Feeling Stuck at Work: How Do I Address My HR Concerns with My Boss?

Dear Seniors,

I am facing a difficult problem. I have joined a company two months ago with around 300 employees. My boss is the Manager of HR, who has 7-8 years of experience. There is a shortage of manpower in the HR department. However, the management does not show keen interest in hiring another competent person for the team.

Many times, I am asked to work on vague requirements. When I request a job description (JD), I feel that my boss avoids giving it to me. I am asked to do mass mailing without knowing the suitability of candidates.

My boss often calls me to the office on weekends without a clear idea of assignments. Additionally, during office hours, I stay from 9:30 AM to around 8 or 8:30 PM, sometimes without any work. Whenever I ask for permission to leave the office, he ignores me and assigns more tasks.

I don't mind working long hours, but staying late in the office without any tasks does not seem logical. There are several critical issues in the organization that require immediate attention. When I try to address or suggest something to him, he simply ignores or avoids me.

I have tried talking to him about these concerns, but it has been in vain. Please help me.

Hi,

I can totally relate to this behavior as I felt the same about my boss about a year back, but believe me, after what I did to solve this issue, we are now the best of friends. Here's what I did -

When I realized that there is an issue with my relations with my boss, I came clean. One day, I just went to him in the morning and said that I have something important to discuss with him (work-related), so whenever he has the time, he should let me know. So, after waiting for about half a day, he called me. I tried to make it as informal as possible so that he should not feel that it is a formal meeting of sorts. I asked him if he would like a cup of tea or coffee, and we can discuss over that. I told him that I have been facing an issue and thought it's best to be transparent and communicate it - somehow, I feel that you are under the impression of me not supporting you, but believe me, there is nothing of this sort. I respect your work experience, and I know that I will only get to learn from you. We built our conversation on this, and things became clearer. I realized that someone had told him something negative about me, which was absolutely not true, and he was just trying to ensure the same. I too realized that he doesn't have any personal grudges against me.

In your case, you should politely tell him that there are times when you don't have any work and you sit late in the office. You don't mind working till late, but you would like to feel more involved in the system and the decisions that the HR has with the senior management. You can also tell him that by this, you can learn how to handle different situations and how your boss, as a senior, can train you to react to different things favorably. Let him know that you respect his experience and you are not wanting to surpass him in any way.

You can also tell him that every morning you can sit with him for the first half an hour and discuss the deliverables for the day. If there are some special projects that he would like you to work on, even though you might not have any prior experience in handling a similar project, you are willing to learn.

In closing, what you need to do is:

- Communicate what you feel politely
- Assure your boss that you are not planning to take his chair/position
- Work towards a common goal set by both together
- Better involvement of the entire team on goals so that results are better
- Discuss deliverables for the day and the objectives of the tasks discussed so that work can be productive and result-oriented.

Hope this helps you like the way it helped me. I guess a lot of it depends on how open your boss is to feedback, but I think it's really worth a shot since you have nothing to lose and only to gain.

All the best!

Dear Sender,

From your message, it is not clear whether you have been authorized to implement certain things immediately in your boss's absence. If not, kindly get it authorized by the appropriate authority so that necessary actions can be taken. However, please note that being at a junior level, any decisions should be made in consultation with your boss.

Regards,
L. Kumar

Dear Seniors,

I am facing a difficult problem. I have joined a company two months back with around 300 employees. My boss is the Manager of HR, who has 7-8 years of experience. There is a shortage of manpower in the HR department; however, the management does not show keen interest in hiring another competent person for the team.

Many times, I am asked to work on vague requirements. When I request a Job Description (JD), I feel that my boss avoids giving it to me. I am instructed to do mass mailing without knowing the fitment of candidates.

He frequently calls me to the office on weekends without a clear idea of assignments. Additionally, every day in the office, I stay from 9:30 to around 8 or 8:30 (sometimes without any work). When I ask for approval to leave the office, he ignores me and gives more work.

While I don't mind working long hours, sitting late in the office without any tasks does not make sense. There are several issues in the organization that require immediate attention. Whenever I try to point them out or suggest something, he ignores or avoids the discussion.

