How Do I Politely Request a Full Handover of HR Responsibilities? Seeking Email Advice

Hi everyone, I have joined as Manager-HR at a media company. We have two different companies operating from the same location, both owned by the same person (Director): one is the Indian team, and the other is the Global team. Previously, there was only one HR for both teams. Now, management has hired me specifically for the Indian team. I joined a month ago, but the individual who was previously handling both teams is not willing to hand over any responsibilities to me. Despite reminders from management and my immediate boss, there has been no improvement. I would like to compose a polite email requesting a complete handover, with a CC to my reporting manager and Director. Please suggest a polite and well-drafted email for this purpose.

Thanks in advance!!

Regards, Kanu

Hi Vipin, as discussed, I need some necessary information/documents to take things forward. Please find a list of items that I need urgently.

• Organization Chart
• KRA’s of existing employees
• HR Processes
• Meeting Report format
• Employee Database with DOJ/DOB/Contact details/Designation, etc.
• Contact details and agreement with consultants
• Any Resume database for the India team
• Joining formalities (Forms/documents, etc.)
• Any circular for office discipline
• Access to employees' attendance software

Thank you!

Dear [Recipient's Name], I am [Your Name], newly appointed as the Manager of the India team effective [Date]. I refer to our discussion regarding the assumption of India team HR functions and the segregation of HR duties. Management, through circular/letter number [Reference], has directed me to assume full responsibility for HR activities for the India team. The HR duties have been bifurcated accordingly. I kindly request that all files, duties, and documents related to this role be promptly handed over. Management has requested confirmation of the assumption of duties by [Date]. Please inform me of a suitable date and time for further discussion and the handover process.

Regards, [Your Name]

Apart from sending him an email, you can also connect with him over the phone or have an in-person chat about this. Sending just an email as an intimation would count as a course of action; however, interacting personally will also help you as an HR professional connect with people and maintain good relations (because you are new here, and people will form instant good or bad opinions about you). Moreover, don't you think if you have any query or difficulty, you would go back to this person and not your boss? At times, even polite emails are taken as official plots, but personal interaction gives a much healthier meaning to it.

Good luck!

I look at the issue differently. You have been appointed to handle HR operations for the SBU that has operations in India. In that case, when you were appointed, your Director should have immediately sent a proper business letter to the existing HR Manager about what he should hand over, when he should hand over, by what date he should hand over, what knowledge transfer he should do, etc. Since your Director has not done this, you have taken over his work on your shoulders and now wish to write an email to the existing HR Manager. Who should do what type of work, when they will do it, and where they will do it is always decided by the top management and not by lower management.

The major issue that I find is that your Director has not understood two important things. One is the medium of communication. After telling your counterpart verbally, he should have sent the written letter. In this letter, he should have asked to forward handing/taking over a report by a specific date. The second thing is that your Director is wary of exercising his authority. Your counterpart has defied the Director's authority. How come an HR manager, a paid employee, mustered the courage to do that?

It appears to me that when you were appointed, well before your appointment, the Director did not take into confidence your counterpart. Today, what he is doing is nothing but living in the world of denial. This denial has resulted in resistance to change. Change is on account of the appointment of a new HR Manager that forces him to partake in his authority.

The problem also lies with today's work culture where there is too much reliance on oral communication and less on written communication. A written order on the company's letterhead to transfer the charge would have made a big difference, and your counterpart would have been less defiant than he is today.

If you have not sent the mail, then I recommend speaking to the Director and sending the existing HR Manager a proper letter to complete the handing/taking over process. It is better to shoot by keeping a gun on someone else's shoulder. Sending mail for the transfer of change, however polite it might be, is tantamount to taking the gun from the Director's shoulder to your own shoulder. Gentlemen, never do that!

Thanks,

Regards, Dinesh Divekar

Understanding the Handover Situation

The fact that it did not boil down to adherence to the director's authority, even after the director had sent him an email about the handover and the director himself being lenient about it, means that there could be a lot going on in the background which hasn't been settled. The director's authority is the highest authority, and defying it is very serious.

Until Kanu287 gets to know the real situation, it is best that he/she talks to the concerned person directly and gets an idea of what exactly his thought process is. Is he resisting, or was he too busy to overlook even the director's email? Does he have too much power, or is he a work in progress of the handover process and needs some "more" time? Whatever it is, first talk to him, find out, and report it to your director, and then see how things shape further.

It could also be the fact that he is resisting, and your director is unaware of it. What is the role of your reporting manager in this? Hasn't he/she intervened in this? It's been a month, and something as basic as the handover not being processed boils down to the essentials—whether everything really is okay or are things being taken for granted, and for what reasons. Now it is on you to find the causes and report them to the seniors rather than just asking them to follow up. As correctly mentioned by Divekar sir, do not attempt to take the gun from the director's shoulder to your own shoulder. First, find out the real situation.

I second Dinesh Divekar's response and suggestions. Bringing your Director into the scene could be a bit tricky.

Suggested Course of Action

Since you may not know the complete background of what happened prior to your entry here (except through hearsay), instead of writing to the existing HR manager, suggest writing an email or letter to your Director on what you propose to do to streamline the HR activities (based on your observations—you could use another word if 'streamline' can be misconstrued) and then follow it up with what inputs you would need to do it.

Request him to clarify or confirm whom you should approach officially to get the inputs. If he wants you to handle it yourself, then you can use his reply email to ask the HR guy. If he prefers to ask the HR guy to hand over the material, then he is only doing what he's supposed to be doing.

Let this not look like you are complaining against this HR guy. It will boomerang. You are only putting it in another way for the Director to act without saying so.

Like Dinesh Divekar mentioned, in case the Director is wary of handling the HR guy, for whatever reason(s), you are also building up your case for your later safeguarding—so that none will be able to blame you later.

All the best.

Regards,
TS