Vice President Is Coming Late

I am sure that 'XYZ' has one of the top leaders in the industry who are does not need to be told how to dress up or come to office.

As a matter of fact If the boss is coming in right time means his assistants should come early to office to make the office ready for his work. To avoid such embarrassment the staff always the higher level officials are coming late to office so that their juniors/assistants/subordinates can settle down for their work in the morning hours
And in the same way in evening too they will pack up before the other staff leave the office so that they can keep all the files inside the almirah and lock his office and then the other staff can pack without much delay.

I think, you can deflect the question by asking for additional details. Say for example you can ask about the over all organizational culture of said plant. You can then connect by saying that if the plant encourages punctuality and they actually ask employees to go to work early then senior managers should first and foremost be the champion of said culture. You can continue by saying that a Plant Manager position is something that one reached after a considerable number of work experience and as a reward for such, they are entitled to a more flexible work schedule. Afterall, they are the ones who lose sleep at night thinking of ways on how to sustain plant operations. They are also the ones who suffer the most when the financial position of the plant goes to a down trend. Given this, they deserve a little flexibility.

Many seniors in an organisation do business, talk to other seniors, business people, clients, customers from home, during travel, during holidays, etc.
Since their accountability levels are different from those working on the shopfloor, exceptions are made in respect of such senior people.
Best wishes

Doesn't matter he is coming late or early going. There are deputies who will take care the charge of the plant, until some serious issue comes up . Usually Hod's look important matters which require strategic decisions and they have the ability to handle every situations even without their personal presence. Any how you can report the same in a decent manner to CEO or your higher authorities and take advice before you record it.

Dear Mukesh,
Being an executive I will not suggest you to ask the the reason of coming late from Plant Head. Though you can highlite the same to your HR Manager.
Also HR Manager can ask the plant head in a diplomatic way.
If the reasons are valid then its ok but if it isn't then he can report to the senior management for the same.
also for higher management people we have to compromise for some times for such issues.
But it dosn't mean that we will be kept our eyes close because rules are rules.
HR people have to be the role modle for the organizations.
Regards
Amit
Manager-HR

Dear Mukesh,
I would like to know first what was your own response to that interview question?

I agree.
Also, you should include the response from the interviewer to your reply.
During interviews; such questions are asked to ASSESS THE MATURITY OF AN APPLICANT.
Your answer should reflect your maturity, understanding of your limits and limitations and whether you can use the power given to you with responsibility or not.
Ask yourself the following questions:

• Does the VP reports to you or your boss ??
• Are you, as a fresher or executive, responsible for the conduct or performance of the VP ??
• Do you know about his responsibilities, new plans of the company; his schedules etc. ??
• Do you have the authority to have a say in his TASKS AND TARGETS as per the PMS ??
• Last but not the least; do you understand at which level your authority stops and what is OUT OF BOUNDS for you ??

Herding all employees as a cowboy with ropes and stick is not the only function of an HR officer.
Hope you are able to comprehend what I intend to convey.
Warm regards.

Dear All,
We need Business Development manager please guide me to get as soon as possible.
Regards,
Vinoth
Sr.Hr Manager

Hai HR Experts,
After going through the comments I belive that everybody is still living in the conventional method of time keeping comming at 9 anf going back at 5 in this era of Flexi times and telecommuting.
Especially for Senior Positions they are result oriented and the mordern CEO or Ownwers will not concentrate on their timings but deliverables.
A manager comming at 9.0 Clock and delivering nothing will be kicked out but a manager comming late and achiveing his KPIs will be given rewards.And that should be the approach. The moment u ask hardworker that why you are 2 mins late.Next day he may come in time. But he may wait for 20 mins to start his work.
"A Manager should make things happen very well even in his absence otherwise he is only a supervisor"