Dear Manager, Stop Sending Every People Problem to HR
There is something I have observed repeatedly in my years working in HR and recruitment.
When things are going well with an employee, the manager is in charge.
But the moment things become uncomfortable, suddenly it becomes a HR issue.
An employee is consistently underperforming?
“Let HR talk to them.”
Someone has a bad attitude?
“Please ask HR to handle it.”
A team member isn’t meeting expectations?
“HR needs to do something.”
The manager wants someone transferred, disciplined or exited?
“Let HR deal with it.”
This is where many managers misunderstand the role of HR.
HR is there to support managers in making people decisions. It should not replace managers in making them.
Your Team Is Your Responsibility
If you manage people, managing performance is part of your job.
That includes the uncomfortable parts.
You cannot take responsibility for the team’s successes while outsourcing its problems to HR.
If someone is not performing, your first responsibility as their manager is to address it.
Have you clearly communicated what you expect?
Have you given them feedback?
Have you explained where they are falling short?
Have you provided reasonable support?
Have you agreed on what needs to change and by when?
These conversations should normally start with the line supervisor & manager—not HR.
Unfortunately, some managers avoid them for weeks or even months.
Everyone in the department can see that someone isn’t delivering.
The manager knows.
The employee probably knows.
Their colleagues definitely know.
But nobody says anything.
Eventually, frustration builds until the manager walks into HR and says:
“I want this person out.”
And HR asks the uncomfortable question:
“Have you discussed their performance with them?”
Silence.
HR Cannot Manage Your Team for You
Good HR professionals shouldn’t simply execute whatever a manager requests.
They should ask questions.
They should ensure decisions are fair, evidence-based and compliant with company policy and employment law.
They should help managers document performance concerns.
They should advise on disciplinary procedures.
They should challenge managers when necessary.
And where the situation warrants it, they should participate in formal processes.
But there is an important difference between HR supporting a manager and HR becoming the manager.
Your employee should not hear for the first time from HR that you have been unhappy with their performance for six months.
That’s not an HR problem.
That’s a management problem.
Avoiding Difficult Conversations Has a Cost
Managers sometimes avoid difficult conversations because they want to maintain good relationships with employees.
Others simply dislike confrontation.
Some hope the problem will disappear on its own.
It rarely does.
Instead, the rest of the team starts watching.
Imagine you have six people in your department.
Five consistently meet deadlines, take responsibility and deliver.
The sixth repeatedly misses deadlines, arrives unprepared and leaves colleagues cleaning up the mess.
You see it.
But you don’t address it.
What message are you sending to the other five?
Performance doesn’t really matter here.
Over time, your strongest employees become frustrated.
Standards decline.
Resentment grows.
And eventually, your credibility as a manager suffers.
Sometimes the greatest damage caused by an underperforming employee isn’t their poor performance.
It’s what management’s tolerance of that performance communicates to everyone else.
Strong Managers Have Difficult Conversations Early
Strong managers don’t wait until they are angry.
They don’t accumulate ten complaints and suddenly explode.
And they don’t send HR to deliver messages they should be delivering themselves.
They address issues early.
A useful approach is simple.
1. Explain what happened.
Be specific.
Instead of:
“Your attitude has become bad.”
Say:
“During Monday’s meeting, when I asked for the report, you said it wasn’t ready despite us agreeing on Friday as the deadline.”
2. Explain the impact.
“Because the report wasn’t ready, we couldn’t present the numbers to management and had to postpone the discussion.”
3. Clarify your expectation.
“Going forward, I expect agreed deadlines to be met. Where that won’t be possible, I need you to communicate before the deadline rather than afterwards.”
4. Agree on what happens next.
Make expectations, responsibilities and timelines clear.
Then document where appropriate and follow up.
Notice what hasn’t happened yet.
Nobody has run to HR.
That’s management.
So When Should HR Come In?
HR becomes particularly important when a matter moves beyond normal day-to-day management.
For example, where there are serious misconduct allegations, formal disciplinary action, termination considerations, grievances, harassment complaints, legal risk or repeated performance problems that may require a formal process.
Even then, the manager shouldn’t disappear.
HR provides professional guidance and helps ensure the organisation follows the right process.
The manager still owns the management problem.
This distinction matters.
Because organisations cannot build strong management teams if every difficult people decision eventually becomes:
“HR, please handle this.”
But There Is Another Side to This
Sometimes managers hide behind HR not because they are unwilling to manage people.
They simply don’t know how.
Think about how most people become managers.
The best accountant becomes Finance Manager.
The best salesperson becomes Sales Manager.
The best engineer becomes Head of Engineering.
The best operations person becomes Operations Manager.
Yesterday, their responsibility was doing the job well.
Today, they’re expected to manage other human beings.
Suddenly, they must know how to give difficult feedback, manage poor performance, resolve conflict, handle misconduct, document employee issues and make fair people decisions.
Yet nobody has actually taught them how.
Being technically competent and being competent at managing people are two very different skills.
That’s why telling managers to “manage your people” isn’t enough.
We also have to equip them to do it.
Are Your Managers Equipped to Manage People?
This is one of the reasons we developed our practical HR for Non-HR Managers Training at Corporate Staffing Services.
It is designed specifically for managers, supervisors and team leaders who manage people but don’t necessarily have a HR background.
During the training, we equip participants with practical skills to:
- Manage poor performance before it becomes an HR problem
- Give feedback and have difficult employee conversations confidently
- Handle misconduct and disciplinary issues appropriately
- Document employee and performance issues correctly
- Understand essential employment law principles that managers need to know
- Deal with common workplace conflicts
- Make fair and defensible people decisions
- Know what they should handle themselves—and when HR needs to step in
If you have managers who are technically competent but struggle with the people side of management, this training is designed for them.
For organisations looking to equip several managers, we also offer customised in-house training for management teams.
Finally…
The best HR departments don’t make managers dependent on HR.
They make managers better at managing people.
They equip managers to give feedback.
They help them manage performance.
They teach them how to document issues.
They guide them through difficult situations.
And they step in when specialist HR expertise is genuinely required.
But ultimately:
Managers manage people.
HR enables them to do it well.
So, if you’re a manager, think about that employee issue you’ve been postponing.
The performance problem.
The difficult behaviour.
The missed expectations.
The conversation you’ve been avoiding.
Before sending that email asking HR to “handle it,” ask yourself one question:
Have I actually managed it?
Because one of the clearest signs of management maturity is the ability to make fair people decisions—and have the uncomfortable conversations that come with them.
Strong managers don’t hide behind HR.
They lead.
— Perminus Wainaina CEO, Corporate Staffing Services – HR Consultant | Executive Recruiter | Leadership Trainer