Navigating Office Politics: How Can I Improve My Work Relationships and Resolve Conflicts?

Wishing everyone an Advance Happy Independence Day from my side.

Joining the IT Company

I joined an IT company in Chennai as their HR Officer on 1st August 2017. Two more girls joined as developers on the same day. While I was very friendly with these girls, irrespective of the difference in our designations, I soon realized that their attitude was quite different from mine.

Observations and Actions

I found that one of the girls took as many/long breaks as a person on a managerial level would. She takes long tea breaks of up to 30 minutes, most of which she spends on her mobile phone. I didn't want to be in that group, so I slowly started avoiding joining them during lunch and continued to have my lunch in my cabin.

Reporting to HR Head

I informed the HR Head about it, and he has given me the task of warning that girl regarding the usage of a cell phone during working hours. Now the situation in my office is that both the girls treat me as their enemy and have even bad-mouthed me to the HR head, who seems to believe the girls instead of me. While sending mail, there is no salutation or thanks message.

Kindly guide me on how to change this situation.

"Irrespective of designation," please understand HR is not a disciplinary agency or superior to others. Complaints about late coming and wastage of time are initially with the HOD and not directly with HR. Office politics is at play here, and it seems your HR boss is biased against you to some extent. Your initial friendliness followed by a more distant approach has caused some bad blood. How is it that the HOD of the employees is not being questioned by their HOD, as he is primarily responsible for their output?

Please ignore the attitude of these employees for the time being. Sooner or later, their time-wasting behaviors will be noticed by other officials. Any action initiated by you in these circumstances will likely backfire, as your boss is upset and the employees are not being counseled by their own HOD.

Handling Disciplinary Issues

For any disciplinary issue, you should work through the Head of Department (HOD) and not directly confront the employee, as wrongly advised by your HR boss who doesn't seem to know the basics. As adults, nobody likes to be told or reprimanded, even when they are at fault. However unpleasant, it is each HOD's foremost responsibility to maintain team discipline and team spirit. Your role as HR is merely that of a catalyst.

For now, put aside what happened with the uncooperative employees and your boss. Move forward by focusing on your job with clarity and conviction about your role, which is well-founded on HR beliefs and principles.

Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR Consultant