Post-Interview Pouting

Client: We just filled a position, and one of the internal candidates who wasn’t selected is now refusing to help onboard the new hire. They’re clearly upset, and it’s creating tension. How do I handle this?

Consultant: Ah, the classic case of post-interview pouting. Internal applicants who aren’t selected may feel embarrassed, overlooked, or even betrayed—especially when expected to train the person who did get the job. Still, disappointment can’t excuse unprofessional behavior. Let’s get ahead of this before it festers.

Client: I get that they’re hurt, but refusing to onboard the new person is hurting the team. What should I say?

Consultant: You’ll want to acknowledge their disappointment, while resetting expectations for their role. Stay calm, clear, and constructive.

Try:
“I understand this outcome was frustrating, and I appreciate your interest in the position. That said, part of your current role includes supporting onboarding efforts, and I expect you to follow through on that responsibility. Let’s talk about how you can do that professionally.”

Client: What if they say they don’t want to train the person who got the job they wanted?

Consultant: That’s honest—and not optional. They don’t have to like it. They do have to do it.

You could say:
“You’re entitled to feel disappointed, and you’re still responsible for fulfilling your duties. Onboarding isn’t a personal favor—it’s part of your job.”

Client: What if I didn’t give them feedback about why they didn’t get the job? Could that be part of the issue?

Consultant: Very likely. Internal candidates deserve timely, honest, and constructive feedback. If that didn’t happen, now’s the time.

Try:
“I realize I didn’t provide feedback after the decision was made. Let’s have that conversation now so you can understand what went into the choice—and what to focus on for future opportunities.”

Client: What if they’re passive-aggressively undermining the new hire?

Consultant: That’s a red flag. Document it and address it directly.

Say:
“I’ve observed comments and behavior that are making onboarding more difficult. That’s not acceptable. I expect you to contribute to a professional, welcoming environment. Let’s talk about what that looks like moving forward.”

Client: What if they just need time to cool off?

Consultant: That’s fine—as long as the work still gets done. If they need space, offer it. If they’re avoiding responsibilities, that’s a separate conversation.

Offer:
“If you need some time to process this, let’s talk about how we can support that while still meeting onboarding needs. The work can’t pause, but we can find a way forward that’s fair to everyone involved.”

Client: So, the key is to acknowledge the disappointment, hold them accountable, and course-correct behavior?

Consultant: Exactly. You don’t have to rescue their feelings—you just have to lead with clarity and fairness. The goal is professionalism, not perfection.

Recap:
✔ Acknowledge the disappointment
✔ Reinforce expectations—onboarding is part of their role
✔ Offer feedback if it was missing
✔ Don’t tolerate sabotage—document and act
✔ Balance empathy with accountability

And if you need help navigating the tough conversation—or crafting internal feedback and onboarding protocols—we’re always here to support you.

The Executive and HR Partnership: Building and Sustaining Workplace Culture

A thriving workplace doesn’t happen by accident. It is designed, built, and sustained through the leadership of executives and HR working together. While executives set the blueprint for workplace culture, HR sustains it through hiring, leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational policies.

When HR gets it right, organizations flourish, employees stay, and teams perform at their best. Getting it right takes deliberate effort, alignment with leadership, and a long-term commitment to people.

Let’s explore how executives and HR can work together to design and sustain workplace culture for long-term success.

1. Executives Are the Architects of Workplace Culture

The tone of an organization’s culture starts at the top. Executives are responsible for:

    • Defining the organization’s core values, mission, and vision.
    • Setting expectations for leadership behavior and decision-making.
    • Ensuring that workplace culture aligns with organization strategy.
    • Investing in HR as a strategic function, not just an administrative department.

Executives who prioritize culture as a key organization strategy create workplaces where employees feel valued, engaged, and motivated.

2. HR Sustains Workplace Culture Through Everyday Practices

Once the blueprint is set by leadership, HR is responsible for maintaining and strengthening workplace culture through daily interactions, policies, and long-term planning.

