The D Theory

It’s Employee Relations season, it seems.  Not sure if it is the weather with everyone being cooped up for too long, unrealistic expectations of work or good old-fashioned politics, but wow!  I have checked in with a few HR friends and they are seeing the same thing.  What is it with ER issues?  Is there a unifying factor that ties problems together?  After careful consideration, I have come up with a theory.

The theory, and solution are tied together.  When you speak with HR pros, and get them out of their uptight and risk-adverse environment they will most likely point to one factor more often than not.  The factor they will say, far more articulate and politically correct than I am about to is this – someone is acting like a dick.  Therefore, the solution to reduced ER issues is this – don’t be a dick.

One example of this in practice came across my desk last week.  A guy came to me complaining about his director.  The director was berating his direct report, a project manager over a project.   What was mostly bothering the guy was that his director wouldn’t even engage in a conversation about the project, and had no idea what was really happening.  In reality, the project was running on life support because executive sponsorship and support had evaporated.  The project manager’s business partner was complaining about the overall project implosion, and not his ability to manage.  The director missed that key point, and immediately jumped on the project manager for ineptitude.  The real ineptitude was with the director.

A simple question from the director to his project manager could have diffused a mess.  “Tell me about your project.  How is it going?”  Instead, the director pulled the, “I’m the boss!” card as opposed to being something closer to a human being.  A five minute conversation.  Communication.  Now, the project manager is unloading a year’s worth of pent up frustration and now we have a serious issue.  Hostile workplace environment, investigations, coaching sessions, additional manager training, etc.  A lot of distress along with a lot of wasted time because somebody was being a dick.

So, back to the solution – how do we do that?  Well, a few simple suggestions for the di.., uh, offender:

• Put your ego aside.  You’re not as great as you think you are.
• Start with the assumption that your team are good, and know what they are doing until proven otherwise.
• Ask questions in an open and non-accusatory way.
• Think before you decide to offer a half-formed opinion.
• Ask for solutions or input.  Your ideas are not necessarily the best ones.
• Be nice.

This isn’t a “can’t we all just get along?” kind of thing.  It’s a business thing.  Even if an ER complaint never makes it to litigation or settlement, the time and expense alone is major drain.  The employee engagement issues are the long-term killers.  If people don’t feel valued, and are afraid then creativity and innovation suffer.  Higher productivity and greater ROI are more elusive.

We will never get rid of ER concerns; it’s human nature to be unsettled and looking for threats.  Or, perceived threats.  If we can somehow learn to think beyond the org chart, beyond personal ambition at all costs and think about what is best for the company, then many complaints and issues would go away.  What’s the solution?  You know.