Dear HR Help Hotline

Dear HR Help Hotline,

I have a bit of a mess on my hands, and need help with how to handle it. My top director is, well, a strong personality, and that comes with good and bad results. On the plus side, he has developed an extremely loyal following among a large minority of our customer base, which is the main reason we brought him aboard last year. His confidence is unwavering and his bold promises elicit cheers from those customers and many employees in our organization. However, I must confess that many of his promises seem either unattainable (in direct violation of the “A” in our “S.M.A.R.T.” goal setting guidelines) or off-putting to anyone not loyal to him.

Speaking of loyalty, he expressly demands it from his direct reports – loyalty to him, not the organization. I can’t tell you how many times my internal auditors have thrown a fit over this. (On a side note, he constantly tells employees and customers not to believe our internal auditors, that they are merely making things up to appear to be important and because “they are bad people.” It is eroding confidence in this vital business unit.) And increasingly it has been brought to my attention that he makes provably false and misleading statements to support his position. Not only that, he can be downright insulting, behaving in a manner  (in person and on social media) wholly unsuitable for a leader of his stature in this organization.

Despite his enormous workload, he takes far too many days off. This is not a “9-5” position – his understanding coming in was that it’s seven days a week, day and night if need be. But he has shown a reluctance to put in the time and the work that we need out of him, instead delegating nearly everything to his direct reports. I know this first-hand, as he can rarely talk details of any project he is overseeing. When I question him about this, he simply says, ‘Hey, I’m still learning the job. You can’t expect me to know how things work here.” That is NOT what he claimed during the interview process. He claimed to know exactly how things work, and that he had specific plans for all of our shortcomings and challenges. I’m finding that cupboard to be bare.

Now I’m learning that he is steering out-of-town clients toward businesses he either owns or has a stake in, which raises questions of business ethics as well as makes me question whose business he’s minding much of the time. I do know that he visits these properties frequently and mingles with the customers there to generate interest in those properties. To top it off, he is making decisions and statements that are increasingly alienating not only a large portion of our customer base, but also other organizations around the world – many of whom we’ve enjoyed a close relationship with for decades.

I have tried confronting him on these issues, but he either doesn’t answer my questions or pretends not to hear me as he makes his way out of the room or past me in the hallway. Even in direct, one-on-one meetings he is able to evade my questions.

Can you help?

Sincerely,

A concerned owner

Dear Concerned Owner,

Impeach him.