I am working in an engineering firm as an HR executive. Recently, I came across a complaint about the Head of the Department (HOD) of one department showing favoritism towards a particular employee (who happens to be his cousin) and degrading other team members (trainee engineers who have just started their careers with us) in front of him without any valid reasons. No matter how well they perform their tasks, they never receive the appreciation they deserve.
We are in an engineering domain where it's challenging to find skilled resources suitable for our domain, which may be why the HOD is behaving this way. The HOD is a critical resource for our company.
Addressing Favoritism in the Workplace
My question is, how can we address this issue without directly confronting the HOD about his rude behavior? I am looking forward to your valuable input.
Thanks and Regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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5We are in an engineering domain where it's challenging to find skilled resources suitable for our domain, which may be why the HOD is behaving this way. The HOD is a critical resource for our company.
Addressing Favoritism in the Workplace
My question is, how can we address this issue without directly confronting the HOD about his rude behavior? I am looking forward to your valuable input.
Thanks and Regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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Pon1965 has provided the most practiced solution. Please see if that works for you, since many times, such HODs will not agree to such steps—especially when the relative's caliber is low-end. The HOD obviously knows the relative wouldn't last beyond a couple of months under another HOD vis-a-vis performance.
When you transfer the cousin, remember to transfer him ALONG WITH a few others from this HOD—else you can be sure of a backlash from this HOD. Just let this LOOK LIKE it's a normal/innocuous internal shift of some employees.
It would have helped if you had given the role/qualifications of the cousin as well as the domain of your company. While some domains are surely as you mention, I think even then, there surely would be other ways of handling the resource availability issues. Like the saying goes: "There's no problem without a solution. We only have to look sufficiently enough to find it."
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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When you transfer the cousin, remember to transfer him ALONG WITH a few others from this HOD—else you can be sure of a backlash from this HOD. Just let this LOOK LIKE it's a normal/innocuous internal shift of some employees.
It would have helped if you had given the role/qualifications of the cousin as well as the domain of your company. While some domains are surely as you mention, I think even then, there surely would be other ways of handling the resource availability issues. Like the saying goes: "There's no problem without a solution. We only have to look sufficiently enough to find it."
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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Thank you for your quick response and great input. As I discussed in my first post, the HOD himself managed to place his relative in his team. In my company, management pampers HODs because if you want to replace or find new resources in my domain, we hardly find 500+ profiles on job portals. I hope you understand the criticality of this particular HOD. Transferring that guy to another department is practically impossible in my company. That is the biggest constraint for me in making that decision. I request you to provide some more insights on this issue that are most amicable to the HOD and the employees who are having issues with him.
I value your input.
Best Regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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I value your input.
Best Regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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Pon didn't refer to transferring the HOD; he was referring to the cousin. You haven't given the inputs that really matter to provide realistic suggestions:
1. What are the role and responsibilities of this cousin?
2. What is your company's domain?
3. What is your company's strength, and how many divisions/departments are there?
4. Aren't there any other departments where this cousin's skills can be utilized?
5. How many are there in this group that report to this HOD, including the trainee engineers you mentioned? And how many of this group are actually affected by this partisan way of handling by the HOD?
The more inputs, the better the accuracy and practicability of the suggestions.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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1. What are the role and responsibilities of this cousin?
2. What is your company's domain?
3. What is your company's strength, and how many divisions/departments are there?
4. Aren't there any other departments where this cousin's skills can be utilized?
5. How many are there in this group that report to this HOD, including the trainee engineers you mentioned? And how many of this group are actually affected by this partisan way of handling by the HOD?
The more inputs, the better the accuracy and practicability of the suggestions.
Regards,
TS
From India, Hyderabad
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40 members reports to this HOD.. Most of the people who woked under him faced the problem and now the intensity is high for these 2 Trainee Engineers. Thnaks and Regards, Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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From India, Hyderabad
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Addressing Workplace Favoritism and Disgruntlement
In some organizations, tackling issues like favoritism and belittling behavior is a common challenge. From my experience with a top 10 organization, I observed a similar situation where a boss frequently belittled others in front of his juniors. Interestingly, the junior was someone the boss had brought from another company where they both previously worked. Eventually, the entire team turned against the boss and his favored junior, leading to their departure. This situation underscores that no one is indispensable.
Meet with the Head of the Department (HOD) and politely explain the disgruntlement among the affected employees. Request that he behaves in a mature, professional manner. If he remains unyielding, it may become necessary to make a difficult decision regarding either party. This should be considered a last resort.
Regards,
Pon
From India, Lucknow
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In some organizations, tackling issues like favoritism and belittling behavior is a common challenge. From my experience with a top 10 organization, I observed a similar situation where a boss frequently belittled others in front of his juniors. Interestingly, the junior was someone the boss had brought from another company where they both previously worked. Eventually, the entire team turned against the boss and his favored junior, leading to their departure. This situation underscores that no one is indispensable.
Meet with the Head of the Department (HOD) and politely explain the disgruntlement among the affected employees. Request that he behaves in a mature, professional manner. If he remains unyielding, it may become necessary to make a difficult decision regarding either party. This should be considered a last resort.