I don't know what to do; I have attempted to talk to him, but it has been in vain. Please help me.

A very common problem, but no solution has been found yet. I have also faced this issue. I tried hard, but my boss seemed to enjoy sitting in the office without doing any work. For the company's sake, he would assign me menial tasks after 5, knowing I had been free for most of the day. I couldn't change him, so I decided to change the organization.

Hi,

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. I just want to say something more on this. I am not trying to implement anything. Also, I do not get involved in his work unless I am asked. My concern is if he actually understands himself what he wants to do.

I respect him and I respect his experience too. I also know that any organization or boss cannot always be good to employees or subordinates. But, for anything, there should be some thought process and some logic.

If I am supposed to interview candidates or schedule them for an interview without actually understanding the requirement, I strongly feel that I am not doing justice to my company and myself too. This is nonsense to me. Hoping that some so-called HR professionals actually understand the meaning of HRM.

Now I have started feeling that what Mr. Ravi said is the only way out.

Regards

Dear Ash,

I found Medha's suggestion will work for you and all others who are facing the same situation. Remember, changing the organization is not a wise solution for these silly kinds of matters. No one knows about their new boss until they face them. What if you do, if you face a similar situation in the new organization also? Communication helps to solve most of the issues. This is my point of view. Think and decide.

All the Best
Regards
VR Kadam

Well, no need to feel my suggestion will work. Even Medha's suggestion can work. What I always tell in cite hr is what works for one does not necessarily work for another. There are n number of factors that need to be matched, yaar. When best practices themselves don't work the same for companies, then how can Medha or Ravi help you when you have just explained in a paragraph? To advise you, I need to be with you, watch your work, watch your office environment, observe your boss, etc., and do a full analysis.

In the real world, you need to do what will please your boss. So even if your boss tells you to interview candidates/schedule them for an interview without actually understanding the requirement, still do it. That is the only way to earn your bread. If you go too hard on principles, you can't work in a company; you need to open your own consultancy or do a business from my experience, I say. What the HR reads while doing MBA or other courses doesn't help in real life. In real life to survive, you need something else: contacts and an attitude to take it easy, and think the boss is telling me to do it, and when you come out of the office, forget it all.

In HR, you don't even need knowledge to survive; you need skills only. And now, if you think what your boss tells is nonsense, and tomorrow you have a bad exit, then this will affect your resume, dear. So even if your boss speaks rubbish, tell YES BOSS and go on. Don't think over it too much.

After reading your comments, I just thought to get some help from either of you related to the problem I am facing.

I am working in a company since the last 3 years and took over the position in HR as Personnel Manager in Feb 2008. We got a new HR manager in June 2008.

I have a serious problem in communication in our department and I find a hierarchy problem as well since we do not have an organization chart made by our HR manager, and the responsibilities are divided with 2 equal rank managers. Also after giving us a responsibility, he asks the other manager to work in a different way and not to coordinate with me and vice versa.

If anything is found not to be correct and a report is made to set right the things, no action is taken, and the report lies for months. Later, after 3-4 months, he wakes up to ask on the same subject and asks the other manager to work on it.

Any implementations done by me are changed without notice and so on.

When I am handling the recruitment, housing, and other facilities. Some recruitments and housing assignments etc. are done without my notice, information, or records, and suddenly I find 60 - 70 people have joined and are living in the housing. When I clarify, there is no response. I tried to be clear with my boss and also told him that if this continues, then I will not take the responsibility, but he insists me to hold on to the responsibility.

Hello Medha,

I feel that involving yourself too much with the boss will sometimes result in flare-ups. You only need to show the boss that he is important for all important decisions that you intend to take, which will result in his credibility. Respecting is okay, but do not lose your identity as a performer. :icon1:

Regards, Jay Parekh

Dear Ravi,

In your over 2000 postings, for this one time, I agree with what you said. Yes, there is no need in the world to differ from what your Boss has to say. So, echoing what your boss says is the best way to communicate with him.

Prashant