Interdepartmental Tensions: How Can HR Bridge the Gap Between Core and Support Teams?

I have joined an engineering project-based company recently as HR head. In my company, I face a problem of interdepartmental differences. Project people claim to be more important than production, and vice versa. The Project department, Design Department, and Production department all consider support functions like Accounts, Admin, and HR as least important. This is creating a tug-of-war-like situation between support and core functions for credibility, importance, and recognition from management. This has resulted in some incidences of non-cooperation and blame games. Now, the management is frustrated with this situation.

However, the common feeling among all the employees is that they want the company to grow and develop. They are not understanding that support functions and core functions should go hand in hand for the required result. Team-building training programs and Role effectiveness programs have not been that effective.

Guidance Needed to Ease Interdepartmental Tensions

Kindly guide me on how to ease this situation?

Regards,
Sapna

Dear Sapna,

Your last sentence spoke volumes: "Team building training programs and Role effectiveness programs have not been that effective."

The sentence should serve as an eye-opener to all the trainers who preach team building for every organizational ill. If you had not given this statement, I am sure there would have been a flurry of suggestions on conducting team building training. Not that I am against training on teamwork. However, teamwork is an output and not an input that many trainers don't understand. Secondly, teamwork is the output of the organization's culture. Fix the culture, and teamwork will follow automatically.

Discussing the Solution to Your Problem

Why has this problem occurred? It could be because of the following reasons. A few could be within your control, and a few could be out of your control:

• Frankly speaking, it is a weakness of your management or top leadership who started giving prominence to 1-2 key departments when the company started. Now it has become part of your organization's culture to give step-brotherly treatment to supporting departments.

• What about having a strong process-centric approach in executing the work of every department? When I say "process-centric," I mean going beyond ISO 9000 standards. There have to be well-defined processes for every single department.

• The next thing is about job rotation. I doubt it is also implemented. Job rotation removes a blinkered view of the department. Make a job rotation plan and implement it vigorously.

• Conduct the training on "How to Build Organization's Culture?" It is the culture of the company that fosters the growth of the company.

• Another important training for all the department heads required is on "How to Create Positive Conflict?" Conflict handling is not just sweeping under the carpet, giving a semblance of false harmony. However, managers must be capable of eradicating negative conflict and substituting positive ones in its lieu. It requires tremendous maturity on the part of managers to do this. It is no easy task as managers need to learn how to allow juniors to challenge their views.

• The next important training is on the organization's values. Your problem of 1-2 departments dominating other departments is because they are not told "fairness" as the organization's value. Every manager, howsoever smart he/she may be, should have a value-based management style. How can your organization's value allow discrimination based on the function of an employee?

• As an interim measure, start showing how the support function also contributes to the cost-saving activities and it is not just a few key departments.

• Another interim measure is to calculate the cost of attrition. Do you have figures that show that attrition is more in the support function than in core functions? If yes, then use it as a tool to show that revenue generation is important. However, controlling revenue leakage by controlling attrition is also equally important.

There are a few other things, and typing the whole thing is a little cumbersome. You may give me a call, and we shall discuss the matter further.

Thanks,

Dinesh V Divekar

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."

Thank you for your valuable inputs. I am planning to try job rotation and a few training programs on managing culture and positive conflict with some different trainers. However, could you please brief me on how to implement a process-centric approach in executing work? Also, could you please provide me with the contact details of good trainers in these topics in Pune? Looking forward to your response.

Regards,
Sapna

Your problem of "They are not understanding that support functions and core functions should go hand in hand for the required result" itself has a solution. If departments are not understanding the importance of other departments, then take one or two key people from each department and ask them to conduct a session on workflow and its importance from a business point of view before all the other departments. It will take time and will require consent from key people and management. However, it will help in understanding the need and importance of other departments.

Moreover, you may explain to your management not to give prominence to one department over the other.

Regards,
Nitu

Addressing Internal Threats in Organizations

This is a real internal threat to an organization and should be addressed immediately. The race for one-upmanship has always existed and will remain so forever. One has to bear in mind that no one can change individual mentality and behavior.

Steps to Mitigate Interdepartmental Differences

The immediate step I would recommend is to chart down a Job Description for each Department, detailing every role, task, duration, duty, responsibility, reporting, and end-of-task exit policy where it's required to pass on the document or information to another department. Identify connectors among departments, the work, information, and document flow system, and lay down stringent rules to ensure every employee adheres to the same. You might need to revisit the organization chart. This process might take some time but should prove fruitful.

I endorse your reply, and it's worth a billion dollars because it is a fact.

Training Activities and Organizational Focus

In regard to TRAINING ACTIVITIES, organizations need to FOCUS on MEASURING the DEVELOPMENT OF CORE SKILLS POST TRAINING required for EMPLOYEES' and ORGANIZATION'S PERFORMANCE. They are only interested in "RUNNING THE SHOW" but not in "MANAGING & IMPROVING FURTHER" (LEADERSHIP SKILLS), which are supposed to be the MAIN ROLE of TOP MANAGEMENT.

Promoting a Professional Work Culture

You need to focus on WORK CULTURE promoting a PROFESSIONAL APPROACH, POSITIVE ATTITUDE, BROAD-MINDED MATURITY, and how best you can educate your employees on the practical concepts of WHY, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW to demonstrate the ATTITUDE of "I" & "WE" in your organization.

With profound regards