On Defense and Diamonds

Defense! Defense! is great for a sports team, but can be bad for an organization. Organizations are a sum of many parts and to ensure organizational success, it is imperative that everything, and everyone, functions at their best.

When you are going for the gold, defensive employees are bad news.

On Defensiveness

Defensive employees can be impossible to reason with. They can be blinded by ego or anger and driven by an insatiable need to be right. They can perceive questions as threats and lock horns at the first hint of a challenge.

Collaborative problem solving comes to a halt, organizational goals are subordinate to personal agendas and when allowed to continue, the repercussions of defensive behaviors are felt across the organization.

On Diamonds

There's no denying that every organization has a defensive employee (or two) and that they are a problem however, if you look hard enough at the crabby, stone age rock heads, you can uncover a few gems. 

Watch for the employees who attempt to or are able to respond with a level head to retorts by defensive employees. Watch for the ones who see through the bluster and who do not get into the muck. Take a look at those who take the high road and know when to sort through the junk, when to steer clear of the madness, and when to simply shake their head and sigh.

They may not get it right all the time but they are aware and they are trying. Find them, dust them off and shine them up. Encourage them and mentor them. They are your diamonds in the rough.

In Closing

Although organizations can uncover some gems when dealing with defensive employees, they don't need the defense present to do so. It is poison to your organization and must be addressed directly. Some employees will respond and others will not. 

For those that don't, send them to the mine to pound rocks, to your competitor to poison their organization or to any other place of your choosing . . . as long as it is outside of your organization.

You need to make room for your diamonds to shine.

Photo credit iStock Photo 

A Little Labor Relations Rant

You are preaching to the choir when you say labor relations is tough.

In all things labor, I've had it relatively easy in my career. Even so, there have been hurtful moments, tears, second guesses, the horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized I missed a detail, misinterpreted a sign, over (or under) estimated a gesture or simply misplayed the game. It wasn't easy, it wasn't comfortable, but I learned.

No sympathy

Supervisors who come to me looking for a member of my staff to "take the blame"  because their feeling were hurt, or ask me to "do something” to ensure meetings with labor representatives run collaboratively and comfortably are sent away disappointed when they are told to learn from the experience . . . and get thicker skin.

On Rehaul by Lance Haun, Lance wrote, "people really don’t deal with conflict well in the workplace. More specifically, a large proportion of people think that people should be more agreeable and reduce conflict wherever possible." 

Spot on.

Only The Strong Survive

Conflict is inherent in labor relations, and no, I can't (or won't) make it go away. What I (HR) can do is assist supervisors in dealing with conflict more effectively. I can provide technical expertise, offer advice, lessons learned and points to consider, meet to review issues evidence and talking points, and when appropriate, facilitate discussions between supervisors and the union.

Some things simply can not be taught in a classroom. Much of labor management relations is just in time training and as life would have it, the time often comes before the training. Learn the rules of the game, buck up, and do your homework. Be honest, forthright and equitable. Build relationships every day. Know that conflict will always be there, it's the nature of beast.

Own it, learn from it, or grab a seat in the bleachers. Meeting adjourned.

Rant aside, HR pros, what have you done to better prepare your supervisors for the labor-management dynamic? Let me know in the comments.

Photo Credit iStockPhoto