Ground rules on worker transfers during the pandemic

I’m the operations manager of a major company. As one of our solutions to avoid retrenchment, we have decided to do cross-training by assigning people to other departments and also for secondment to our business partners, suppliers, customers, and subcontractors. Please give me your advice on how to make this right. — Lucky Louie

A father was telling his eight-year-old boy about the facts of life. About halfway through the father’s discourse, the son asked: “Do you think God knows about this?”

So let me ask you the same thing: “Does your human resource (HR) department know about your attempt to transfer employees?”

I’m not saying that HR is God but wish to emphasize the point that it should lead the way, not only in hiring and firing, but everything in between, including their transfers. This is to ensure that all policies pertaining to people management take a holistic approach. Also, there is a need for consistent, corporate-wide application of policy with the active assistance of all departments, not necessarily limited to your department.

Just the same, your action is commendable. Your initiative in seeking other options than immediate retrenchment during the pandemic is something that all organizations must emulate. After all, it’s expensive and time-consuming to hire people. Not only that, you’ve invested a lot in employee training and development so they can adapt to the company’s culture. And you don’t want to waste that.

Also, good employees who have been exposed to the way an organization does things have great value when cross-trained. They’re already up to speed to a certain extent and can bring their wealth of knowledge as well as fresh perspectives from another area into a new department.

SIX RULES YOU CAN’T IGNORE
To help you in making employee transfers acceptable to the HR department and other stakeholders, keep the following approaches in mind. There’s no harm in trying out your proactive strategy. This way, you’ll be less pressured when the following imaginary ball is passed on to HR for their immediate action:

One, protect the seniority rights of the workers. This could be the first question that workers ask when they are informed of a potential transfer. This may not be an issue for internal transfers, but for those who will be seconded to other organizations, you should be able to have a ready answer. But if you ask me, there should be no break in their seniority. When a seconded worker goes back to your company, his employment record should be treated as unbroken.

Two, review the current policy on employee transfers. Don’t make any rash decisions. Find out the appropriate policy, including procedures. In almost all cases, this should have been in place a long time ago, and you need not create a new one for it. This is where HR needs to come in. Also, one of the possible considerations is worker performance. That’s because you don’t transfer a problem employee to another department to get rid of misfits. The same rule applies when you assign people to work for other companies.

Three, ask for volunteers before resorting to forced transfers. Employee transfers are a management prerogative but subject to certain legal limitations. Therefore it’s best to seek volunteers to avoid any issue with the workers. It’s best to emphasize that the organization is trying to avoid retrenchment. By calling for volunteers, you could get a bigger pool to choose from.

Four, identify the relocation costs. Transfers could very well result in savings if workers are assigned to a location nearer their home. Since many coronavirus cases are located in Metro Manila, it could be beneficial for workers relocating to their home provinces. In any case, you may have to go through a process similar to an external job search in terms of interviewing applicants and negotiating new employment terms.

Five, offer career shift options. Due to poor sales, you may also consider offering sales and marketing positions or other related tasks to some workers. It could be a lateral or step-down move. Sometimes, it’s better to consider offering a short-term (six months) or long-term (one year or more) transfer that would attract employees who may be in need of upgrading their skills and experience.

Last, agree on who will pay the salary of seconded worker. Typically, it’s the other company. After all, you’re trying to save money, right? Besides, the other company would not hesitate to accept seconded workers with the required skills, and if only for the goodwill generated by the gesture.

HR AS A BUSINESS PARTNER
Just the same, be alert to how HR can block your ideas. Take it in stride. Accept HR’s input positively. The possible scenarios may vary from one organization to another. Therefore, it’s advisable for you to take up the matter with HR. This is the correct way to do it. This strengthens your relationship with everyone. And they in turn can treat your ideas as complementary to what they’re doing.

Regardless, it’s important to continue actively demonstrating your commitment to and enthusiasm for working with everyone. That way, you minimize the risk of implementing your ideas without the help of an internal expert like HR.

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