Can You Help a 16-Year Employee Facing Unfair Treatment and Office Politics?

Can You Fire an Employee for Not Gelling with Colleagues?

This is a real case study involving a female employee with 16 years in the organization. She is excellent in her work and completed her MBA just 2 years ago, despite financial challenges. She has been a good employee, given multiple job profiles, and performed well in every role. In the past, she was sidelined from a job because a favorite had to be promoted. Now, she is back in her old department and has been given data entry work, seemingly to downgrade her. She has approached the department and HR many times to change her profile for a better job role, as she is now qualified to take up a leadership position. Her salary is also low compared to others in that department.

However, instead of helping her, HR and the department have told her to leave the organization without considering her good work. She requested a transfer, but it was denied due to politics and favoritism within the organization. Her nature is straightforward and honest, with a complete leadership style of working. Other colleagues in the same department are less qualified but are favorites.

Please note that her colleagues have only been in the organization for 3-4 years, while she has been there for 16 years. They are keeping her under newcomers without experience and making her do data entry-type work. She has a very strong personality and complete capability of heading a team and taking on a leadership role. However, she has been asked to leave because of insecure colleagues and bosses who play politics in the organization. I need to help her. Please advise, as HR has backed out and is not helping her. This is a real case. Firing is not the solution, but what can be done?

You may not like this response, but here it is—for better or worse, depending on how one takes it.

Firing as an Option

Leaving aside the semantics and emotional aspects of the situation for a while, please note that "Firing is always an option/solution—from the employer's perspective"—just because it inconveniences the individual doesn't mean it's wrong. But please don't think that I am supporting "firing" per se. It all depends on the situation—of the individual, the company, and sometimes the industry itself (a classic case for this would be the IT industry, where the global scenario—over which the company doesn't have any control—dictates HR actions on many occasions).

Understanding the Situation

Regarding your comments like "politics," etc., all of them seem to be based only on the individual's perspective/angle. It takes two to tango—as they say in the USA. There could—repeat could—be aspects that the individual contributed to the overall situation—as it stands now.

I am not really sure of this, but my hunch is that this individual—in addition to being efficient, as you say—seems to also have some attitude issues (abrasiveness could be one of them). I can't see any logical/valid reason why she would be assigned a data-entry job despite having 16 years of experience—unless there are very strong reasons. I don't really subscribe to the one and only reason you mentioned—politics. For such a drastic action, there are usually multiple reasons.

Leadership Role Consideration

Regarding your remarks that she should be considered for a "leadership role" since she has an MBA now, please understand that having an MBA doesn't—repeat doesn't—give anyone the qualities to lead. An MBA only gives the qualification/eligibility to switch into such roles. Putting that person into a leadership role also depends on how HR or others view the employee's traits to lead—not what the individual thinks of himself/herself.

Qualifications and Company Perceptions

There's also another aspect about how some companies view individuals acquiring additional qualifications (in this case an MBA) while starting to work with lower qualifications (especially diploma, ITI, or any such non-degree qualifications). Some roles are exclusively meant for regular study degrees. The issue is not "right or wrong" or "good or bad"—the reasons vary from company to company. We have seen such situations quite a few times.

Advice for Moving Forward

And when HR has also told her to leave, why does she want to just stick to this job? Maybe, in her own interest, she should look for another job and quit as soon as possible. Except that she should strive to move over smoothly—she might need this reference later in her career and HR might very well invalidate her reference checks if she exits in a roughshod manner. Based on how she perceives her experiences here, it's easy to fall into such a psychological trap, which I suggest she should avoid at any cost.

As far as I can see, continuing here is not an option for her—if she has to have some peace of mind and good progression in her career.

All the best.

Regards,
TS

This means HR is not capable of retaining good talent as this organization is full of politics. This is not an individual perspective, especially when HR is aware of the political situation. The employee does not have an attitude problem as mentioned; the employee only requests if she is qualified now, can she get a better profile?

I have always heard that HR finds a solution and retains talent, but why should an employee be terminated because others do not like her? She can be transferred, and there are many employees in that organization who are incapable but with high salaries and still hold their jobs. Isn't this injustice done to her? Anyways, your statement sounds like an HR head of that organization. Thank you.