Key areas where HR sustains culture:

    • Hiring for cultural contribution—not just skill fit, alignment with values.
    • Developing leadership pipelines to ensure future leaders uphold the organization’s culture.
    • Building engagement programs that reinforce core values.
    • Designing policies and processes that reflect the organization’s mission.

When HR embeds culture into the employee experience, it becomes the foundation for success.

3. Hiring Decisions Build (or Break) Workplace Culture

Every hiring decision shapes the future of workplace culture—whether reinforcing what’s working or introducing challenges that need to be addressed.

    • Recruiting individuals who align with organization values.
    • Ensuring hiring managers assess more than just technical skills.
    • Onboarding new hires in a way that connects them to the culture immediately.

Great workplace cultures are built one hiring decision at a time. HR plays a critical role in selecting the right people to join and contribute to the culture.

4. Leadership Development is Culture Development

An organization’s culture is only as strong as its leaders. Executives and HR must prioritize leadership development to ensure that:

    • Managers understand how to lead with the organization’s values in mind.
    • Leadership decisions reinforce culture rather than undermine it.
    • Employees see clear pathways for growth, increasing retention and engagement.

When leaders are aligned with culture, they create teams that thrive. HR must work closely with leadership to ensure consistency and accountability at every level.

5. HR Policies Should Reflect (Not Contradict) Workplace Culture

Employees quickly recognize when organization policies don’t match stated values. HR must ensure that:

    • Policies and procedures reinforce the organization’s mission and culture.
    • Performance management systems reward behaviors that align with values.
    • Workplace policies (such as remote work, DEI, or professional development) reflect real organizational priorities.

Culture isn’t just words on a wall—it’s how organizations operate daily. HR must ensure that policies and processes support and sustain the desired culture.

6. Employee Engagement Is a Long-Term Commitment

An organization’s culture isn’t what leadership says it is—it’s what employees experience every day. HR sustains culture through intentional engagement strategies that:

    • Create opportunities for employees to connect with leadership.
    • Ensure employees feel valued and heard.
    • Foster a culture of feedback, communication, and collaboration.

When employees are engaged, they are more productive, more loyal, and more innovative. HR plays a key role in ensuring engagement remains a top organizational priority.

7. The Executive-HR Partnership: A Blueprint for Success

For workplace culture to thrive long-term, executives and HR must be fully aligned in their approach.

    • Executives must set the cultural foundation through vision and leadership.
    • HR must sustain and evolve that culture through hiring, leadership development, policies, and engagement.
    • Together, they must reinforce culture in every decision, policy, and action.

The strongest organizations recognize that culture isn’t a one-time initiative—it’s an ongoing commitment.

What’s Next?

At HR Answers, we’ve spent 40 years helping organizations design and sustain workplace cultures that drive success.

Join us next month for: The People Behind HR – Why Relationships Matter—where we’ll explore how HR professionals can build relationships with employees and leadership to create a culture of trust, engagement, and long-term success.

Because when HR and executives work together, organizations thrive.

 

Don’t Just Thank Them – Motivate Them

Two of the most powerful tools a manager can use are Recognition and Guidance.

Recognition reinforces what is working and motivates continued excellence. It is best when given in the moment, not months later, tied to impact, core values, or goals.

Appreciation needs to be visible, shareable, and specific. Think of it like a heartbeat—consistent, steady, rhythmic. Aim to recognize contributions at least once every seven days. The goal needs to focus on Purpose, Progress, Belonging, and it need to be Timely, Specific, and Meaningful to the individual. It really is a tool that reinforces the behaviors that you want to see more of.

Guidance builds clarity, trust, and ongoing performance improvement. This means regular coaching, not reactive criticism and the direction needs to be clear and actionable, and very much rooted in trust. One of the best delivery mechanisms is in structured one-on-one meetings and not just when things go wrong. We’ll talk more about guidance in another post.

Recognition is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. We need to move beyond surface-level gestures and focus on your why. Why are you recognizing someone? What impact do you hope to create? What is the intent or impact you are looking for from your recognition? Of course, you also need to think about how you are going to do it.

A tool to help you dig deeper is McClelland’s Theory of (Motivational) Needs.

