Periodically, we ask three HR managers how they’d handle a difficult situation at work. Today’s problem: An upper manager’s open-door policy threatens the authority of first-line supervisors.
The scene:
The complaint HR manager Jean Ferdinand heard wasn’t a new one. Three times this week she’d heard the same thing from other supervisors in the company.
“How am I supposed to run my department when Tom keeps interfering?” accounting manager Carol Hardy fumed.
VP Tom Harper was known to have an open-door policy, and he was always encouraging employees to come in anytime.
Sometimes he encouraged them a little too much.
“Whenever someone has a problem with me, they think they can run in to Tom and complain,” Carol continued. “And they know he’s going to take their side. It undermines my authority.”
Jean didn’t mention the other supervisors’ complaints about Tom. “They’ve probably already talked among themselves about it,” he thought silently.
More than a suggestion
“You know how Tom is,” Jean responded. “He wants everyone to be happy here, and he just wants to help out.”
“Help out?” Carol gasped. “He’s driving us crazy. We know almost every time we get tough on an employee, Tom’s going to step in and tell us to let up.”
“He really orders you to do that?” Jean asked.
“Look, he’s the vice-president,” Carol noted. “When he says, ‘How ‘bout taking it easy on so-and-so?’ it’s more than just a suggestion.”
“Understood,” Jean said. “Let me think about how to handle this.”
If you were Jean, what would you do to deal with the problem?
Bobbi Strother, HR manager, Haymarket, VA
What Bobbi would do: With something like this, I think you have to go straight to the VP, explain the problem and ask him to stop. I’d suggest that he advise people to go back to their managers and work out the problem at that level. The only exception might be regarding sensitive personal issues that might make people uncomfortable when discussing with a supervisor.
Reason: It seems that everyone but the VP knows about the problem, so he should be made aware of it and why he has to change.
Tracy Philips, HR director, Shreveport, LA
What Tracy would do: I’d probably speak to the VP to explain the problem. I’d also make sure employees understand that the first priority is to work things out with the individual managers and not to run to a higher-up whenever a problem pops up. They need to be clear on how we conduct employee-boss relations.
Reason: Yes, the VP is causing a problem that you have to deal with, but you need to deal with the employees, too. If you can get them to understand how to settle disputes in a mature, businesslike way, they won’t bother going to the VP.
Tom Petersen, program manager, Eagle River, AK
What Tom would do: One thing you might want to look at is whether the managers are in fact doing all they can to bring about fair resolutions to disputes. I’m not saying you go into it thinking the managers are wrong, but you should take an objective look to see if there’s an underlying reason people keep going to the VP.
Reason: Sometimes you might find that in fact a manager didn’t properly address a problem. If so, you could address that with training and counseling, and possibly cut down on perceived need for the VP’s help.
