Need great, tactful comment

Andrea · September 2003

I am trying to come up with a tactful comment to a question that I believe will be posed at a forum tomorrow.

We have an employee who comes with a list of questions to each President's Forum (a meeting where the President addresses all employees as to the company outlook, etc.) I have heard through the grapevine that he plans to ask about another employees job and salary. Somehow, he believes that this employee has been promoted and makes a lot of money, neither of which is true. I have no idea where he heard this or why he feels it is important to bring up. (For some reason he has a beef with this employee.)

I feel that it is an inappropriate comment to make for several reasons including that the information is wrong, it is not appropriate place to discuss that kind of information, nor is it any of his business.

Any ideas on a tactful way to comment to that question? Just trying to plan ahead. Thanks!

Rockie · September 2003

I believe just what you said would be very tactful.

"I don't believe it would be appropriate for me to comment on another employee's salary or position. I am bound to honor that person's privacy the same as I would honor yours if such a question were asked about your status."

"Next question please?"

scottorr · September 2003

I believe Rockie's suggestion is appropriate. We have a policy that states status and salary data is considered private and confidential and will be treated as such.

Pork · September 2003

ROCKIE:

The person to alert and provide suggested remarks is the President. The recommended postings above are both good and the President will thank you for the "heads-up"! Let the fool step forward and make his arrogant attitude be seen by all; let the President, then respond Presidently. It is not your responsibility to be judgemental on the appropriate/ness of his concerns and issues that he has with the company or company business. It has been my experience that we HRs should never be placed in the middle between any of the chain of authority and their upward chain. This appears to be one of those circumstances.

PORK

Andrea · September 2003

Thanks for all the feedback. I should mention that we are a Japanese owned company and have many Expatriates, including the President. Due to cultural and language barriers, we HR (and other managers as the questions fits) are called on to answer many of the questions.

Although many of the questions that come up should be addressed at crew meetings or individually as the case may be, they don't have the opportunity to do so (which is another point of contention with this person and rightly so) because they no longer have crew meetings. This is a problem that needs to be addressed and handled by our Production management (don't get me started on this topic 8-| )So, they end up bringing up questions at this forum as their only means to do so.

Thanks again for all your great responses. I just like to be prepared and sometimes I can get a little too frank and let my emotions carry me away. I thought if I was prepared with a tactful response, I wouldn't ruffle any feathers. x:D

deniseE · September 2003

If the president, in the past, has not entertained such questions... I think a fair response would be that: The meeting today is to specifically address the company's standing (and so on) not individual salaries or titles.

If your company does not routinely publish what others earn (mine does-so it's never a secret) then it would also not be inappropriate to tell him that it's none of his business, but if he'd like to discuss his future with the company, he could certainly make and appointment with HR to review his job description, duties and past performance evaluations.

Good luck!!

Don D · September 2003

Don D. is the master of tactful responses, right? Hold the laughter please. I am assuming you will be in the position of screening or fielding the questions and then passing them to the executive for answers, right? If not, he probably will respond as HE feels it would be appropriate to respond. I agree totally with Rockie's tactful suggestion, although Rockie can be an 'iron-hearted ball-breaker' when she's not being tactful. I really think this guy would be a boob to show up in a meeting with the Prez and try to be the center of attention with off the wall, embarassing questions. If he does have a pattern of doing that, tact would be the last approach I would employ with him. It will just make him all the more determined to chalk his cue for the next meeting. I say Lay Him Out.

Rockie · September 2003

Hey Don! Thanks for your "tactful" description of me, but you give me wayyyyy too much credit.

To answer Pork, I guess I addressed the question from the perspective of if it had been addressed to me at an open Forum meeting. My boss (the CEO) may not have been quite so tactful.

lynn2008 · September 2003

Our company has the monthly President's Forum, and I agree with Don D. on the issue of an HR Dir take the battle of wits (dim or otherwise) to these repeaters who try to break up the company. This same person will attempt, I am sure, to spread the word the company doesn't really want to answer the hard questions when you grab him by the ..., but be prepared to respond to this as needed.

Coaching the manager for the meeting on addressing the issue is your job - he can use the opportunity to not only restate the company's policy, but educate the other participants in the company's reasons. These opportunities give the Prez the chance to be a leader, not just a manager.

Crout · September 2003

Shoot, tell him he's not invited to the meeting because of his lack of professional demeanor, and assign him elsewhere during that period of time. When he squaks, use that moment to teach him some tact. There's no way I'd be hostage to a loud mouth jerk.

Need great, tactful comment

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