Has this ever happened to you?

My HR assistant just came to me and said that our top two managers said the company would pay for her to take an online college course in Human Resource Management if she would be interested. She has been with me for a year and a half and has had no formal training other than a few HR 1 day courses and on the job training I have given her. I, on the other hand, had no idea my superiors were making her this offer and I begin to question why I was cc'd on the memo to her. Seems a bit underhanded to me, but maybe I'm being paranoid?

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  • Aha, another paranoid soul in the HR realm. Depending on your relationship with these 2 managers, I would approach them and ask.

    1. Mary Jane told me that you want her to take some courses.

    2. I was surprised that Mary Jane approached you about college courses.

    My bet is that she mentioned something to them and they responded.

    If they, out of the blue, mentioned this to her, then I would feel that it had gone over my head.

    You mentioned a memo. Did you see it.

  • I think this could have been a very innocent conversation.

    HR Assistant: "Gosh, I wish I had some formal HR training."

    Top Managers: "Oh, did you know the company will pay for employees who want to take job-related classes?"

    HR Assistant: "Really? That would be cool. I'll go talk to my totally awesome boss, Nijel."

    To assume underhandedness would be a mistake at this point (in my opinion) without any other evidence.

    I say be big about it and help your HR assistant get some training regardless of who gets the credit for suggesting it.
  • I agree with Paul here.....I'm sure it started out with an innocent comment. Just take the reigns from here and help your assistant from this point forward.
  • Actually they emailed her and asked her if she would be interested in taking the course and if so the company would pay for it. (We do NOT pay for training like this for other staff.) I have sent her to many single day trainings and next year was going to go to upper management to see if they would approve the SHRM certification for her because I felt that she would have a decent HR background by then to take that course. I just felt upper management should have at least let me know they were making her this offer and I'm wondering why they didin't. to ask them that question would not go over well!
  • Now that is a surprise. My question to you is, why can't you ask them?
  • Because knowing them, they would see my inquiry in a different light - like who am I to question something they have done. I don't feel it would help my career here to do that! What would you all do in this situation? I'm thinking just ignore the oversight and go on.
  • The best book I know about human behavior states "It is to one own's glory to overlook an offense."
  • Rot. How can one do their job, especially in HR, if they are walking on egg shells? You need to have the ability the communicate with your superiors. Isn't that one of the more important ingredients that HR keeps talking about?
  • I would go back to the top dogs and in a professional HR way, ask them yourself. It could be completely innocent that they have asked her, but going around you seems to be a whole separate discussion that you need to have. It's just common respect for one's department and position in the company.
  • OK. And how do you all think I should approach them? Any ideas? the only reason I found out they had made her this offer was that she, to her credit, advised me of it.
  • My first question is do you report to either of the two top managers?

    If so, I would first go to the one that you report to and simply explain in a very professional way that Mary Jane came to you and said that he or she (depending upon whether your boss is male or female) had e-mailed her that the the company would pay for her to take an online college course in Human Resource Management if she would be interested. I would go onto ask if there was a specific situation that occurred that prompted that e-mail? After listening to their answer, you could say that you agree that it would be helpful for Mary Jane to attend further training. Further explain that you had been planning to approach him/her about supplementing the expense of receiving her HR certification next year. You could also ask if there was a certain course he/she felt she should attend, or were they just recommending it in general? If your manager didn't send the e-mail, he/she will tell you, and if he/she did, I am sure they will explain further. After you discuss if it is unclear to you, you could ask if there was a reason why he/she didn't come to you first with the recommendation.

    Hope your conversation goes well!
  • Sometimes it's hard to see from inside the box. That is why I love this forum. I think you are the only one who can take the bull by the horn ( top 2 managers) and promote better communications between youself and them. They may not even be aware of your feelings in this matter and only see they are trying to benefit you by giving an EE who they feels shows promise in the HR arena a chance to grow.

    All education is good and it could only benefit you. The more she knows the more she can help you. Then the HR department could really shine. I have over 300 EE's and only 1 HR Generalist. We handle HR, Payroll, Benefits, W/C etc and so I want my assistant able to step in in my absence. I like holidays, vacation and I may not want to stay here forever so I want to leave them in good hands. They've been good to me!
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-12-07 AT 09:56AM (CST)[/font][br][br]HR dilema - Oh, I have absolutely NO problem with my assistant taking courses at all. It is the manner in which is was handled by my superiors that is at issue here. In fact I have sent her to at least ten one day training classes so far this year in preparation for hopefully her taking the SHRM certification course next year. So how do you all feel I should approach my superiors?

    Remember, they do not know that I am aware that they made this offer to my assistant.
  • This is a tough question because we do not know the individuals. Male? Female? Titles? Personalities?

