How to Handle an Employee's Reluctance to Share Critical Tasks Without Risking Turnover

Managing Employee Reluctance in Critical Roles

I came across a case in our organization where an employee is not willing to share the critical task she handles. She is not ready to teach anyone about the critical activity she manages and is also unwilling to learn tasks performed by other team members. This team comprises just two employees.

She refuses to work after 6:00 pm, even when the work demands it. However, the activity she handles is crucial. Now, her boss is concerned that addressing this issue with her may lead her to leave the job or take actions that could be detrimental to the organization, as a portion of our revenue depends on the department/activity she is responsible for.

I request your views on how to manage this situation. Currently, my only solution is to find a replacement for her. However, since the activity she handles is niche, finding a suitable replacement poses a significant challenge.

Regards,
Sonali - HR

This is really a serious problem faced by you and your company. Try to motivate her and check what exactly is the problem. As you mentioned that you are planning to replace her, try to gain her confidence and ask her to train someone else. One very easy way out is to promote her to a different or bigger role and assign her to handle a team. This might give her the motivation to train others in the niche skills you mentioned. If this approach does not work, I would recommend addressing the issue by parting ways with such a problematic employee.

Make the job description (JD) for that position if possible. Convince your management about the issue and try to assign an intelligent employee to her role. There are possibilities of errors which, as an HR Manager, you must address with the concerned Head of Department (HOD).

I have encountered a similar situation before and assigned an intelligent employee to that position. This requires full support from both interdepartmental and intradepartmental levels. Once you manage this transition, she will either support the new employee or may choose to resign. A lot of effort will be needed from you to onboard the new employee.

Thanks & Regards,
Charanjeet

The Dilemma of Replacement and Removal in HR Practices

Some HR managers take the route of only one solution: replace/remove. This is not a good practice. There are many solutions available. If we replace someone today, someone else may replace you tomorrow. Everyone comes here for their livelihood, not just you and me. Keep this in mind before taking any action because when anyone is replaced or removed, we should consider seniority.

Some management nowadays also use 'hire and fire' policies. We should be aware that some employees have struggled from day one, working day and night to help the company thrive from its foundation to standing strong in the market. The struggles they face will be in vain if the company develops and then management wants to get rid of them based on seniority, paying them high salaries, engaging them, downgrading them, and making them feel undervalued.

Let's go about things smoothly and try to understand each other. In the end, there are only two employees working together, and we are all here to make a living.

In my opinion, this is where we can bring in employee counseling and grievance handling. Maybe she is unable to express something and can come out in a personal counseling session. We have a skill deficit in the present market, and hiring a new employee, training, and placing him/her can be a costly affair. If things still do not change, then the only option left is to replace with the right person.

Regards,
Phanindra Sai

Food for Thought

In every field, we have people who are exceptional in academics or work. It's a matter of choice for the person whether they want to teach or not. I have spent 14 years working with leading companies such as HCL, VSNL, Zamil, and American Express. During this time, I came across only one boss and 3-4 seniors who were willing to share knowledge.

This problem has been highlighted in MBNQA 15 years ago. A performer will never be a good team player. How do we make them a good manager? The suggested answer is: before making them a manager, ensure the person spends some time in the role of a "trainer." Let them pass their skills onto a junior employee. Employ knowledge management. It's not complicated. I've seen FAQs on tech support.

Thank you.

I concur with Mayur, Mahesh, and SVS Rana. Such defensive behavior is born out of insecurity, and insecurity is often planted by companies in the minds of employees by flaunting the 'replace or remove' baton to an efficient but reticent employee. In fact, people might have played games on her in her previous jobs. Probably, she might have been open then and might have shared her knowledge with someone who probably would have been responsible for easing her out of her previous job after learning the required skills. Who knows?

I, therefore, go with Mayur, Mahesh, and Rana and suggest you spend some time with her to draw her out of her cocoon. Then put her in charge of training others. If necessary, decide on a nice designation for her and make her feel good, and induct some tech-savvy and team players into the team to be trained. But don't replace her after she trains someone. If you do so, she is justified in not sharing her skills or knowledge.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labor Law Advisor
Mumbai

Subject: Re: Insecurity Among Employees

Dear Sonali,

1. Keep her always in a good mood and try to find an alternative position for her.
2. Divide the work so that the importance will decrease.
3. Appoint her as the training head and utilize her solely for training activities.
4. Motivate her to remain in the organization so that others can learn her work.

Regards,
A. Jagadish

I too agree with Mayur, Mahesh, and SVS Rana that:

1. Try personal counseling with her. She must have had a bad experience herself or seen such a thing happen to someone she knows, where after training another employee, the trainer (herself or someone she knows) was let go by the employer. So, once bitten twice shy, it's obvious from her side to take a stand not to train someone else.

