HR’s Christmas Postbag!
By Niamh Kelly
2019-12-02
HR’s Christmas Postbag!
‘Twas the day before the Christmas break.. and all through the office, not a creature was stirring expect for the poor beleaguered HR professional, dealing with last minute emails…
“Dear HR
One of my team has come to me in a terrible state. He wants to be a team player, but the others laugh and call him names (including making personal references to his appearance) and won’t let him join in any of their games and team activities. When I’ve talked to them, they say ‘It’s only a bit of banter’ and ‘what’s my problem’?! I’m at my wits end.. what should I do?
Santa”
Dear Santa
Clearly the team member doesn’t feel that the remarks are ‘banter’, as he has come to you quite upset! We want to avoid a formal grievance here so we need to try and address this quickly. My advice would be to sit the team down (including the individual) and say that you have noticed that the team aren’t gelling as you had hoped and so you’d like to shake things up a bit.
Is there a piece of project work that you could ask this individual to lead on? Something important that would give him some kudos within the team? This could be a bit of a ‘make or break’ situation – if he performs well and brings the team with him, then their attitude could change… if not, then we’d need to start looking at a more formal process in the New Year.
The key here is to ensure you have coached this individual, giving him praise and constructive feedback on his performance. Don’t leave him to flounder; make sure you stay in the driving seat, but allow him to lead. Come back to me after Christmas and let me know how it goes.
Good luck!
“Dear HR
Our office wants to do a ‘Secret Santa’ and make the office more Christmassy, but one of my team is causing problems already. She keeps making comments such as she’s like to see a ‘sable under the tree’ or a ‘yacht’, not to mention ‘decorations from Tiffany’s’. This has caused real issues in the office from team members who have complained about the potential use of ‘fur’; to those who were expecting we’d decorate with tinsel from the local market! Help.. what should I do?
Bay-Bee Robin”
Dear Bay-Bee
A Secret Santa scheme is great fun, but it’s all about setting expectations and making sure that everyone knows that it is optional.
So I’d recommend 3 things: (1) set a maximum price limit for any gift – ask for suggestions.. but say something like ‘does between £2 and £5 sound fair’? so that everyone who wants to, can afford to take part. (2) Don’t let people swap names to buy presents for – that makes sure there is no favouritism and the system is fair and (3) remind the team that presents should be appropriate to the workplace and in line with our policies regarding expected behaviour and others traditions/beliefs.
Enjoy!
“Dear HR
We’ve got a real issue .... Our main delivery driver is normally a jolly sort of guy, but this time of the year he goes a little overboard. Our customers like to reward him with snacks and the occasional drink; and we’re worried that he is over imbibing.
You’ll recall that last year there was the whole issue where he got stuck during the delivery run and almost ran someone over. So we put in place a performance improvement plan for him in January… any thoughts on what we should do next?
Gary- Head of Elf & Safety”
Dear Gary
Yes, I do recall this serious “Elf and safety matter”, and if I remember correctly, he ended up with a bad cold after being stuck out all night, didn’t he? So I agree, we do need to deal with this now, before things get out of hand this year. We need to remember that if something does happen, we might be held ‘vicariously liable’.
Why not have a final review, revisiting some of the performance metrics you put in place. And remind him of the standards of behaviour expected from all our colleagues; so no drinking and driving for example!
It can be difficult to refuse gifts and hospitality from customers, so talk to him now about how he might be able to ‘graciously refuse’ without causing offence. (We don’t want a repeat of that awkward moment with G. Rinch from shipping and Ms Cindy Lou the customer, last year!)
I’m putting my ‘out of office’ on now – so to you and all your Elves, Wassail!!
About the author:
© Níamh Kelly – Director of The HR Dept Shropshire – is an award winning HR professional with over 25 years HR experience at a Senior level in the corporate, public and voluntary sector. Working with SMEs across the County, The HR Dept – Shropshire has rapidly developed a very strong client base of local companies. So if you have a question about Recruitment & Right to Work; to Resolving Problems; to Redundancy… she’s here to help you!