How Do You Handle a Senior Employee Who Resists New HR Policies and Creates Issues?

Hi all,

I really need help with this issue. In our company, we have a senior BD person who generates a lot of revenue for the company and has been with us for a long time. We are now changing the HR policies, and he just does not respond to anything new that we implement. He always has some new way to create issues. For example, we have a practice of entering the timesheet log for all employees. He also enters the client calls that he has attended in hours other than office hours. This creates a problem for us and does not set a good precedent. Being in BD, it's a part of his job to attend calls whenever they come; that just cannot be an added activity.

Please help me tackle this person as he is very adamant and has huge attitude problems. Because he is a senior person, I am in a difficult position and cannot take the hard path. He does not respond to soft requests. He is very skilled at creating issues from innocent requests.

HELP NEEDED

Rakhi,

I understand and appreciate your situation. This is not new and exists in many companies. HR must understand the business development games. Unlike HR, which can work within working hours in a day, whereas BD works all hours. BD focuses on opportunities and results, not hours. It is BD that generates the revenue, which keeps the business running.

My suggestion is:
- Sit down with the BD person.
- Understand the BD process.
- Try to work out a system which will keep the BD person motivated and meets the HR requirements.

It is not an easy task, but a way must be found, or you could demotivate the BD person, or he could be working for some other organization.

Regards,
Leo Lingham

Hi Rakhi,

I myself have gone through such situations, and it is a matter of attitude. As Leo rightly pointed out, management games should help. However, there are stubborn people who will not link the lessons learned from the games to practical situations, making it difficult once again.

I have a solution for you, but you need to be vigilant and careful while doing this:

1. Involve him right from the initial discussion on any issue.
2. Do not reveal your plan at the beginning.
3. Given the existing scenario, keep questioning him and others around the discussion about the issues that need to be sorted out.
4. Proceed with the discussion in a way that the right solution emerges from his own thoughts.

People behave this way only when they are insecure. If you give them the confidence that their opinion is heard and valued, they will cooperate and adjust their attitude.

I applied this approach in my office, and it yielded positive results. Try it out and let me know.

Hello All,

Thank you so much for the valuable suggestions. Leo, what you said is absolutely right, and Hema, I am going to try your suggestions, though discussions seem a little difficult with him.

As a policy, can we consider the hours that BD puts in apart from office hours when giving a comp off or compensating for excess working hours? How do you all handle this? I think it's a part of BD's job to attend and answer calls as they come; it's a part of their profile... please share your views.

To continue my previous message...

It's also talked about that he will be the next CEO of the company in the coming 5 years. I don't know, but he thinks he is already the CEO and takes and demands too much authority. He is very explicit when talking about how the company works and grows because of him and how we will not get salaries if he does not work. Nothing from this is 100% true though. His attitude is the toughest task to manage.

Dear Rakhi,

I also agree with the suggestion given by Hema in such situations. Being in HR, one cannot overlook the interests of others, and we must gain the confidence of people to successfully implement or formulate a new policy. If there are any problems or if a challenging policy decision needs to be made, we should first earn the trust of employees, especially those who may be problematic.

Regards,
MANOJ KUMAR

Dear Leo Lingham,

People with this kind of attitude or job position are not uncommon. As an HR professional, you may find that changing them is a challenge. It's essential to remember that you cannot control or discipline such individuals easily. Knowing how to manage them is key.

Managing people is the name of the game. Concerning the individual in question, conduct a thorough job analysis. Study the job conditions, workload, nature, and how it compares to the competition. Understand the market conditions under which they operate to determine suitable options for your company to offer.

Subsequently, engage in negotiations with the person. Achieving a win-win situation is possible only after mastering the situation.

Regards

Hello Leo,

Thank you so much for your help and guidance. I am still working on the issue, and as you suggested, I am trying to gather more information about his work conditions and requirements. With your suggestions, I am confident that I will be able to resolve it in a win-win situation. You have been really helpful to me... thank you again. I will keep you updated on how I manage and if I succeed in solving this issue.

Thank you again.

Hi all,

Thanks a lot. I was successful in solving this issue mentioned in the first post. Here's what I did as per your suggestions:

1. Talked to the concerned person and got an idea of their time requirement.
2. Requested him not to make entries in the in-out register.
3. Added a different field to his timesheet where he can mention the time spent apart from the office hours.

This has really helped me solve the problem without losing the faith of my other employees.

Again, thanks a lot, guys! You are great pals.

Hi,

You could put this BD guy in your shoes and ask him for an answer, like what he would have done if he were in your situation. Look, most senior guys think that whatever they do is right, but they don't realize that things don't run as per what they think or feel. In this case, ask him what should be done and respond to him with a whole lot of questions, which means don't accept whatever answer comes from him. Be a little assertive; you, as an HR professional, have an important role in the company.

Good luck :)