Chain of Command

SWilkie

What is the proper change of commnad for your employees?

I find that employees would rather come to HR than go to their Supervisor.

Do you mind sharing how you communicate to your employees that they should use the proper chain of command before running to HR every time there is a problems?

WT

Be careful you do not enable both supervisors and employees in running to Human Resources. By this, I mean that often we make tough decisions and say no in Human Resources. Supervisors know policy and are perfectly capable of saying no as well. If they are permitted to shift unpleasant tasks to you, they will then be the perpetual good guy. In the same way, if employees believe they might get more by going to you, they will continue to do so. Here the "nicer" you are to all parties, the more work and aggravation you will make for yourself.

Good luck.

Parabeagle

Our chain of command is very clear - go to your supervisor first, if your supervisor is the problem go to his supervisor, etc. Only if the situation can't be resolved at the lowest level possible is HR involved. This was a tough lesson for our people to learn when I came here. Since this company had never had an HR function before, I was (apparently) talked up by everyone as the Resolver of Problems (yeah, right!). Consequently, the line employees began to think of me as sort of a shop steward and came to me with every little gripe they had. Now, however, the supervisors are much more empowered and sometimes will even physically pick up a copy of the policy book and look up the answer to a subordinate's question. Made my life easier.

Good luck.

System

One employee pulled me into a meeting with him and told me that since I was the HR/legal person in the company I should advise him on how to buy a car.
Probably better money in that field.

Gillian

In the university setting the chain of command concept can be a little fluid. There is one dean, a former emergency room doctor, who is very much into "chain of command" and does not want employees to go near HR. That is fine with me so long as the problems get resolved in the proper way. He and I finally reached an understanding that I am not a threat to his control. We reached that point when he finally understood the value of our role as a safety valve - a place for people to go if they absolutely have to go outside the chain and that that is better than having an issue explode.

Other than this, employees know that they can come to see me but are used to being referred back to their supervisor as the best way to resolve issues. The supervisors who know this don't have a problem with it, I guess because they know what advice I will give. I am probably more open to employee visits to HR as a reaction to past practice.