Feeling Sidelined: Should I Speak Up About Being Excluded from Recruitment Decisions?

Dear HR Guru, I am working in an educational institute as Manager - HR & Admin in the capacity of Institute Administrator for the past three years. In September 2013, the organization's management suddenly decided to appoint a Chief Operating Officer (COO) above the administrator. However, for the last three to four months, the COO has been avoiding me and not involving me in any recruitment processes. My concern is whether this is ethically right, or should I express my discomfort to the management.

Thank you.

Let me clarify for you. Management has all authority to change your job description. Management can recruit new employees and can shift some of your workload to them. If you are not comfortable with this, you can directly discuss the issue with management. However, before approaching management, consider the following:

1. Check if your recruitment responsibilities have been fully transferred to the new COO.
2. Check if management intends to assign you new tasks or activities by relieving you of your current recruitment duties.

If you still handle recruitment and the COO is intentionally disregarding you, then decide whether to address this issue with management.

In many organizations, HR processes are divided among teams. Therefore, my advice is not to lose heart; wait until the situation turns in your favor and then make your move.

Regards,
Arun J.

Giving straight advice will not be right in this case as we know only a portion of the whole incident. However, was there any performance issue on your part, and was management not happy with you? You should speak to the management directly and ask them to provide clarity on roles, responsibilities, and your KRA. If you sense anything wrong, you may decide to change your job too.

In my opinion, I suggest three ways to solve that problem:

1. Go outside with your COO for lunch or dinner and talk about the misunderstandings.
2. If your COO (Boss) is avoiding you and showing no interest in spending time with you, continuously search for and identify his negative traits or behavior towards the company/employees. Then, discuss these observations with a good listener in management.
3. "When the cat's away, the mice will play."

I hope these suggestions are helpful in addressing the issue you are facing.

Best regards,
Regards

Mr. Somnath,

Let me clarify for you...

Management has all authority to change your job description. Management can recruit new employees and can shift some of your work to them. If you are not comfortable with this, you can directly discuss the issue with management. But before doing so, consider the following:

1. Check if your recruitment responsibilities have been fully transferred to the new COO.
2. Check if management intends to add new tasks or activities to your job description by relieving you of the current recruitment process.

If the recruitment responsibilities still lie with you and the COO is deliberately overlooking you, then you should decide whether to address this issue with management.

In many organizations, HR processes are divided among teams. In my opinion, do not lose heart; wait until the situation shifts in your favor, and then make your move.

Thank you so much, Mr. Arun J., for your insights. I want to mention that I have developed a strong trust and respect from my management. I do not doubt my management in any way. It was their fair judgment to support me by providing an additional administrative hand as the COO.

Regards,

There is nothing to worry about. Be positive and confident about your performance. Any wrong gesture or action due to your misunderstanding may create a problem for you. When organizations grow, new people with diversified talent will be added in. Management looks forward to having better alignment with new and existing employees. If you have someone in core management whom you trust and can share your worries with, please do share and try to get help.