HR Employees

Open1

Do you any of you find the following to be a violation of HR confidentiality:

Discussing the necessary aspects of a background check for a new employee in a newly created job in front of an hourly, non-HR employee?

Disclosing in front of employees at large that a boyfriend broke up with someone when the information was disclosed for necessary purposes in the HR office and it was stated 3X during the conversation this information was confidential?

Handing out a paycheck to an employee who'd just received a raise, and declaring in front of his co-workers that you wanted to see the look on his face when he saw how much the raise was?

I've been coaching and counseling her for 9 months. She did great during the first 3 months when I was at her side almost every minute to train her while bringing in 60 new employees. She is exempt, well-compensated and has a BS degree in HR. Her attendance is good. I hired her - she had a spark in her eye, had an anxiousness to please, and a well-documented background in our business and education to boot. I must suck as a supervisor.

I finally felt I had to write her up regarding confidentiality issues because "talking" to her was not successful. Did I fly off the handle? She's totally tee'd off at me now, doing the bare minimum, her attention to detail is average and now sinking, and I recently begged in har-de-har-har for H'ween suggestions to spark some morale, but I feel awful. For her, for the company, and for me. (Sob sniff, I'm working 60+ hours per week...hope you have plenty of hankies...).

Seriously, I've helped supervisors make these decisions for years. But when it comes to me it seems I'm a total wuss.

Irie

I'm sorry to hear of your problem employee. If it's any consolation (and I'm sure it won't be) our V.P. of Ops. does this. You'd think he would know better wouldn't you? I just want to scream at him when he opens his mouth but he's the boss so I can't really do much.

The only recourse for you is to keep writing her up. Maybe she will be so unhappy after awhile that she'll quit. Good luck.

ray a

I wouldn't just keep writing her up hoping she'd quit, I'd treat her like any other ee and follow our disciplinary process all the way to termination if necessary. She's a lawsuit waiting to happen based on what you've said.

Paul in Cannon Beach

Her behavior required some response. Her reaction to you being written up is out of line. She is sulking. I don't think you can let this go on further.

If she wants to be in HR she will have to learn how to communicate in an appropriate, confidential way. You are privy to so much information on a daily basis.

She will also need to learn how to take constructive feedback.

If she can't, there isn't much you can do for her.

WT

Some employees really need a straight up approach. Call her in and talk to her. Tell her it is obvious that she is unhappy. However, the reason for this is her job performance. Tell her that she must decide whether she wants to continue working for you or not. In HR confidentiality is everything. Employees must believe they can come in and talk about very confidential issues. You cannot let her ruin that as confidentiality is the coin by which HR is measured. Explain that she must learn to do things your way and keep many things to herself or she must find employment elsewhere.

Open1

I have spoken to her many times but she just doesn't get it. And a VP who doesn't get it is even scarier!

She's not sulking too badly now. She gave me a card and a $20 gift cert for bosses day.

But her job is hanging by a thread. IMHO, one write-up is all it should take regarding confidentiality.

Thanks for helping me with the "litmus" test on confidentiality!

Paul in Cannon Beach

You are right. One conversation should have been all you needed. This employee needs to understand you are trying to HELP her.

Unless she gets a emergency maturity injection, its probably just a matter of time before the next incident.

p.s. Its bosses day? Hmmm...

Toto

Hadn’t read this thread when I first replied. She’s a VP??? Perhaps when you meet with her you could say “I wouldn’t be an effective boss (she may stop listening if you use the word “good”) if I didn’t point out the seriousness of this...” then let her do most of the talking just asking questions like a behavioral event interview. Maybe that can give you insight if she is worth much more investment. And remember, the cost to your HR dept in trust may be higher then replacing her with someone without her knowledge or education.

WT

Do you have the power and authority to fire this employee? If so, you should probably do so sooner rather than later. I have put off this chore in the past, to my sorrow. It always hurts more, costs more, aggravates more, disrupts more, and damages the organization more when you put off a termination that you believe is inevitable anyway. Not only is it harder to let a longer term employee go but also the mistakes they make and problems they cause multiply while you get up your nerve to terminate.