Regards,
Pon
From India, Lucknow
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Role of the Cousin
The role of his cousin is that of a Trainee Engineer who has been trained with a steel detailing tool.
Company Structure
- It is a detailing firm with respect to steel infrastructure.
- There are 390 employees. We have 7 departments and 2 divisions:
1. Civil (where this issue occurred, and these 3 trainee engineers, including the cousin of the HOD, got trained on a particular tool).
2. Mechanical Division (where we can't transfer his cousin).
Skills Utilization
The HOD's cousin's skills can be used in the Civil department itself.
Reporting Structure
Forty members report to this HOD. Most of the people who worked under him have faced problems, and now the intensity is high for these 2 Trainee Engineers.
Thanks and regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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The role of his cousin is that of a Trainee Engineer who has been trained with a steel detailing tool.
Company Structure
- It is a detailing firm with respect to steel infrastructure.
- There are 390 employees. We have 7 departments and 2 divisions:
1. Civil (where this issue occurred, and these 3 trainee engineers, including the cousin of the HOD, got trained on a particular tool).
2. Mechanical Division (where we can't transfer his cousin).
Skills Utilization
The HOD's cousin's skills can be used in the Civil department itself.
Reporting Structure
Forty members report to this HOD. Most of the people who worked under him have faced problems, and now the intensity is high for these 2 Trainee Engineers.
Thanks and regards,
Anil
From India, Hyderabad
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Don't you have a proper PMS system in place in your organization? If yes, kindly review it again along with the targets of the HOD and other team members. If not, then start working on it. Conduct a performance assessment of all the employees in the organization so that the HOD will not feel that he or his cousin is being targeted. This is also important for the overall growth of the organization and will surely solve your problem.
If the HOD is indeed a valuable resource for your organization, then involve him in the strategic planning of the organization. In this way, he will discover the actual value of his cousin and, of course, others as well! If he finds his cousin beneficial for the organization (based on his current skills), then he will continue with him or do something to improve his skills. There is no need to remove his cousin from his department; just involve the HOD in the strategic planning of the organization and give him the responsibility to grow his team according to the plan.
I request other team members to kindly provide your inputs on this.
From India, New Delhi
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If the HOD is indeed a valuable resource for your organization, then involve him in the strategic planning of the organization. In this way, he will discover the actual value of his cousin and, of course, others as well! If he finds his cousin beneficial for the organization (based on his current skills), then he will continue with him or do something to improve his skills. There is no need to remove his cousin from his department; just involve the HOD in the strategic planning of the organization and give him the responsibility to grow his team according to the plan.
I request other team members to kindly provide your inputs on this.
From India, New Delhi
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Good suggestions from all of them on this thread. Sometimes, we need to use clever and strategic moves to address such problems. The suggestion here is to find the strengths and weaknesses of this junior trainee and highlight the strengths to the HOD to keep him happy. Simultaneously, identify a project where the trainee would likely fail due to a lack of knowledge. Ensure that the project given has nothing to do with the current boss - the related HOD.
Now, inform the HOD that it is high time the juniors are promoted and given good assignments to prove their worth. Surely, he will promote his cousin, and the rest is in your hands. Meanwhile, the affected individuals can be counseled and assessed for their abilities. They can even be asked to be rated by the company that trained them on tooling skills. This way, they can be temporarily moved out for further training and assessment by the training company to get some breathing space. After enduring a lot of humiliation, even if the HOD deems the other two engineers unfit, it becomes easier to send them for training with an understanding and a promise that they will add value when they return.
Leave the rest to time; all of us are dispensable, and assuming to be indispensable is like making a trough in water and expecting it to stay.
Good luck!
Regards, Nalina R. Trainer and OD Consultant
From India, Tiruppur
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Now, inform the HOD that it is high time the juniors are promoted and given good assignments to prove their worth. Surely, he will promote his cousin, and the rest is in your hands. Meanwhile, the affected individuals can be counseled and assessed for their abilities. They can even be asked to be rated by the company that trained them on tooling skills. This way, they can be temporarily moved out for further training and assessment by the training company to get some breathing space. After enduring a lot of humiliation, even if the HOD deems the other two engineers unfit, it becomes easier to send them for training with an understanding and a promise that they will add value when they return.
Leave the rest to time; all of us are dispensable, and assuming to be indispensable is like making a trough in water and expecting it to stay.
Good luck!
Regards, Nalina R. Trainer and OD Consultant
From India, Tiruppur
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Sometimes it is not possible to settle issues directly on a one-to-one basis. Therefore, I suggest that you conduct an informal inquiry to satisfy yourself that the complaint against the Head of Department (HOD) is substantial. Following that, you should approach the CEO in confidence, apprise him of the entire situation, and seek his guidance. I am confident that this approach will help resolve the matter.
Regards,
S.K. Johri
From India, Delhi
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Regards,
S.K. Johri
From India, Delhi
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Mr. Johri has advised a practical solution. Trying to explore the possibility of transferring the cousin trainee engineer will not bear any fruit as you will not get the concurrence of the HOD. Hence, meet the CEO and apprise the situation. You, as the HR representative, can do this. Thereby, you can alleviate the further frustration of the other two trainee engineers.
Thanks.
Regards
From India, Aizawl
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Thanks.
Regards
From India, Aizawl
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