Struggling with Senior Employees Breaking Rules: How Can I Manage This Workplace Challenge?

Hello Senior,

I am facing some behavioral problems in my organization. Employees treat me as a medium between management and employees, which is true. However, if something goes wrong, they show their envy and react towards me, which sometimes hurts me. I sometimes take it lightly, but it crosses the limit at times.

Basically, most of the employees are elder to me and senior in this organization. They have direct communication with the CEO. They don't follow the rules and procedures, which is impacting the next level. They have even started breaking rules and procedures, creating an unhealthy environment in the office.

Seniors, please suggest how I can balance the situation.

Sandhya.

Dear Ms. Sandhya,

Greetings.

I read your thread and would like to gather information from you before I could do the needful.

a) May I know your role and designation in your organization?

b) Please submit a few examples supporting your statement "if something goes wrong, they show their envy and reaction towards me."

c) What is the reason behind your employees violating rules?

d) Has any action been initiated against those who have violated rules and regulations? If so, who initiated it?

I suggest the following:
1) Do not lose your control.
2) Handle the situation by applying logic and using your common sense.
3) Demonstrate maturity when handling your employees.
4) Treat problems as challenges, obstacles to overcome, and opportunities to demonstrate your ability to solve problems.

Looking forward to hearing from you at the earliest.

With profound regards.

Hi Sandhya,

Human behavior, attitude, and instinct cannot be comprehended, and accordingly, their central nervous systems work differently.

In your case, you have been implicated between the ID, EGO, and Super EGO. These states occur in every human life. When people are trapped between the ID, EGO, and Super-EGO, for example, when you want to get something without pain, you may think that the person you are talking to knows less than you, and you have learned the strongest values that are a part of your life.

Now, you can understand that this is your personality problem, and these states above create questions that you ask yourself. As an HR person, how can anyone comment on me?

Your work conditions are surrounded by seniors, and your work relations are more emotional than professional with your seniors. It is all up to you how you will get the best results from them.

Here are some points you should take care of:

1. Be a good listener and stay calm.
2. Avoid gossip.
3. Be emotional but act professionally.
4. Create a strong communication channel.
5. Whenever you act, show your effectiveness but be polite.
6. Always ask for suggestions regarding your company policies and ask for implementation.
7. Whenever you are planning to implement new policies, take the good faith of your seniors.

Moreover, if you engage your seniors in company policies for a conducive environment, they will gradually take an interest in following all guidelines. It will take time, but you will get good results.

Sorry for blaming you.

Thank you, Mr. Abdul, for the suggestions. I will surely follow those. Actually, I am the only HR in my company, so it's a bit difficult sometimes to tolerate others' attitudes. But I will try to make changes in my behavior.

Regards,
Sandhya.

Thank you, Mr. Vikas, for the wonderful suggestions you have given. I think you are right. I should not be emotionally attached to them on a professional platform. I have to bring about a change in my behavior first and foremost. You are right; it's not about blaming me; you made it clear where I may have gone wrong. Thank you very much for guiding me. I will work on this.

Sandhya

Dear Ms. Sandhya,

I strongly suggest that you do your job and deliver your responsibilities on time without giving room for any complaints from your immediate superior or boss. If you find anything abnormal, kindly submit a detailed formal and polite report seeking guidance from your boss, updating him on the whole scenario as it is one of your responsibilities. This is the only way to explore your boss's attitude, ability, capability, and more. Good luck in all your endeavors.

With profound regards

Hi Sandhya,

Senior employees need recognition, and youngsters need friendliness and equality. Talk to them in their language. Before you implement a rule, personally discuss the rule with the person who is creating a problem and take their opinion into consideration before finalizing the rule. Believe me, they themselves will ensure its perfection.

Good Day,
Saritha

I'm also facing the same problem as Sandhya. Thank you, everyone, for the valuable suggestions which will really help me to overcome my current challenge.

Hi,

I am also facing the same kind of situation in my organization. It's a startup, and I am the first person who has joined as an HR. People are not ready to accept the changes. They do not take it seriously when I implement some policies that are helpful for day-to-day workings. They think that I am making a prison for them. However, these are simple policies like:

- They have to punch in attendance machine twice, incoming and outgoing.
- They are spending too much time outside the office.
- Using peons for their personal work, and many more small things.

Can someone help me out in this matter?

Dear Ms. Arpita,

Whatever I have learned in my life is purely based on my experience.

Let me give you a small example. Hope you will enjoy it.

1) A parent who taught her child (from childhood):

a) how to live a disciplined life & its benefits,

b) good diet system (eating healthy food where they are not exposed to tasty food, which can lead to a loss of self-control, invite health problems, etc.)

c) how to speak/behave with elders, youngsters,

d) how to inculcate good habits and their benefits, etc.

