Samantha Sales eases your workplace exasperations
I want to help a friend in distress
We are an organisation of around 20 staff members, and an individual in one of our teams who I am friendly with outside work has told me she has started to feel bullied by her line manager. I know that if the situation is not resolved she will leave (last Sunday she was in tears at the thought of coming in to work). Her manager publicly points out any errors she makes, has called her an “arse-licker” in front of others, and accused her of swindling money (she later claimed it was a joke). Other members of staff suggest the manager’s problems may be related to the fact the staff member is a young, popular female. She is vehement she does not wish to make a complaint as this would strain the relationship further, but doing nothing would be detrimental to everyone.
Let’s leave the friendship bit to one side for a moment. If a member of staff you weren’t familiar with brought this sort of concern to you, I’m sure you’d be on it like a shot, whether or not they wanted to take things further. This manager needs to be challenged about her actions, whether through an informal conversation or a process of mediation.
That’s not to say, however, that she is automatically guilty of bullying. You’re too close to be sure. You have heard one side of the story from somebody you have a relationship with, and even though office chatter seems to support her view, you cannot know this isn’t a misunderstanding or an exaggeration of a relatively innocent situation. The manager must be given a chance to respond: I know of organisations where a person was accused of bullying and they were exited without being able to state their point of view, and the reverse, where the accuser was exited without proper handling of the case; in both situations it didn’t leave a good taste.
It will be hard for you to intervene given your personal circumstances, so if you have an HR colleague – perhaps not, given the size of the business – you could ask them to handle the matter. Alternatively, encourage those people who have witnessed the manager’s behaviour to get together and bring a complaint to someone senior. This will have the effect of depersonalising your friend’s involvement and keeping you out of the process. Your friend should also keep a record of any incidents, as a precursor to any formal proceedings.
There are those who say HR professionals should never find themselves in this situation, of course, but that’s simply impractical and unnatural. Every organisation should encourage people to make friends: it’s a good measure of engagement, and deepens the bonds within the business. HR can be lonely enough without isolating ourselves. Everyone needs someone to download to, and that can’t always be an HR colleague.
Why won’t they stump up for L&D?
I’m the head of HR in a consultancy business employing 340 people. We have no dedicated L&D function (it’s part of my role) but we do have a training manager, who is under-employed. There are plenty of staff and managers who want training, but most of the divisional MDs refuse to pay for the resource out of their budgets. I’ve asked for a one-off annual contribution from each division as an alternative to a pay-as-you-go system, but that is even less popular. Some staff are only getting basic compliance training when they want and need much more. What do I do?
On one level, the answer to your problem could be simple. You have a training manager (who is a dedicated L&D function, by the way) doing very little: you could reduce their hours or move them elsewhere in the business and put the money into training provision.
However, that doesn’t deal with the bigger issue. I hope your company isn’t ambitious, because if you don’t work on your skills you won’t develop. And if the MDs who are so opposed to training think they are saving money, your task is to show them they will soon be losing it hand over fist and will slip behind the market by failing to hold onto talent.
Demonstrating the ROI of training isn’t always straightforward, but you can start building a case. There are clear links between learning, talent attraction and retention. Development opportunities form a crucial part of the total reward package: have you looked at this and how you compare to the market?
By examining performance reviews and the CVs of people coming into the business, as well as holding conversations with managers, you will soon gain an idea of the sort of skills you have. You can map this against the wider business strategy and the capabilities you require to move forward. Build a compelling case and find the right senior sponsor to champion it, and I hold every hope you can change things for the better.
Samantha Sales is managing director of Cambridge Interim HR and is a former HR director of a FTSE 100 company with extensive HR and OD experience. Her replies are written in a personal capacity and do not reflect the views of People Management or the CIPD, nor are they a substitute for professional legal advice.
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