Hello, I am CA. Deep Upadhyay. I am one of the main partners in Upadhyay & Company – Chartered Accountants. I am in charge of the Service Tax & TDS departments in our firm. Further, I also look after matters related to employee recruitment, training, management, and satisfaction in our firm.
In recent days, I have come across a strange difficulty dealing with an employee, Mr. N, who is also my friend. He was my classmate in my school days, and then after, he used to be a very nice friend of mine and very near to my family. I recruited him considering his efficiency and the reliance I can place on him. Problems with him are as follows:
1. Very short in punctuality: Frequent holidays, comes late – goes late.
2. Very short in disciplinary issues: Internet browsing for personal purposes, reading personal letters of mine, no use of designation in the office – as if he is talking about personal matters, no knocking on the cabin door while entering, personal comments on other staff members, using the boss’s cabin in their absence.
3. If any other senior employee delegates him any extra work, he simply refuses the same by contending it is outside his job portfolio.
4. No senior employee or other bosses (same in designation as mine) scold him as they are aware of our personal relationship.
I was outside the organization for 1½ months for setting up a new branch. On my return, I got this report from senior employees. I personally observed his behavior without uttering a word and came to know that the complaints from senior employees are genuine.
I also audited the work done by him, and the good aspects are:
1. Work was nicely managed.
2. Personal attention to each file.
3. Detailed database was managed.
4. He quickly came to understand the usage of software that we use for taxation matters.
5. For a clerical level, he is good at laws.
In the course of dealing with him in recent days, I experienced that he is not a CA but considers himself as knowledgeable as a CA, which I think he is not. He is still in the learning phase and still tries to dominate other employees in the office. In the office, I am his boss, but he still acts as if a friend and tries to indulge even in strategic matters. I have tried to mention this to him indirectly but have not found any improvement or change in behavior. Due to this, as per other partners, we are facing disciplinary issues with some other junior employees also.
What should be my course of action? If I am removing him from the organization, I need another employee to replace him, and I need to train him, which will result in considerable opportunity cost to me. If I continue in the organization, I need not worry about the matters he is handling, but certainly, the level of discipline I have maintained in my organization will suffer. I have indicated these matters to him, but as stated, no changes have come out. I want to handle the issue without affecting personal relations.
As our firm is just taking off in the professional world, all the partners are very young and charged with more than one department. (The eldest partner is 27 years old with 5 years of experience. The most senior staff member is 45 years old who came out with the report). So we cannot afford to spend more time on internal issues, especially as it majorly involves one employee. Kindly guide me in the matter.
Regards,
From India, Surat
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In recent days, I have come across a strange difficulty dealing with an employee, Mr. N, who is also my friend. He was my classmate in my school days, and then after, he used to be a very nice friend of mine and very near to my family. I recruited him considering his efficiency and the reliance I can place on him. Problems with him are as follows:
1. Very short in punctuality: Frequent holidays, comes late – goes late.
2. Very short in disciplinary issues: Internet browsing for personal purposes, reading personal letters of mine, no use of designation in the office – as if he is talking about personal matters, no knocking on the cabin door while entering, personal comments on other staff members, using the boss’s cabin in their absence.
3. If any other senior employee delegates him any extra work, he simply refuses the same by contending it is outside his job portfolio.
4. No senior employee or other bosses (same in designation as mine) scold him as they are aware of our personal relationship.
I was outside the organization for 1½ months for setting up a new branch. On my return, I got this report from senior employees. I personally observed his behavior without uttering a word and came to know that the complaints from senior employees are genuine.
I also audited the work done by him, and the good aspects are:
1. Work was nicely managed.
2. Personal attention to each file.
3. Detailed database was managed.
4. He quickly came to understand the usage of software that we use for taxation matters.
5. For a clerical level, he is good at laws.
In the course of dealing with him in recent days, I experienced that he is not a CA but considers himself as knowledgeable as a CA, which I think he is not. He is still in the learning phase and still tries to dominate other employees in the office. In the office, I am his boss, but he still acts as if a friend and tries to indulge even in strategic matters. I have tried to mention this to him indirectly but have not found any improvement or change in behavior. Due to this, as per other partners, we are facing disciplinary issues with some other junior employees also.
What should be my course of action? If I am removing him from the organization, I need another employee to replace him, and I need to train him, which will result in considerable opportunity cost to me. If I continue in the organization, I need not worry about the matters he is handling, but certainly, the level of discipline I have maintained in my organization will suffer. I have indicated these matters to him, but as stated, no changes have come out. I want to handle the issue without affecting personal relations.
As our firm is just taking off in the professional world, all the partners are very young and charged with more than one department. (The eldest partner is 27 years old with 5 years of experience. The most senior staff member is 45 years old who came out with the report). So we cannot afford to spend more time on internal issues, especially as it majorly involves one employee. Kindly guide me in the matter.
Regards,
From India, Surat
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Hiring a friend, relative, or family member generally brings these issues, but don't lose heart as at least this guy is performing in terms of work. I have seen cases where the relatives don't even work and still try to be the boss.
Addressing the Problem
As he is a good friend, speak to him and share all the concerns mentioned above. Start your conversation with positives and then gradually move to discipline, punctuality, and other things where he is a problem. State clearly what the role demands and look into such qualities and skills you hired him for. Put in clear terms what your expectations are, and set a target date to bring changes in his behavior. If he fails, I'm afraid you have to tell him to discontinue.
A second solution could be to involve a third person in the scenario, any of your partners, who can give feedback to him and set expectations clearly. Involving someone else can actually save you from hampering your personal relationship with him. This third person can share all the problem areas and then provide solutions to him as well.
Reflecting on Initial Oversights
Some fault is yours too, that you did not put a stop to some of his actions during his initial days. We don't give authority to read our personal letters to family members also; he is just a friend, dear. He is taking advantage of being your friend. Before hiring, we should clearly state the limits to these people.
Let's hear what other members have to contribute, then we can surely come to a solution.
Regards,
From India, Delhi
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115Addressing the Problem
As he is a good friend, speak to him and share all the concerns mentioned above. Start your conversation with positives and then gradually move to discipline, punctuality, and other things where he is a problem. State clearly what the role demands and look into such qualities and skills you hired him for. Put in clear terms what your expectations are, and set a target date to bring changes in his behavior. If he fails, I'm afraid you have to tell him to discontinue.
A second solution could be to involve a third person in the scenario, any of your partners, who can give feedback to him and set expectations clearly. Involving someone else can actually save you from hampering your personal relationship with him. This third person can share all the problem areas and then provide solutions to him as well.
Reflecting on Initial Oversights
Some fault is yours too, that you did not put a stop to some of his actions during his initial days. We don't give authority to read our personal letters to family members also; he is just a friend, dear. He is taking advantage of being your friend. Before hiring, we should clearly state the limits to these people.
Let's hear what other members have to contribute, then we can surely come to a solution.
Regards,
From India, Delhi
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Thank you very much for your kind and concerned replies. I'll incorporate your suggestions into my employee management strategies, and hopefully, the situation will yield positive results for my organization. This situation (and your suggestions) has made me aware of many aspects that I was ignoring. I've concluded that my personal matters and relationships should never affect the organization for which I am working.
Thanks, Archna Mam. Thanks to you all for the suggestions.
From India, Surat
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Thanks, Archna Mam. Thanks to you all for the suggestions.
From India, Surat
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Employee Personal Information.doc
Employee personal file.xls