Problems Handling Super Senior Employees

Dear Sir/Madam,

Recently, I have joined as an HR executive in an organization with NO HR department. Now, the issue is that the organization has been operating for the last 56 years, but they only have 30 employees, most of whom are above 50 years of age. Although I am trying to understand them, certain issues are becoming more complex. The most difficult one is the stubborn nature of the accountant, who doesn't want to give answers to anyone. I guess he feels as if I have taken his possessions like salary, compensation, and others. Recently, I prepared an employee detail form to be filled by everyone. He tore the form in two pieces.

Now, I am not sure how to make him comfortable with me as he will be the person I have to deal with on a regular basis. I seriously need help on this issue.

Regards,
Tanay Singh Kulshreshtha
HR Executive

Hi Tanay,

You have a very challenging situation but not difficult to resolve. With 50+ hot-headed senior personnel, you need to play "extreme cautious politics" to get your work done.

My quick suggestion:

1. Do not introduce anything new, such as what you did, without clarity on why you are doing so.

2. Ensure that all such important tasks are done only through your management support via email or formal instruction by the owner/Director to all employees, and then you can proceed accordingly.

3. Always make it clear that the requirement is from the Management and not from you.

4. Never show or pretend to be in charge and asking for details. Always behave as if you are a servant of the MD and are just following instructions.

5. Older heads are known to reject new changes as they see it as an attack on their jurisdiction. It will be your skills that determine how you can get them to do what you want for the betterment of the company.

6. Lastly, HR and Finance are old foes. So, don't expect a positive attitude from them. Key Performance Indicators for both departments are designed in opposition to each other. Ultimately, this benefits the business. Do your best in your role.

Good luck.

Ukmitra

Very well advised by a senior member. I would advise, please start interacting with each senior employee slowly and gradually. Give them the feeling and impression that you are also an employee and only following the instructions/directions of senior management as they do. Your department is being created by the wish of management for the sake of system and employee betterment. You and the department are a people service department. You can ask our senior management once to have an interaction with all along with you, to have their consent. It will require time to build up confidence and a level of acceptance for you from team members, but it is a possible way of dealing. Please don't lose confidence/temperament in any situation, be cool and tolerable with positive thinking. The situation will definitely change. All the very best. Thanks.

Great inputs from U.K. Mitra supplemented by HR@glance. It is a case of the problem of generation gap. Let us try to analyze the probable factors that precipitate this conflict as the understanding of a few more factors surrounding conflicts of two different generations may help you solve the problem amicably.

These old employees must have grown along with this organization and thus may feel, especially the accountant, that this organization has survived for 50 years without HR and consequently may look upon you as a resource that is not needed and try to be dismissive of any initiative which you make. The other perception that must be weighing on their minds, particularly the accountant, is the perception of threat. They must be viewing you as someone who will take their place in the near future as they are older and dispensable resources. Therefore, they try to counter it by trying to prove that you are dispensable but not they. These may be the mental blocks that you need to remove.

1) First, you need to realize that it needs a lot of patience in handling senior employees as they have die-hard habits and rigid views. But do not make a closed opinion that they are not open to change. They will welcome change once they are convinced that it helps them. Therefore, patience is the key here. Do not rush to change everything overnight. It may not happen because you need to embark on re-engineering a mindset.

2) If you harbor any feeling that these old employees have outdated knowledge and skills and are of no value to the organization, please get such perceptions out of your mind as they may reflect in your behavior without you being aware of it and may widen the gap between you and them and may hamper your efforts to build rapport with them. Old employees feel that they have given their sweat and blood to this organization and do not like a new hire to sit in judgment of their contributions.

3) You need to connect with them at a personal level. Go to them and acknowledge their contribution to this organization and tell them that you would value their knowledge and skills acquired through years of experience and that you are there to further assist them in their efforts. This will make them feel that you are not a threat but a strength to them and may tend to respond to your initiatives instead of reacting to them as the accountant did.

4) Therefore, communicate again and again with them and engage them in more face-to-face communication as far as possible at the initial stages of your rapport-building process rather than communicating with them through intercoms, SMSs, or email as the people of that generation may look upon these modern methods resorted to by a new hire much younger than their age as a sign of arrogance. Once you reach a comfortable level in communicating with them, you can slowly use modern means of communication with them.

5) Do not commit the mistake of complaining against them to the management about their behavior and attitude. Please remember that they are much closer to the management by virtue of their long association with the management and must have stood by the organization through good times and bad times, and the management must have invested their trust and faith in them more than in anyone else. That explains why they are continuing with the company for so many years. The management too may not like to hear any complaint about them and in all probability will ask you to manage the problem by yourself.

6) If you want to introduce any policy or format, first discuss with the management about the rationale and need to bring it and obtain management's nod for it first. Thereafter, suggest the management to take the senior employees also on board by arranging a meeting with them where their concerns, if any, will be addressed. This way, the senior employees feel that the new initiative has their stamp and tend to view it as a product of collective decision but not your unilateral decision while the management knows that it is the product of your wisdom.

Look at this challenge as an opportunity to build a critical skill of managing different generations, which has become a characteristic feature of modern-day workplaces and is much sought by the employers now as the modern workplaces have a mix of old employees, middle-aged, Generation-X, and Generation-Next. It is a key skill.

Hope this helps.

B. Saikumar

In-House HR & IR Advisor

Respected Seniors,

Thanks a lot for all of your very important suggestions.

a) I'll definitely keep the points in mind suggested by Mitra Sir. In fact, I have copied down every single suggestion and will start following it from today onward.

b) HR@glance, Sir. Thanks again for your support. Surely, I'll not lose my confidence as I know seniors like you are always there to support me.

c) Saikumar Sir, I am extremely thankful to you for providing me such detailed explanations, as every single point will help me to resolve the issues in the organization.

Thanks, seniors, once again. Always need your guidance and support.

Regards,
Tanay Singh Kulshreshtha
HR Executive