Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK.
This year has heralded a number of changes to Discuss HR, all of which I hope you approve of and are enjoying. No doubt one of the changes you will love is I will no longer write long winded introductions! So today’s post is by Susan Popoola. (Ed Scrivener)
After the “Battle”
The New Year is often seen as a time for new beginnings – a time for putting the past aside; forgiving those that have wronged us and starting over again – be it a work or at home. There are, however, people who struggle with this and one reason for this is that no one has acknowledged that they were “wronged” or really spoken to them about the situation. I believe this occurs as much within the workplace as it does socially.
Take the case of Alison. Alison was quite content with her job as Administrator, so when the Team Leader vacancy come up, she didn’t give it any thought at first. However when a number of her colleagues asked her whether she was going to apply, telling her that they believed that she would be great for the role she began to think about it. When she was commended for her work and asked if she was applying for the role by one of the Partners in the firm after a long day’s work she felt as if she had been endorsed for the position. She began to see herself in the role and she applied.
It was a tough selection process, but she was confident, she knew she was good as “did everyone else”. When Larry was appointed, Alison felt cheated and deceived. She watched everyone congratulate him and telling him how perfect he was perfect for the job. They mumbled at her and shuffled past her – uncomfortable not knowing what to say. “I could have done a much better job” she thought. These thoughts did not abate when she noticed the little mistakes that he made, which if we are to be honest are typical of anyone in a new job. This wasn’t helped though as Alison was never given any feedback to enable her to put things in context.
It was a bit different in the case of Dean. As nice as he was, nobody encouraged him to apply for the role of Project Manager – he simply didn’t have the right skillset. Even though no one had ever said anything to him, there were questions about his capability for his current role. “He was a nice, hardworking guy” and no one wanted to upset him, so they just worked around him and his capability issues. It was therefore a shock and a great disappointment to him not to have been made Project Manager. It’s six month’s back now, but in his ignorance, he is still nursing his hurt till today.
It was quite a different scenario with Jeffrey, but the hurt, rejection and feelings of betrayal were the same – if not worse. Even though as a single man, Jeffrey did not have any children – he loved them to bits. He therefore relished his job working with young people in a Care Home. He had worked faithfully with the home for 8 years. The children absolutely loved him and often came to him with problems that they did not share with other members of staff. At times he brought presents for the children – he saw them as family.
One day he had a misunderstanding with a colleague who he had never really got on with. The colleague reported the incident to Senior Management. In addition to other allegations made, it was alleged that he behaved inappropriately with the young people. He was immediately suspended (with pay). An investigation took place into the allegations. During his interview with the investigator, he was asked all sorts of horrible questions. He was so devastated by the thought that anyone would imagine that he could do such things to a child -he broke down weeping. The investigator uncomfortably said he was sorry that Jeffrey felt so upset – but these questions had to be asked. The conclusion of the investigator was that allegations were unfounded and Jeffrey was allowed to go back to his job.. No one really said anything much to him, except that it was good to have him back. One or two people added that they never stopped believing in him. There was, however, no formal counselling or discussion with him about what had taken place. As is often the case when allegations are made against an individual, the thinking was he had been cleared and therefore things could continue as normal. For Jeffrey as for many others who have had allegations made against them – it’s not the same though.
They’ve been through a period whereby there has been a cloud hanging over the head – some suspended like Jeffrey, whilst others are expected to continue their job as normal. Through the period of the investigation they often have no one that they feel able to talk to – they’ve found themselves questioning and doubting themselves. Their integrity has been questioned. They come back to work – no one apologises to them and the issues are rarely discussed – at least not from the perspective of the individual that has been accused, but rather from the perspective of making things work better and preventing similar problems from re-occurring.
In HR, we’ve been speaking a lot about employee engagement in recent years. I believe that the above exemplify some of the reasons why good, hard working employees may at times become disengaged. A little consideration, open dialogue and support in such situations could, however, make a world of difference to the individuals both as human beings and as employees.
Susan Popoola 10th January 2013
Read Susan’s back catalogue for 2012 here
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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK. Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.
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