Toto

Marie,
I agree with the other posts. This EE is not only undermining trust in herself as an HR professional but also you and your department. You were correct to write her up and if she is now sulking, their suggestion to call her in seems to be the next step. If she can’t understand the trust issue with confidentiality she needs another career (but tell her most professions require some level of confidentiality).

You said the EE “had an anxiousness to please”. Perhaps, that is why she runs off at the mouth in the misguided notion to please because co-workers are listening. Whatever her reason, the bottom line is she needs to stop NOW but after 9 months it probably won’t happen. If you do term, think of it as a beneficial learning experience for her so it won’t be a total loss. Most of us at some time have invested more then we should trying to salvage a bad hire.

I’ve read your advise to others in the forum and think you’ve always been professional and knowledgeable so try not to beat yourself up too much on this. Think how you would advise a supv that came to you with this problem then do that.

Best of luck and let us know how it eventually turns out.

System

You are not over-reacting. Confidentiality is one of THE most important aspects of HR. Credibility takes years to build....but only seconds to destroy.

She needs to never forget that.

Rockie

Anytime I hire someone for Human Resources, I give them "the talk". I state that regardless how good they are at their position, if they can't keep their mouth shut about confidential issues,they can't work for me. I make it clear that this is non-negotiable and the first time I hear about a breach of confidence that came from then, they go! I haven't had issues so far!

PS I don't put up with "sulking".

Raymond SPHR

You posed several questions & I will take the liberty to pose several replies.

1. Yes it is both incorrect/unprofessional to discuss ANY kind of confidential HR info to anyone with a need to know. Period! That was your first question.

2. Same answer for question number 2.

3. Simply silly, unwarranted, not smart and borderline stupid thing to do. Question 3/incident.

Frankly, I am not impressed with her background at all based on such behavior. This kind of HR person is a loaded cannon and big trouble looms on the horizon.

Her actions before and after you talked to her tell me a lot. And none of it is flattering.

As for you as a supervisor, I think you know what your responsibilities are. If not post something to that affect and we will offer help there.

Your "shining HR" employee is anything but! Based on what you are saying her time, were she my employee, would be limited and getting more limited daily. I didn't read any of the other posts so maybe something I am missing here??

Raymond

neveradull

My opinion, is you know what you need to do. Violation of confidentiality is grounds for termination where I work. I have found that all the education in the world doesn't make up for common sense. With a degree in HR she should be well aware of the potential ramifications. Give her the opportunity to excell elsewhere (hopefully for a competitor)!

mwild31

Hi Open1

Yeah, I think you probably did fly off the handle - unless - you addressed her very directly after the first incident & told her what she did wrong and that if it happened again, you would begin disciplinary action. My guess is that you weren't that direct with your coaching or didn't follow through immediately when there was another indiscretion on her part. We always tell supervisors that when discipline is meted out - it shouldn't come as a surprise to the employee - sounds like it surprised her. So, suck it up, we all make mistakes & learn from this situation to become more direct when it comes to discipline & when addressing serious issues with subordinates, documenting the issues in a "written" verbal warning.

Caroliso

This is such a tender topic, and I sympathize. I was horrified to read the indiscretions, but at the same time it takes someone with a lot of discipline to work in HR, and not everyone is cut out for it. I've been in many situations where gossip and speculation are circulating in the conversation, and I have to play dumb and resist the temptation to agree or corroborate because I heard the facts in a confidential conversation.

You've heard enough to know you were on the right track with your warning, but I found myself wondering what in the world her response was when you outlined the specific occurances. Did she really think this was not divulging confidences? Did she dispute what you heard her say?

I'm afraid you'd better steel yourself for the "this isn't working out" conversation. This will resurface, it's just a matter of time. Good luck.

Caroliso

One other comment I wanted to make -- this is why it is so difficult to take advantage of part time help from other staff members in my organization. Every now and then I know of someone who could use the hours, and I have the money and could use the help, but it's hard to carve out very much non-confidential work in our HR department. Even if I consider the person a good worker, and generally trustworthy, I'm not ready to give them ongoing access to confidential files and conversations about employee status.