Handling Personnel Problems
“Give me an example of a time when you had to handle a personnel problem and what you did.”
- “One of the people I supervised was not following the protocol
for making requests. I asked him politely to use the forms that
everyone else was using, but he became belligerent. I took him
aside when the opportunity presented itself and told him that
he and I needed to have an understanding so that we could work
things out. He knew that I would eventually have to take the
problem to the next level and decided it was in his best interest
to cooperate. There were no further problems after that, and
from then on he followed procedure and acted professionally
toward me and the other team members.”
- “I had a difficult problem with a supervisor who was taking
credit for the work that her team accomplished. Some of the
team members came to me and complained. They said it was affecting
their attitude. I called the woman in and explained how her
taking credit was affecting production and morale. She became
very upset that others saw her that way, and she said she was
unaware of her behavior or the reactions of others. She wanted
my advice as to how to change the situation, and I suggested
talking to each person about how much she appreciated his or
her team effort. She took my advice, and there was a noticeable
improvement in morale as well as in her behavior after that.”
- “Selling the concept of change when merging companies has
been one of my greatest challenges. When a company of a similar
size acquired my current company, it seemed like everyone wanted
to be unhappy and complain. By holding a series of meetings
with the people affected, I was able to start them looking at
the positives of the situation—a stronger team, more exposure
in the market, better benefits, etc. Eventually they did begin
to see it from the other point of view, but it was a tough sale.”
阅读导航 ;follow-through