2. Assure her that such a thing won't happen to her.

3. Have another employee trained by her.

4. After the other employee has been trained, give her a bigger task and promote her where her skills could be better utilized. This will create a feeling of oneness with the employer in her.

Firing her right away is not the right solution in any case.

The Role of HRD

HRD means developing the resources that we have and not straight off replacing the resources. I do hope you understand my point and opinion.

Thanks and Regards,
Mody Harish M.
BPP Coordinator,
KGK Diamonds Group, Surat.
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Dear Sonali,

The ideas of the members will certainly guide you to overcome the present crisis in the organization. The interpersonal relationship among the employees has to be improved. Root cause analysis of the problem and instituting suitable remedial measures, along with follow-up, do help in solving the problems.

The crisis faced by you is a common one in today's work environment where a lack of internal security and mutual trust among the employees prevails at a certain level. At the same time, the infused ambition to grow higher by surpassing one another is a proven factor for restlessness among the people, which is one of the guiding factors for their particular behaviors.

There is always a reason for becoming 'defensive' and 'closed' while working with people. The employee you have mentioned may have past experiences and subsequent impressions in her mind that may be the probable cause of her current behavior, which appears imbued with a lack of trust in her co-employees. "Just do my duty for what I am paid" appears to be her own developed service policy.

From your report, it appears that she is competent and has been diligently discharging her assigned duties, making her an expert. She wants to maintain a professional relationship and nothing more. Her reluctance to work after 6 p.m. indicates this. However, she must be following the routine working hours of the company, which cannot be termed as a wrong practice.

From a different angle, I must add that we see things not as they are, but as we want to see them based on our own perceptions.

How to Extract More from Her

Now the point is how to extract more from her. Taking output by imposing something and/or by forceful means is a temporary solution and may not last for a longer period. Improvement in interpersonal relationships by generating mutual trust eradicates any kind of fear and builds up confidence.

How to Improve Mutual Trust

Now the question arises, how to improve mutual trust? This is a subject for your contemplation.

At the same time, for an instant solution, there is a need to devise certain methods for compliance to eliminate the concentration of knowledge/power in one person/place, as our dear members have already suggested to you.

- Evaluate job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities of employees.
- Rules and regulations of the company are for each and every employee to adhere to. All possible care must be taken to win the employees' support and motivation while framing any rule/regulation. There must be indicators of mutual benefit for the organization and employees as well.
- Following the rule - "I am OK - You are OK" is beneficial.

Wish you all the best.

Regards,
Sanjeev Bakshi

The ideas of the members will certainly guide you to overcome the present crisis in the organization. The interpersonal relationships among the employees have to be improved. Root cause analysis of the problem and instituting suitable remedial measures, along with follow-up, do help in solving the problems.

The crisis faced by you is a common one in today's work environment, where a lack of internal security and mutual trust among the employees prevails at a certain level. At the same time, the infused ambition to grow higher by surpassing one another is a proven factor for restlessness among people and is one of the guiding factors for their particular behaviors.

There is always a reason for becoming 'defensive' and 'closed' while working with people. Her (the employee you have mentioned) past experience and subsequent impressions in her mind may be the probable cause of her current behavior, which appears imbued with a lack of trust in her co-employees. "Just do my duty for what I am paid" appears to be her own developed service policy.

From your report, it appears that she is competent and has been diligently discharging her assigned duties, making her an expert. She wants to maintain a professional relationship and not more than this. Her reluctance to stay after 6 p.m. indicates this. However, she must be following the routine working hours of the company, which should not be termed as a wrong practice.

From a different angle, I am to add that we see things not as they are, but as we want to see them according to our perception.

How to Extract More from Her

Now the point is how to extract more from her. Taking the output by imposing something and/or by forceful means is a temporary solution that may not last for a longer period. Improving interpersonal relationships by generating mutual trust eradicates any kind of fear and builds up confidence.

Steps to Improve Mutual Trust

Now the question arises, how to improve mutual trust? This is a subject for your contemplation.

At the same time, for an instant solution, there is a need to devise certain methods for compliance of all to eliminate the concentration of knowledge/power at one person/place, as our dear members have already suggested to you.

- Evaluate Job Descriptions, Duties, and Responsibilities of employees.
- Rules and regulations of the company are for each and every employee to adhere to. All possible care must be taken to win the employees' support and motivation while framing any rule/regulation. There must be indicators of mutual benefit for the organization and employees as well.
- Following the rule - "I am OK - You are OK" is beneficial.

Wish you all the best.

Regards,
Sanjeev Bakshi

The ideas of the members will certainly guide you to overcome the present crisis in the organization. The interpersonal relationship among the employees has to be improved. Root cause analysis of the problem and instituting suitable remedial measures, and follow-up do help in solving the problems.

