A newly hired chief human resource officer (CHRO) discovers a flaw in the time-keeping policy that allows senior executives to receive full salaries and benefits without working the expected full-time hours. The CHRO reviews corporate data and identifies three senior executives in the sales department who regularly worked half the expected full-time hours for the past two years. The CHRO also discovers that the sales department has the lowest levels of employee engagement and morale across the corporation. However, the CHRO knows these three senior executives have been with the corporation for over a decade and have established strong alliances with the CEO. The CHRO presents the issue to the CEO and learns the CEO was unaware of the flaw in the policy. The CHRO and CEO agree to discuss the issue during the next executive team meeting.
Prior to the executive team meeting, the three sales department senior executives confront the CHRO in person. The executives state that working less than the expected full-time hours is justified because the CEO has made them return early from vacation on multiple occasions. How should the CHRO respond?
A multinational manufacturing firm recently experienced a series of product line defects and supply chain shortages. At the request of the chief operating officer (COO), the firm hires a new VP of operations who worked for the COO at another company for many years. The VP is well known for achieving results quickly and efficiently. During a conference call with the COO and all operations managers, the new VP begins making angry remarks toward the managers because the VP believes they are not responding quickly to questions about the recent problems. When the managers speak the VP responds by criticizing them and speaking with a loud aggressive tone of voice. The COO advises the VP to focus on identifying the root cause of the problem rather than criticizing the managers. In response, the VP accuses the COO of being too lenient on the managers during a period of crisis that requires quick and deliberate action. After the meeting, the managers send a formal letter to the firm's regional HR director describing the VP's behavior and requesting an immediate response.
The firm's employee handbook includes a section on cultural values that denounces public criticism of others and endorses acceptance of diversity at all levels of the organization. What should the regional HR director do to uphold the firm's cultural values?
