I’m the human resource (HR) manager of a small factory with 361 workers, including 249 workers from five separate manpower agencies and labor cooperatives. About 90% of these temporary workers have been with us for more than five years. I recommended to our chief executive officer (CEO) that we gradually convert their status to regular employees as they are doing jobs that are critical to our business. The CEO rejected my idea. How do I manage the situation? — Lonely Star.
Let the CEO who has the greater responsibility over the factory and its policies decide. After all, he’s being paid to make unpopular decisions as long as they redound to the overall advantage of the organization. You can’t go against it unless you leave your current employ for another company that is in syncs with your personal ethics and values. That means you may have to bear with the situation for few more months, maybe years.
While you’re at it, remain positive and pray that your concerns will be resolved sooner than later. Relax and reflect. And rediscover what you can do best next time to improve your success rate with the CEO.
In the meantime, take it in stride. Don’t let this situation affect your work. “The best way to take failure and rejection is to wallow in it,” says Bernie Brillstein in The Little Stuff Matters the Most (2004).
That includes the challenge of actively looking for a new job. Leaving the company is not disloyalty and there’s no reason to feel bad about it. If your ideas are not compatible with top management’s, then accept it. One caveat though: Keep your disagreement with the CEO secret. Don’t discuss it with your colleagues or workers in your department.
IMPERATIVES
It’s not enough that your opinion be founded on personal values and ethical standards. You must go beyond that. At the same time, it is unrealistic to set aside one’s beliefs for the sake of keeping your job. Your opinion will not lose its efficacy just because it was rejected by your boss.
Next time, if you find yourself in the position of having to make a similar recommendation, ensure that you gain the upper hand by taking the following steps:
One, find out what the prevailing best practices in the industry are. Conduct a survey with other organizations of similar size, staffing levels, and compensation policy. It may be a challenge to pry out pay and perks policies, which are basically confidential.
But not if you can settle for general information like the minimum or maximum ranges for certain key jobs. This means being upfront with the kind of information that you can truthfully provide to survey participants and make it easy for them to understand your goals.
Two, seek a legal opinion from at least two reputable lawyers. You can’t go wrong if your recommendation is backed by the opinions of labor-management attorneys. If you don’t have a budget for that, you can do research on Supreme Court decisions and analyze rulings involving excessive hiring of contractual workers.
The rulings apply the so-called four-point employment test. The four points are: the workers’ selection of engagement, payment of their salaries and benefits, employer’s power of control over production methods and the power of dismissal. Note that management can lose its case once employees prove only two out of these four points.
Related to this test is the law against labor-only contracting.
Last, prepare a cost-benefit analysis to support your proposals. What could the factory lose if your company perpetuates the hiring and firing cycle when engaging agency workers? Remember that the Supreme Court has ruled against a multinational company due to its overuse of temporary workers, and ordered it to pay millions in damages and penalties.
More than the money, what about the company’s reputation? What would it gain in the short term? How about the motivational level of these workers compared to the regulars? What about productivity losses? There are more issues at stake.
INNER COMPASS
The bottom line is: Don’t be afraid to make recommendations as you see fit, even if others think it’s wrong. Don’t be a person without an opinion. You need to do a lot of active listening. Ask questions to discover the rationale behind everything.
Don’t be a yes man or a yes woman. Be frank with everyone, including your boss. But do it professionally and respectfully. If you don’t agree with management policy, back your opinions up with evidence and conviction.
Use the inner compass that you rely on to tell you when things are not right. When the boss does things that raise red flags, make allowance for the possibility that he may change his mind should you present an unassailable argument.
Put your detailed proposal in writing, but keep it confidential. This will protect you from being blamed later on.
Consult with Rey Elbo on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter or send your questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.consulting