📣 Maleea Meden, HR Director @ World Centric:
If they're salaried, then the COO's response and approach seems reasonable, and I would work towards promoting a similar culture with the rest of the team. Is there a real business reason for the rules to exist? If there is not, then the rule is arbitrary and you'll never be able to attract and retain top performers if performance is measured by hours at a desk vs. achievement of deliverables.
📣 Christine McCallum-Randalls, Director of People @ Test Double:
Yuck! No one likes dealing with multiple complaints. It's so frustrating when leadership won't back you up. Depending on what the root of the issue is, you may be able to get the COO to pay attention and improve team morale.
Is the issue that this person gets their own special time policy and everyone else has to follow another time policy? Is it that the policy is the same for all but others are following a cultural norm? Or is the issue that this person is underperforming?
If the issue is that they get their own set of time policies, why? Is there an accommodation in place? Is it nepotism? Finding out will help you decide on your next course of action.
If the issue is that there's a cultural norm this person isn't following, I would reintroduce the actual policy with the broader team. They will probably appreciate the freedom that comes with understanding the policy.
If the issue is that this person is underperforming, I would deal with that. The COO himself implied that he WILL care if the issue is performance.
Best of luck!
📣 Hannah Hartley, CHRO, Chief HR Officer @ BRASS, Inc:
I have so many questions and also deep empathy for your (and everyone else's) frustration because this would drive me crazy too! It's okay to be strict on working hours and it's okay to be relaxed about working hours, inconsistency however - never cool.
Is the policy/employee handbook written to clearly define a) the schedule of the position and/or b) the definition of full-time employment? Does this person report their time anywhere, like a timesheet or a punch-in system?
I ask both of these questions because first and foremost, if they're breaking a policy, your COO can't argue with that (at least, not in good faith lol). If they're openly defying a policy that stipulates their working hours or the hours they need to fulfill to be classified as a full-time employee (and they aren't meeting that), you *have* to point out that hypocrisy there.
I would include an echo of the varying team members' frustrations in that convo. This is also where your documentation will come so in handy - if there is a timesheet or some other report of the time this person is working, take that to your COO to show exactly how inconsistent this person's attendance/arrival is. The more time you can show the inconsistency, the better. Don't bring one bi-weekly report, bring 3-6 months worth of documentation. OR, if there is a way to show this person is working less than the defined hours for their employment classification (i.e. they're constantly working 32 hours and it should be 40), you can show your COO the inconsistency that way.
And if your COO STILL doesn't care, eventually... you have to let the cookie crumble, unfortunately. Because when they start losing team members because the rules apply to some and not others, the work will NOT get done, I can assure you that.
Sorry you're dealing with this :/
This is so frustrating all around!
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