Employee Chit-Chat: Should HR Report Non-Work Behavior to the Team Leader?

Dear Friends,

Can you please tell me, as an HR professional, if an employee is not working and is instead engaging in chit-chat, does HR have the right to inform the team leader about their behavior?

Kindly suggest to me, please.

Thanks & Regards,
HR

Before giving suggestions, it is important to know the type of industry you work in. What is your finished product or service? I ask this question because, in some industries like IT and BPO/KPO, the atmosphere is a little relaxed. Since theirs is a target-based job, even if they spend time in prattle, it does not matter. In contrast, if your company is in the service sector, then tittle-tattle can be a luxury.

Addressing Employee Behavior

The behavior of some of the employees that you have observed, why couldn't the Team Leader (TL) observe it? Why is this chitchat acceptable to him/her? What is the performance of this team? Going further, what about the Manager? Why is the manager silent on the laidback behavior of the TL?

Are the team members remaining in the office beyond their working hours? I recommend you conduct this study first. You may give indirect feedback to the TL on excess working hours put up by his/her team members.

Role of HR

The HR department is not a police department per se. HR cannot intervene immediately for some minor deviations. Nevertheless, as of now, you may keep your seniors informed about your observations.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Sir,

Greetings!

Thank you for your suggestions and advice. My industry is the e-commerce industry, and the Team Leader (TL) will be working the night shift, while team members work in split shifts. In the absence of the TL, some team members take advantage of this situation to engage in unnecessary chit-chat. I truly appreciate your feedback on this matter.

Thanks & Regards,
HR

It is fine to inform the team leader, and it should not come across as complaining. HR should communicate with the team leader in a way that ensures understanding and prevents future occurrences.

You have written that "the TL will be working the night shift, whereas the team member works a split shift. As the TL is not there, he uses this opportunity to chit-chat."

The situation in your company could be related to the classic English proverb "when the cat is away, the mice will play." This cat-and-mouse game demands reviewing the workload of the chatterbox. If he has sufficient time for prattle, then it merits increasing the workload. Give feedback to the TL in private; however, make sure that it does not antagonize the TL. He should not construe your feedback as nosiness.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

I disagree with the views of some members, as their responses are solely based on believing in your flawed statement. It seems as though the assumption is that the employee is automatically at fault, while you have conveniently omitted three crucial points to be considered in your straightforward academic-style question, namely:

(1) If the Team Leader (TL) is working the night shift, who supervises the employee's work if they are not working alongside the TL during their shift?

(2) How often have you observed the employee engaging in casual conversations, and in what context?

(3) Is the employee fulfilling their duties and responsibilities adequately?

If the employee is performing well, it raises the question of why you would want to intervene in the team leader's management.

In the first place, why do employees need to be micromanaged? Is there any loss to personal productivity, or is it impacting the ambiance? What is the work culture? Honestly, I am surprised to note these natural human traits as real issues in the workplace.

Regards,
Ramesh
HR Management Trainer
+971-50-2879772

Dear Mr. P.S. Dhingra and Ramesh,

Mr. Dhingra, you have written, "If the employee is performing well, a question arises, why would you like to interfere in the regime of the team leader?"

Ramesh, you have written, "In the first place, why do employees need to be micromanaged?"

In my earlier posts, I have raised the productivity of the team members as well as that of the entire team. We are yet to receive a reply on that. For a while, let us imagine that the team member's performance is "Very Good" or above. Nevertheless, what matters is others' performance as well. They could be disturbing others. Secondly, if every employee starts exhibiting his/her natural human traits at the workplace, then the entire company culture will go haywire. If HR does not intervene to maintain a culture of discipline, then who else will intervene? A company is nothing but a group of people coming together and working for some cause. To work together, this group must adhere to certain rules and regulations, and some members' basic human traits cannot be allowed to override the rules. If we allow this override, the company will crumble in no time!

Employees are paid for spending a certain number of hours at the workplace. Therefore, this time belongs to the company and not to the employees. Why did that employee in question feel it was appropriate to pass his time gossiping rather than volunteering for extra work?

Secondly, it is the duty of HR to inform the team leader of what is happening in his absence. What is wrong if HR intervenes due to the loss of the company's time? Good or bad, HR must keep a close watch on the company's affairs.

I know a few IT companies where the entire workload is delegated to the junior-most members, and team leaders or project leaders spend time in the stock market or real estate market. Juniors work well past midnight but cannot complain against their superiors for fear of losing their jobs. Since it is an internal matter of the team, HR does not intervene. Many times, HR is blissfully unaware of what's happening. This imbalance has been ongoing for years or even decades. Do you accept this serious work imbalance caused by the impersonal attitude of HR?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

I have not raised any questions about your reply, Dinesh ji. However, when the author mentions that "the TL will be working the night shift while team members work in a split shift, and as the TL is not there, he uses this opportunity to chit-chat," it clearly indicates that the company is a call center-like organization. Most of the work, probably from the USA or European countries, is done at night.

Moreover, during lax periods, if there is no work, the employee's mouth cannot be taped to keep quiet by the wishes of HR. The author has not clarified the queries raised so far. Here, keeping the employee without any supervision or extra staffing during slack hours speaks either about mismanagement on the part of HR or suggests that the author of the query has some vendetta against the employee and may wish to harm the employee's interests through the TL. That is why I have raised the question about the deficiency in the query.

Mr. Dinesh,

Chatting at work is a basic privilege that is reasonable, although not a right. You're not paying employees to chat, but that doesn't mean you can completely prohibit them from doing so during work hours. You are allowed to draw the line but not restrict.

Regards,
Ramesh
HR Management Trainer
+971-50-2879772