Hello,
Here is the situation I have: I have a HR manager reporting to me who heads HR for a group of about 150 engineers. She is perfect for the job in many ways - she is precise, methodical, process oriented, good communication skills, can handle tough people etc.
She does an excellent job in "managing up" (essentially me and my boss) - she is very polite, respectful, responsive, supportive, proactive etc. But the employees dont like her much. The general feedback I am getting is that she is not very approachable, not very friendly and sometimes can get tough if she feels the employees are being a little difficult. The situation that this is creating is that employees dont feel like going to her with their problems or HR related questions. They dont feel she will empathize with them, but will simply walk the company line precisely. I want her to be more supportive of the employees.
She is a very effective HR manager otherwise. This is a sensitive topic and I am not sure how she would handle it if I gave her the feedback about how the employees feel about her. How I would gently give her the feedback, and how would I get to change her behavior.
Any ideas on what I can do?
thank you
Gowri
Use DISC
Hi Gowri,
My guess, based on what you've said, is that her DISC profile is high C and/or high D. In other words she's focused on tasks and results rather than people and relationships. It's worth listening to some of the disc podcasts to see if this is true, including http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/02/improve-your-feedback. That particular podcast explains how to tailor your feedback according to her disc profile. For example, if she is high C, it's worth focusing on how her behaviour is not the most effective for the job. I wouldn't say to her that people don't like her. Perhaps you could say that people don't find it easy to approach her.
You may need to explain that while she's doing a great job of representing management to the employees, the job also includes representing the employees to management. That is, you / management need someone who knows what people are thinking and feeling. That her role is to be someone who the employees know and trust well enough to approach with problems. I'm a high C/D, and if my boss were to tell me that a key part of my job is purely to build relationships, not just to deliver stuff, and why that helps me be more effective, I'd listen. My guess is that she's simply not prioritizing her relationships with employees at the moment, and if she put some time into it, she could be as effective with them as she is with you.
You might want to set some specific tasks / objectives around this. For example, having lunch with different employees each week. Getting out to visit employees she's not co-located with. That sort of thing. And getting her to listen to the disc podcasts could be useful, too.
Good luck,
S.
thank you
Hi Stringl,
Thank you for the comment. I definitely got some insights into what I could do.
-Gowri