Is It Fair for HR to Handle Personal Tasks? Navigating Boundaries with Your Boss

Hi all,

I want to share an issue that one of my friends, who is also in HR, is facing. She is directly reporting to the MD of the company. As an HR professional, she is also responsible for training. Her boss recently asked her to find a tutor for his relative who can go to his house and teach computers. Now, she has taken this personally. According to her, this is his personal work, so why should he hand it over to HR, etc.? On the other hand, maybe he assigned the task to her because she is involved in training and might know a few institutes.

Is this really an issue, or is my friend overreacting? This is something that happens in most companies. But how can one say no to this? Please share your views.

Neeta.

Hi,

Maybe she is overreacting, maybe she is not. But whatever it is, ask her not to let her boss know about the same. If there is a lapse in the work provided by the MD and it is personal in nature, and if he still persists, then provide him with very sloppy work. However, do well at a professional level. This will help her boss understand where to draw the line.

Thank you,
Octavious

I think that the main issue would be whether or not this request from the MD has interfered with your friend's work/job. If it was just a question as to whether or not she knows anyone, then I don't feel there is a problem. However, if the request required a lot of work and was interfering or taking time away from your friend's work responsibilities, then this could create a problem.

The question is to what extent was the request placed on your friend fair and within reason or unfair and placing additional responsibility and work on her, not only above and beyond what is already required but also of a personal nature.

Is this really an issue? I DON'T THINK SO... or is my friend just overreacting to all this? YES, I DO THINK THIS MAY BE THE CASE. Now even I am reporting to my boss, but in the office sometimes we discuss/chat many things apart from official work. So, in this chat, if my boss asks for some information, I search for it on the net or call from the office, etc. But that does not mean my boss is disturbing my work. There are many times when I tell him some personal issues and get his advice.

So just ask, how are your friend's relations with the boss?

Dear Neeta,

I think this is not an issue because we must have good interpersonal relations with everyone at the workplace, including bosses. Just a Humor. See the attachment.

Keep Smiling....

Mahesh K Prasad

Hi Friends,

I agree with THE HR FOR HR. According to me, in most cases, it will be a matter of how close people are and based on that, one might require help from others, and the position also doesn't come into the picture in such cases.

But concerning this particular case, we can't call it as she is overreacting because if her boss has a habit of seeking help very often, then she might obviously feel that this is not part of her job.

To keep it simple, it depends on the situation...

Regards,
Amith R.

Hi Neeta,

I don't think it's a mistake of your friend/MD. The MD would have allocated his personal work to HR. There are certain reasons:

The HR would have a lot of contacts with tutors and corporate trainers. Though he is approaching the official contacts, it can be taken as a personal request for the best solution since training is also a part of HR, and HR can advise the best tutor through contacts.

There are certain times when we react, but when we think practically, we would understand the other person's necessity as well. Of course, the position gives the person authority to command rather than request. It's better to overlook rather than take it on our head.

Durga