Struggling with Stubborn Team Leaders in RPO: How Can I Improve Their Professionalism?

Hi Team,

I work in an RPO and I am facing a major issue in getting hold of the Team leaders. All that I have discovered is that they are very good performers; however, when it comes to professionalism, they are lacking in all the traits. I am finding it difficult to crack the nut and make them learn a couple of traits:

Communication skills (Business Communication)
Team Handling (no Favoritism)
Inter-Team interaction
Cut the stubbornness and improve flexibility.
Promote the team to develop themselves to increase the throughput.

The points I have mentioned are not casual; however, these are practical problems I am facing with them. Those who are presently working with a BPO/Call centre/RPO or who have worked earlier in the past with these industries can understand the depth of my problem.

Please suggest to me through words, PPTs, or any other means.

Thanks and Regards,
Ankita Kohli

Dear Ankita,

First, we need to make them understand that they have a problem. The options for doing the same are:

1. To show them what communication is all about with a game, like "Draw Something." Ask someone to explain a drawing to the other person and have the other person draw it based on the instructions given. They may provide any directions but should not reveal the picture. This activity may reveal to them their communication problem.

2. Take a practical case and work with them to identify the root cause, which will eventually be one among the many you have listed.

Please do not attempt to train them if they are not ready to receive training.

S. K. Sundararajan
9282103900

Hello Ankita:

I am facing a major issue in getting hold of the Team leaders.

Do you mean you are having a hard time changing their behaviors?

All what I have discovered is that they are very good performers, however, when it comes to professionalism, they are lacking in all the traits.

That is a common problem when we make good performers team leaders. Are they team leaders or supervisors?

I am finding it difficult to crack the nut and make them learn a couple of traits:

Communication skills (Business Communication)

Team Handling (no Favoritism)

Inter Team interaction

Cut the stubbornness and improve the flexibility.

Promote the team to develop themselves to increase the throughput

More often than not, we select good employees for such positions whose behavioral traits make them hard nuts to crack.

Suggest me on this through words, PPT's, or any other means.

Changing other people's behaviors is a hard nut to crack in most situations.

Are employees trained to be effective team leaders before they become team leaders?

Bob Gately

Dear Ankita,

How come these weaknesses were not identified in their Performance Appraisal? Performance Appraisal feedback is very important. Based on the Performance Appraisal review, you can recommend them for the required training.

Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar

Hey Bob,

You got me right, they have a very lay back attitude to groom themselves as Leaders.

As end of the day they generate good revenues, this becomes secondary for them , and they always have points of arguments mentioning that , their team gives the results.

To be very honest, they got this position based on insufficient resource allocation at the point of organizational changes almost an year back, which was in their favor

Now we don't want to loose on them , and want to take it as a challenge to groom them in their overall personality.

The bitter fact is that, they have never undergone a training on leadership skills. Its more or like inborn or influential traits that they are implementing all the time.

I want to have a very modularize approach, and I first want to achieve a self realization for them. This will give a scope to make them understand the need to fill in the gap.

Any activity which will help me to implement on them to achieve the self realization will be a great input

Hi Ankita,

My suggestion for dealing with hard-headed team members is to involve them and lead by example in terms of training. Assess their level of competency and, using a non-confrontational one-on-one approach, address the issues and topics you wish to share, ensuring they are specific to the training.

I agree with one of the members on CiteHR who mentioned that we often tend to promote high performers based on their performance and with the fear of losing them. However, it can be challenging for us to establish realistic expectations for their peers and subordinates.

I will share more information in the next section! First, establish your ground rules to eliminate nonsense and observe the change. The problem lies not in what we provide to our employees but in how we provide it!

Regards, Arjun 9871950905

Perhaps one way would be to tackle each team leader separately; have a brief discussion on the necessity of forming a synergistic group of team leaders rather than individual star performers as leaders. Point out common weaknesses and lacks that need to be rectified.

Then get them together for a preliminary interactive training session. Find out their perceptions of what is needed by them, and share your perception of what they need. Rally them into agreeing to be trained.

If, despite this approach, there is constant abrasion and resentment, yes, it might be better to let one of them go as an example to the rest. This should hopefully do the trick.

Worth trying.

Jeroo

Hi Alok,

I appreciate the way you have conveyed the bitter fact of situational triggers. You have mentioned the URL of Mind Skills. What is this company all about? Please share some details on it.

Regards,
Ankita Kohli