promotions in this department?’ This would have brought up discussions on promotions. You could also point out that there is perception from the team that the process is not fairly applied. Another alternative was to select a few staff to approach her and share the team’s frustrations —staff who get along with her to ensure she is more receptive.

 

I take this opportunity to wish all the readers happy festive period and a prosperous 2017. Thank you for your support in 2016. Looking forward to answering all your HR queries in 2017