The crisis faced by you is a common one in today's work environment where a lack of internal security and mutual trust among the employees prevails at a certain level. At the same time, the infused ambition to grow higher by beating one another is a proven factor for restlessness among the people, which is one of the guiding factors for their particular behaviors.

There is always a reason for becoming 'defensive' and 'close' while working with people. The employee you have mentioned may have past experiences and subsequent impressions in her mind that are probable causes of her current behavior, which appears imbued with a lack of trust in her co-employees. "Just do my duty for what I am paid" appears to be her own developed service policy.

From your report, it appears that she is competent and has been diligently discharging her assigned duties, making her an expert. She wants to maintain a professional relationship and not more than this. Her reluctance to work after 6 p.m. is indicative of this. However, she must adhere to the routine working hours of the company, which cannot be termed as a wrong practice.

From a different angle, I would like to add that we see things not as they are, but as we want to see them based on our own perceptions.

How to Extract More from Her

Now the point is how to extract more from her. Taking output by imposing something and/or by forceful means is a temporary solution and may not last for a longer period. Improving interpersonal relationships by generating mutual trust eradicates any kind of fear and builds up confidence.

How to Improve Mutual Trust

Now the question arises, how to improve mutual trust? This is a subject for your contemplation.

At the same time, for an instant solution, there is a need to devise certain methods for compliance of all to eliminate the concentration of knowledge/power in one person/place, as our dear members have already suggested to you.

- Evaluate job descriptions, duties, and responsibilities of employees.
- Rules and regulations of the company are for each and every employee to adhere to. All possible care must be taken to win the employees' support and motivation while framing any rule/regulation. There must be indicators of mutual benefit for the organization and employees as well.
- Following the rule - "I am OK - You are OK" is beneficial.

Wishing you all the best.

Regards,
Sanjeev Bakshi

Mr. Mayur Shinde has given an apt solution to deal with such cases. Today, knowledge management has become so important that if an employee doesn't share information with others, companies will simply dismiss the employee, stating that they don't want such an individual in their company.

Importance of Knowledge Management

Managing knowledge has become crucial in modern times, and this should be communicated to her. Employee counseling, as Mr. Phanindra suggests, is also a good option. This approach allows us to understand what is troubling her and provides her with an opportunity to express her emotions freely, letting everything hidden come out. She needs to be handled carefully to achieve the desired result. Give her sufficient opportunity to change herself. Otherwise, the option is always there.

Regards,
M.J. Subramanyam, Bangalore

Thank you for your valuable suggestions. Counseling her is a good option. I had thought of this earlier as well, but what if she takes it in a negative manner? Right now, I don't have anyone to cover her duties. I can't afford to lose her at this point in time as she is responsible for our revenue development. Additionally, if we were to hire a new employee tomorrow, I would not be able to bear the cost of two employees. We also do not want her to leave. In fact, we would have to onboard a new resource at a higher cost. I am confused, rather I am afraid of how she might perceive it negatively.

Regards,
Sonali

What a meaningful discussion it turned out to be, drawing some enlightened minds to deliberate on an issue that is most commonly nagging any knowledge-based industry in the modern era. While Mr. Mahesh, Mayur, and Rana suggested some practical solutions, Mr. Sanjeev drew the attention of members to the need to avoid selective perception (seeing what one wants to see) in dealing with such situations. Yet again, Mr. Subramanyam and Rana highlighted the need to infuse sensitivity in handling problems relating to knowledge management. Hats off to all members and, most importantly, Sonali Neve for generating the discussion.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
Mumbai

A give-and-take policy can be introduced when any knowledge management initiative is to be implemented. The employee (the lady) should be able to open up and share her knowledge with her colleagues. For this, she should be motivated to do so. Try implementing a knowledge management initiative throughout your organization. Encourage each and every employee to take part in it. This would naturally drive her to break out of her shell and start sharing and gaining knowledge since all others are also involved in it. It would act as reassurance for her that she is also gaining something when she shares her knowledge. Also, introduce some rewards and awards for any efficient and effective contributor to this knowledge management system.

Regards, Meera

In the given situation, two things emerge:

- The employee suffers from insecurity, or
- She harbors some grievances against the organization.

In both situations, there is an urgent need to have access to her psyche. This requires a thorough observation of her work and conduct, as well as the views/observations of her peers, subordinates, if any, and superiors. The next step has to be your one-on-one discussion, not counseling, as you are firstly trying to diagnose the problem. The discussion has to be a repeated process, and based on the derivations, you have to take recourse to counseling. While doing so, please also try to find out her confidante and use the latter in the process. After some time, let her Head of Department appreciate her work and in due course inform about the recommendations for her promotion and also promote her with one more hand joining her team. Surely, during this process, the ice will be broken.

I agree this seems to be a long-drawn process, but you will agree that handling/improving the psyche of a person consumes time.

Regards,
S.K. Johri