My college roommate and I opened a business together almost 10 years ago. Financially we've been successful. But my partner and I don't seem to agree when it comes to dealing with employees. Last month an employee asked me for a couple of days off. One of our best workers was already out sick and so I let him have one day off but not two. When the employee failed to show up on the second day I learned that my partner had told him to take both days. This seems to be happening a lot lately; I say one thing to an employee and the employee will go to my partner and get a different answer. How can I stop this?
Folks tend to do whatever they need to do to get what they want. The issue is not the employees seeking out your business partner to get what they want. The concern is the lack of communication between you and your partner.
You indicate that this is a recent happening. Generally people do things to annoy us when they are angry about something. This can apply to both your business partner as well as your employees. So, have a talk with your partner to find out where he stands in the situation. Is he, in fact, angry?
Then there's another key thing to consider: Does he realize that the employee had already been given an answer?
Not long ago I was visiting a friend who has young children. It was raining, but the 5-year-old still wanted to go out and play. When she asked her mother for permission to go outside, mom said no. A short time later we noticed from the kitchen window that the child and her friends were playing in the mud in the rain. When my friend scolded the child and told her to get back into the house, the child said, "No! Daddy said I could play in the rain."
My friend immediately got upset with her husband because she felt that he had undermined her authority. It turned out that the father had no idea that the child had asked her mother first and been turned down.
So, consider the possibility that your business partner didn't know the employee had come to you first.
On the other hand, if your partner purposely countered your decision, the time has come for you to have a talk with him to see what is troubling him. If you can't work it out by yourselves then perhaps it's best to call in an expert. There are professionals who can mend all sorts of relationships, including business partnerships.
If you find that your business partner had no idea that he was countering your decision, consider making new rules for employee requests.
If you require that all employees submit their requests in writing, it would allow you and your partner to review these situations together. And the added benefit is that you can easily place requests in the employees' personnel files, which will give you an easy way of keeping up with sick, vacation and comp time requests. Also consider designating one person to handle all human resource issues. This would eliminate future situations of this type.
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