A Reader Writes:

I’m responsible for implementing a new customer relationship management (CRM) system that impacts all of our business units.  Because the new system will be an adjustment for our sales people, and they are likely to resist, senior management told me to work closely with the HR business partner (HRBP) of each business unit to ensure cooperation.  At our past planning meetings, all of the HRBPs expressed support for the system and provided their feedback at each stage of the project.  However, I overheard one of HRBPs disparage the program to the head of her business unit, obviously not realizing that I was in earshot.  She is clearly looking to sabotage the project, despite her positive participation at group meetings. Should I confront her? Why the two-faced behavior?

Dear Reader,

The design of many organizations places the HRBP at the center of representing the organizational needs of the business unit.  They have their finger on the pulse of hiring needs, compensation, performance, succession planning, and leadership development.  They can also smooth the way for major change management initiatives such as, in your case, a new customer relationship management system.  A system of this kind presents challenges to the business because there is an overhead to the kind of tracking that such a system demands.  It’s the HRBP that should know the level of resistance you are up against, as well as how much support the business unit leader has shown.

But HRBPs are often in a bind in this situation. Your CRM project may fizzle out and become a distant memory. However, their relationship with their business unit is a constant. They need to align with the business unit and remain in their good graces. The quality of their relationship with the business is the indicator of their long-term success, not how well they forced a solution authored by Finance or IT. It is for this reason that you must do your due-diligence in an early risk assessment phase of change management to ferret out these conflicts of interest. That cannot be accomplished via a team meeting where everyone is agreeable because they want to appear to be a ‘team player’. Private one-on-one meetings are a better way to learn if an HRBP has reservations. You may also learn if the HRBP feels competent in managing the impact of your project on their business unit. If they don’t, they might disparage the project because it challenges their own skill set. Incompetent stakeholders will advocate for status-quo.

A Reader Writes:

I and another co-worker were given 3 months to complete a big project.  I had worked with her in the past and we always managed to divide up the work equally and efficiently between us.  This time is different.  After the first 4 weeks, she has contributed incomplete or incorrect parts of the project, as well as not being that responsive.  When I asked her for an explanation, she confided in me that she will give notice in a month because she has another position lined up, but that I should not tell our boss.  This puts me in a bind.  There is no way I can complete the project myself and my reputation is threatened.  If I ask my boss to get me a new project partner, I will have to tell her why and divulge information I was asked not to.

Dear Reader,

Your situation is somewhat better than a project partner who does not tell you that they plan on leaving, they just stop helping you without explanation, a fairly common situation.  Doing the right thing here is clear: Your obligation is to your organization who pays your salary to complete projects to run a business. Your co-worker has the same obligation that must be fulfilled through her very last day of employment at the company.  Say to her: “I wish you a lot of success at your new company next month, but I need your help because I will continue working here and want this project to succeed.  If you can’t turn around the deliverables I need in the next week or so, you will need to go to our boss and remove yourself from the project so our boss can find another partner for me.  If you can’t do that I will need to go to our boss to ask for ways to salvage the project.”