2) A parent who did not teach anything but has recently realized that it is time to teach their child many good things that were supposed to happen when the child was young. The parent then adopts a method that will help/support the child in understanding the facts filled with rewarding benefits.

a) If the child embraces good habits by listening to their parent's advice, then it is the child who will benefit. Otherwise, both the child and the parent will suffer.

b) Since the child has grown into a teen or adult, it takes time to make the child embrace good habits as it is a time-consuming process.

Now, replace the parent with top management because without your top management's support, you can't achieve success in your mission. Though whatever you had planned to do will benefit your organization. The solution lies in your top management's hands, as the ball is in their court.

Understand your responsibilities. It is not you who is held responsible for bringing changes in your employees, but it is your top management who is responsible for everything.

Your role is limited, and you can only educate your employees by taking the support of top management. You have to develop a good rapport with all your employees, including top management.

If your top management applies the 2nd option and supports your good initiatives, then I am sure it will take time for you to bring desired/necessary changes in your employees. Don't apply hard and fast rules and kindly try to be very flexible. Don't ever try to react and lose control.

Try the best convincing, polite/positive method to make your employees understand the benefits of disciplined work culture.

Educate your employees on the disadvantages of violating rules/regulations/code of conduct, etc.

Understand human psychology (behavior & attitude).

Last but not least, if your management supports the work culture practiced by your employees, then your management is held responsible for everything. I blame your management for not having control over your employees nor teaching them workplace ethics.

If you have any queries, please feel free to write to me.

Good luck.

With profound regards

Ms. Sandhya Patnaik; 1527643 - Hello! Well, let me tell you that you should not bother about other people because you cannot control or change other people. You can change other people's behavior only by your own behavior, i.e., behave in such a way that you elicit a favorable reaction, response, or reply from the other person. So, the exercise is more introspective. A few tips are: Be more patient, tolerant, understand the other person's position (domestic or official), and at the same time, prune your own behavior towards the other person to elicit a more favorable response or reply.

In this connection, I recommend the following views of Ms. Sandhya, who attached an article in these same columns, which are well-suggested. Hope both of you realize the tips for yourselves, even.

Best of luck, K. Hari Prasad 23-04-2011

The attachments say (I couldn't attach the file, so copying it here):
By: Swapna Janardanan
+971 50 3848457
Swapna Renjith in citeHR.com

THE CASE FOR HIRING HAPPY PEOPLE

Adrian Furnham's 10 reasons why happiness at work is a productivity booster:

1. Happy people work better with others; they are a lot more fun to be around and consequently have better relations at work.
2. Happy people are more creative; if your productivity depends on being able to come up with new ideas, you need to be happy at work. If people are in a good mood on a given day, they are more likely to have creative ideas that day.
3. Happy people fix problems instead of complaining about them; when you don't like your job, every molehill looks like a mountain. It becomes difficult to fix any problem without complaining about it first. When you are happy at work and you run into a snafu - you just fix it.
4. Happy people have more energy. They are therefore more efficient as well.
5. Happy people are more optimistic; they have a more positive, optimistic outlook, and as research shows optimists are way more successful and productive.
6. Happy people are more motivated. Low motivation means low productivity, and the only sustainable, reliable way to be motivated at work is to be happy and like what you do.
7. Happy people get sick less often. Getting sick is a productivity killer and if you don't like your job, you are more prone to contract a long list of diseases. You're also more prone to workplace stress and burnout.
8. Happy people learn faster; when you're happy and relaxed, you're much more open to learning new things at work and thereby increasing your productivity.
9. Happy people worry less about making mistakes and consequently make fewer mistakes; when you are happy at work, the occasional mistake doesn't bother you much. You pick yourself up, learn from it, and move on. You also don't mind admitting to others that you messed up - you simply take responsibility, apologize, and fix it. This relaxed attitude means that fewer mistakes are made, and that you are more likely to learn from them.
10. Happy people make better decisions; unhappy people operate in a permanent crisis mode. They lose sight of the big picture, and they're more likely to make short-term, here-and-now choices. Conversely, happy people make better, more informed decisions and are better able to prioritize their work.

K. Hari Prasad
23-04-2011

Dear Mr. Hari,

I am very much enlightened to read about HAPPY PEOPLE and HAPPY PEOPLE. Would you mind deriving the FACTORS that make people "HAPPY"? Kindly consider me as the most unhappy person in this world. How can I make myself happy and how can I retain the same forever? What are the factors that destroy one's happiness at the workplace?

I am sure there should be something that drives us happy, but not crazy.

With profound regards,