Q & A

Dissatisfied Boss

Please help me what to do with my subordinate whom I do not like very much and I think that the same case is on the other side. He does not mix up with all the members and have conflicts with a few of them. I tell you that he does his work honestly and never found that he is cheating in anyway.

Reply

We don’t know how you have reached to this conclusion that your subordinate does not like. Did he say so or it’s your own assumption?

If you think that he dislikes you and you developed the similar feelings for him then the best way is try to be bit more friendly with him. This will give you an opportunity to find out whether or not he dislikes you. You will never find out underlying reasons of dislikeness unless you talk to him.  Appreciate his work. May be you are giving undue importance to others suggestions

Think also about the underlying reasons as to why you dislike him, especially when he is working hard. Sometimes, human beings start disliking others without genuine reasons or too much believe on other people comments. Rely more on your own experience with him.

You must appreciate that people are of different nature and one should not expect same behavior from everyone. If he is not mixing up with everyone, it is not a big problem if work is not suffered. Yes, conflicts between peers are inevitable. Being a boss in conflicting situation, you should make up your mind on the basis of facts then your own likeness and dislikeness, it will enhance your integrity as a boss among all your subordinates.

We appreciate that you have acknowledged his honesty and sincerity. Don’t be afraid in showing it him. This will help in reducing dislikeness for each other.

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Want a Change

I have been working in a company more than 10 years and now I feel tired to go to office. I feel that I am not growing here. At the same time, I am scared to change a company. What do you suggest?

Reply

We are human being and do get fed-up with monotony. Are there any specific reasons that you feel tired and bored to go to the job? If this is the case then think about how to handle those specific reasons.

However, there is no harm in changing your company if you could find a job that you like. Yes, change carries some uncertainty and anxiety but one should not be sacred because of these reasons. Take it a challenge or an opportunity to meeting new people learning new skills. You can also do before joining the company that you pay one or two visits and try to understand culture of the organization. Get as much as possible knowledge about the working style of the firm, so you feel more comfortable once you join the company.    

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Employees Dissatisfaction

I'm sending this email from Dubai. My company salary package and other facilities are quite good comparing the market but still level of satisfaction is not very high. My question is why it is so?

Reply

Monetary benefits are essential but not the sole source of increasing level of satisfaction. Your company must investigate dealings of the bosses with their subordinates. Many employees are dissatisfied with the company because they are not happy with their immediate bosses.

Market Share

We are operating in Qatar. We are not short of financial resources but still not taking the market share as much as we should, why do you suggest? Director Sales

 Reply

Hello Director Sales

Many companies face this kind of problems that they have ample financial resources but still not gaining market share much as they should. This is the point where external consultants could be more useful than internal middle and senior mangers.

To handle the problem that you are facing, we suggest listen to your people. Listen to what front-line staff are saying about customers’ needs and market demands. Let them speak without fear even it is contrary to your views and mind-set. Give confidence to your line mangers and operating level staff that you listen to their suggestions and their views are not meeting the deaf ears. Avoid saying or portraying , "you know it" or "we tried it", it discourages.

 

Interview employees whom you have hired 3-6 months ago. New employees are good source of finding out pitfalls of your strategy. They are still fresh and can identify problems that old pals could not.

Perhaps customer survey will be another good idea to start with. You must carefully design the survey.

 

Remember more communication and more dialogue helps in developing organization and bringing corporate culture in line with corporate strategy.

 

Human Resources Vs. Profit

The current MD has taken charge of the company a year ago. He appeared to be very friendly in the beginning but later he became famous as “hypocrite.”  The reason was his actual actions and decisions that he has taken so far. He has been sending memorandums and emails that irritates most of the junior and senior position holder.  He has turned employees crazy by complaining that level of productivity and quality is not very high comparing to the given resources. His all major decisions negatively affected on the  privileges of the employees. Consequently, employees’ anxiety and turnover has increased; however profit is same as before. My question is, if Human Resource is so important why has profit not decreased? The other question is if a firm is making profits why should it care for people?

Reply

Your question is very interesting. You have not mentioned the country where your firm is operating; nor mentioned size and age of the firm and industry in which it is operating.

 

We assume that it is a well established firm so  it is too early to see negative financial effects.  It takes longer time to experience negative financial outcomes in a monopoly or state owned company.  In our opinion, if the situation persists for a longer period in your firm, level of productivity, quality and revenue will go down. As you have mentioned, anxiety and employee turnover have increased so sooner or later you would feel repercussions of old command and control strategy of your MD on the firms' revenue. Your MD might not be able to run organization with the dissatisfied employees in the long run .  From your message, it is not clear if  level of productivity or quality have  increased with this authoritarian style of leadership. Profits is not the sole criterion to judge organization development. Profits did not decline, it could be because of employees privileges were taken away.  It is important to evaluate how total revenues are being affected by adopting strict command and control strategy.  Handling employees satisfactorily strongly demands good human and employee relations skills with a positive attitude towards teambuilding and employees' involvement in the system.

 

In response to your second question, it should be noted that contingency factors play role in short and long term. For example, a firm can survive even with employees exploitation for a longer period in a country where unemployment rate is very high and public laws are not implemented effectively.   Employee exploitation is neither good for the state economies nor for the firms.  Read our article on this topic Relationship between Quality and State Development.

Managing Absence from Work

Please suggest how to mange short term absence from work. Our company is operating in Saudi Arabia and have more or less 200 employees from different countries.

 

Reply

 

We suggest that communicate clearly company policy and procedures on short-term absence leave to all employees. Most of these leave are taken on the grounds of physical and mental illness. At the first instance, Return-to-Work-Interview helps a lot in reducing short absence. Don't be rude in such interviews but try to win commitment from the employees. We do not advise holding such interviews if leaves are 2 or less in the period of 6 months.

 

In severe cases, use disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence. These disciplinary procedures must be communicated to all employees. If your company do not have such procedures work on them and communicate them within the company. Having psychologist who can provide counseling to employees at the time of need also help in reducing stress and unnecessary sick leaves.    

 

Downgrading

We wish to downgrade some positions in our company. Due to legally signed contract, we cannot reduce salary of the existing employees but could not offer the same for new ones.

Reply

This is a sort of Red-Circling where existing employees are protected from monetary disadvantages. Red-circling could be sued if there is a equal pay legislation exists. However,  limiting the period of red-circling to a relatively short phasing-out period could be allowed in some countries We advice take legal advice in your country prior to introducing this move. Also consider social consequences within the organization as this can create the hostile climate of "we and they" between employees working on the same position.

 

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