Thursday, June 11, 2009

Joys of working in HR

There is a lady here at work who we hired in January this year. As I work in HR, I was instrumental in her joining our organisation and with her knowledge and experience, she was the perfect candidate for a very senior role in the department. Unfortunately this appointment has turned into a disaster off dynamic proportions. From day one, there has been one issue after another.

Lets call her Marsha. Marsha is about 52 years old but carries on more like 82. The day she arrived and was shown to her office, she couldn't understand why she didn't have a corner office with a view of the highway outside, than she wanted to know why she couldn't have a PA, than she totally gave us the runaround regarding her relocation as the company paid for her to come up to Jhb from CT. These little logistical issues were minor compared to the drama that unfolded on their first trip overseas.

Marsha has no sense of urgency and goes about the day in a daze. All her knowledge and experience counts for nothing because she wants to do her own thing and unfortunately in a corporate environment there are protocols and processes which cannot be challenged. She never meets deadlines and infact does not know what she is doing.

As all these dramas unfolded, HR were called in and we agreed to begin the performance management process. In this way her work would be closely monitored, timelines given to improve and interventions put in place to get her up to speed. Unfortunately this process instead of helping Marsha to get up to speed has proved to be quite painful. All the interventions like training that we have provided to her, she has not attended.

So the situation has gotten so bad that the entire matter has now been referred to our Employee Relations dept to investigate the matter. Marsha in question slanders anyone who she can slander. She told the MD of her area that I as the HR person is biased against her and in the performance management discussions I take sides. She tells me that I am the only person in the organization that understands what is happening to her and even after all this crap we must remain friends. She told my boss that I made her an offer where she can resign and we will offer her a 3 month settlement and she told the HR director yesterday that when all this came to light I told her not to worry her line manager is a drama queen. AS IF???

I was so annoyed yesterday and obviously even though my boss didn't sound like she believed her, it still remains a he said / she said scenario. I cannot get over the gall off this woman and if it should proceed to a disciplinary enquiry, which I am sure it will, all this nonsense will come out. I know I did nothing wrong but I can't understand how a person at this level of seniority can behave in this manner.

Aah the joys of Human Resources.....

2 comments:

Edge Of Where said...

Some people are just crazy... they manipulate their way through life. The knowledge and experience they profess to have is usually worthless. I remember interviewing a marking manager at my previous company. She said the right things and made the right noises but there was just something about her that didnt sit well with me. The MD decided to go against my recomendation and hired the lady. 4 months later he had to get rid of her and ended up paying her a severance package of nearl R500000.

Zee said...

Ouch. Unfortunately we were so wowed by this lady that we thought her skills and knowledge would be so beneficial. Unfortunately this has just proven to be so not the case and just because someone talks the talk doesn't mean that they can actually do and execute.

This lady makes it pretty clear that she wants money. She has referred everything to her lawyer even when her boss asks her why stuff hasn't been done. I cant believe how scheming and manipulative she is being but you right some people go through life like that.....

Thanks for the messgae :)