    Obviously you do not have a relationship where you can go into their office and say something to the effect, "Hey, I see you think that Mary Jane would do well with some additional courses in HR. I agree. However, I would like to be included in discussions (topics) (matters) (subjects) of this caliber in the future before they are discussed with my assistant. I have growth plans or outlines or specific agenda for Mary and would be happy to go over them with you.

    It's a start.

  • I've always been straight forward...The next time I was in a conversation with them I'd mention how excited (Suzie Q) is about getting the opportunity of taking an on-line HR course and ask what made you decide to do this for her? Especially if you don't have an Education program set up.

    I would add of course I think it's a great idea and how glad I was they offered it to her but I was disappointed I didn't know about it prior to her telling me. I would have been better prepared to encourage her to get started as quickly as possible. Of course this is just my opinion we all have our own way of doing things.
  • If its something that is going to continue bothering you, I do agree with HR Dilemma that you should approach them in a friendly but firm way.

    On the other hand, you could also just fly off the handle and rip into these managers for trying to pull an end run around you. You could accuse them of trying to get your assistant trained up so she could take your job.

    This is probably not a good approach but it would make for a good forum discussion.
  • Your superiors need to understand your position in the whole scheme of things. They might have good intentions and have the company's interests at heart, but they still went around you -- that's a problem. Your discussion with them needs to be frank and to the point. Tell them that you have learned about the training, and how important you think that is, but ask "why wasn't I told about this first?" Then, just request that anything that has to do with your department needs to come through you. Even if this isn't the first and last time you ever have this conversation, they must give you credit for coming forward and defending your position. I must stress the professional aspect -- don't come off half cocked or you will not get the response you want or need. Good Luck !
  • Maybe I have a boring life but I am very interested to know how this gets resolved. I hope you will provide us with the blow by blow account.
  • Yes, first I need to work up the nerve to apprach them! If you don't heard from me I've gone to HR heaven!!
  • We do all understand and feel your pain. If in fact we find you are in HR Heaven I think we will all mourn your passing with some sort of Frosty, Chocolate, Vanilla or maybe Twisted with Oreo pieces or M & M's. Good Luck!

    HR HEAVEN....Wonder what that would be like! Sanity or Insanity? Another discussion!
  • Somtimes I consider our very casual and close working atmosphere a curse, but it's a blessing too. If it happened with my assistant, I could just go straight to my boss, or the owner, or whoever did it, and say "Hey, Suzy Q said you offered to pay for some training courses. Did she come to you, or did you go to her? I'm glad we are finally going to spend some money on this, but next time will you please mention it to me first so [b][u][i]I[/i][/u][/b] can coordinate/approve?"

    If I was not comfortable with that, I suppose I would just ask Suzy Q how it all went down, taking care with my tone so as not to sound accusatory or untrusting or paranoid, then figure out what to do with it from there.

    It does make me crazy when people tell my assistant what to do, etc. Depending on who I'm addressing the issue with, I'll admit to them that maybe I'm being a little territorial, but she's MINE and I need to know what's going on before it goes on.
  • Well guess what else I discovered? My boss (the one who approved the course for her) told my assistant that she could take a couple of hours of work time to do course work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Redfaced and barely able to maintain control, I would go to my boss and ask her if she's lost her mind.

    I would then say "you are the boss and of course what you say goes, but you KNOW how much we have to get done, and I wish you would have talked to me first. Do you understand how this will come across to Suzy Q when I tell her that she can NOT spend work time doing homework, even though you approved it, and we have other critical things to do?"

    Kidding. I would not flip my lid, but I would go to my boss and ask her if it's true. There surely is a logical explanation for all this.
  • Did you ask him why he did this, and why he didn't at least discuss it with you first.
  • Lisa - Heck no! One doesn't question the VP here! That's a big part of my dilemma! I am SO angry with them (there are two) that I could just spit. However if I go to them and question them, I'm thinking I will get slammed.
  • Have you gone to your assistant and asked her how this all happened?

    Ultimately, what the boss says, goes, and I guess be grateful they want to invest in her rather than making her (and you) muddle through on your own, and they feel so strongly about it they'll let her do school work at work.

    They aren't breaking any laws, and only [b][i]you[/i][/b] can let them undermine your authority.

    I think in this case, you should just work with it, make sure she's still prioritizing her work over homework, support the VP's decision when discussing with your employee, and seethe inside whenever you feel like it. x;-)
  • Yes, my bosses emailed her directly and stated if she would take the course they would pay for it. Then verbally one of the bosses advised her she could work a couple hours at work on the course. Grrrrrrrrrrrr
  • Hold on. Something is not right. Are the VPs males? What does this assistant look like?

    What kind of course are talking about? Are they sexually oriented? Ergo, doing the "course work" at work. x}>

    I cannot believe that 2 educated individuals, reaching the rank of VP would be so blatanly stupid.
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