Julia Rowan answers your management, leadership and team development questions.
Question
I work in HR in a large organisation. We put great store in supporting managers to select the best talent with job descriptions, interviews, onboarding, managing probation and so on. We stress the importance of feedback and tackle any issues that arise during probation. We often hear that everything is fine. Then, when things go wrong, managers call on us to sort out issues that were known about during probation. We have tried to tackle the issue in many ways, but the problem continues.
Answer
It is tough to work in HR. HR straddles the challenging divide between ensuring compliance—managing systems, procedures and policies to meet legal and organisational standards—and curating the culture that enables leaders to create an engaging, inclusive and high-performing environment.
This dual responsibility requires HR to act as both the guardians of organisational integrity and the architects of a thriving workplace culture. Under pressure, compliance almost always wins.
The question you have shared is very common, and there are several issues at play.
First, the need to urgently ‘fill a gap’ caused by an impending departure or increased workload may take precedence over finding the right fit.
Second, managers often wish to emphasise the positive and worry that developmental feedback will demotivate their team.
They might not have established, whether at the interview or during induction, that sharing feedback is a normal practice. Under pressure, they may hesitate, hint or hope that instances of poor performance do not reoccur.
Third, managers often lack the language to address subtle issues, such as high performance paired with poor behaviour (or vice versa), and they fear they do not possess sufficient ‘evidence’ to support any concerns they have. The plethora of policies, procedures and laws surrounding these issues can be daunting.
Most importantly, managers often believe they are accountable for their team’s performance and that underperformance reflects poorly on them. This perception often drives them, leading them to overlook or conceal issues, even rejecting offers of assistance.
HR can help managers realise that nobody can ‘own’ the performance of another person—people own their own performance.
However, the manager owns the responsibility for setting appropriate goals, creating the right environment, sharing positive and developmental feedback and running great meetings.
HR should assist managers in introducing the topic of feedback during both the interview and induction. This creates an expectation in the new hire that they will receive feedback, making it easier for the manager to access this space.
My advice to you is to maintain close communication with managers during probation and avoid depending solely on the probation forms/procedure. Engage with managers about their new hires and reflect on the interview: Are the promised skills evident? What positive feedback has the manager provided to the new hire? What developmental areas are being worked on? Is the new hire the right fit?
It may be smart for the senior manager to conduct this process with the hiring manager, as it predominantly concerns the organisational culture, which should be championed by senior leadership.
Encouraging senior leadership to fulfil their ongoing role as shapers of organisational culture can be a challenge for HR, requiring consistent advocacy, a clear vision and deep commitment to the cause.
If you read one thing...
Flourishing: How to achieve a deeper sense of well-being, meaning and purpose—even when facing adversity by Dr Maureen Gaffney. This book helps individuals to build confidence and self-awareness, which is very helpful for leaders.
Julia Rowan is Principal Consultant with Performance Matters Ltd, a leadership and team development consultancy. To send a question to Julia, email julia@performancematters.ie.
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