McClelland identified three primary motivational needs. Each can be present in varying degrees within an individual, and one is typically dominant. The dominant need influences how a person approaches goals, interacts with others, and responds to incentives. The three primary motivational needs are:

Need for Achievement

Individuals high in achievement motivation are driven by the desire to excel, solve problems, and attain high standards. They prefer tasks that involve personal responsibility and offer clear, measurable outcomes. They are often motivated by:

  • Moderate risk and challenge
  • Immediate feedback on performance
  • Opportunities to improve or master a skill
  • Personal accomplishment rather than external recognition

High Need for Achievement individuals tend to avoid both low-risk and high-risk tasks—low risk lacks challenge, and high risk introduces elements they can’t control. They are typically goal-oriented and self-motivated.

Need for Affiliation

Those with a high need for affiliation seek harmonious relationships and a sense of belonging. They are motivated by:

  • Acceptance by others
  • Warm interpersonal connections
  • Avoidance of conflict or rejection
  • Group cohesion and shared experiences

High Need for Affiliation individuals value cooperation over competition and often prioritize relationships above task outcomes. They tend to be sensitive to social cues and are often seen as loyal and collaborative.

Need for Power

The need for power refers to the desire to influence or control others, events, or outcomes. McClelland distinguished between two forms:

Personal power: Seeking power for individual status or dominance.

Institutional (or socialized) power: Seeking power to achieve organizational or group goals.

High Need for Power individuals are motivated by:

  • Impacting others’ behavior or thinking
  • Gaining recognition or authority
  • Organizing resources or people to accomplish goals
  • Competing for influence or outcomes

Those with a strong need for institutional power often make effective leaders when their focus is on collective results rather than personal gain.

Characteristics and Behavioral Tendencies

The theory holds that people behave differently depending on which need dominates their motivational profile:

  • High achievement-oriented people take calculated risks, seek feedback, and focus on task accomplishment. They may not enjoy delegation or group-based work that dilutes personal responsibility.
  • High affiliation-oriented people excel in roles requiring relationship-building, customer service, or team cohesion. However, they may struggle with conflict, tough feedback, or competitive environments.
  • High power-oriented individuals are drawn to leadership, influence, and persuasion. When guided toward organizational goals (rather than self-interest), they can be effective change agents.

This information reinforces why it is so important that Organizations and its Supervisors understand what motivates their employees. Creating rewards, recognition, or award systems that are not aligned with employee motivations leads to misalignment and mixed messages—and it can undermine your workplace culture.

Let’s be clear. It is not only the role of upper management to recognize the efforts and energy of an employee. There is a tremendous opportunity for peers to recognize each other. A few genuine compliments or kind words from a co-worker can go a long way. And they are free. So why aren’t compliments given so freely to everyone by everyone?

The reality is that a brief compliment that is about really noticing someone can make most days a lot better. Recognition isn’t just a feel-good gesture—it’s a strategic leadership practice. Start by training your supervisors to understand what truly motivates each individual on their team. Make recognition regular, intentional, and personal. Empower employees to recognize one another and create systems that support all three of McClelland’s motivational needs.

And most importantly, don’t wait. Start today with one genuine, specific expression of appreciation. It could change the trajectory of someone’s day—or their career. Talk about a movement!

Independence Day: Fireworks, Freedom, and a Few Workplace Shenanigans

Let’s be honest—when you think of the 4th of July, your first thought probably isn’t workplace celebration. It’s probably something more along the lines of “Is there enough ice for the cooler?” or “Did we get the good fireworks this year?” or even “Who volunteered me to make potato salad?”

And that’s fair.

But the 4th of July, officially known as Independence Day, is more than just backyard BBQs and neighborhood parades. It’s a reminder that bold ideas (like breaking up with a king via letter) can shape entire countries—and yes, even spark a little fun around the office before everyone heads out for a long weekend.

So, before you clock out early or light up the grill, here’s a quick read to honor the day with some quirky facts, cultural meaning, and ideas for bringing a little red, white, and blue into the workplace without burning down the break room.

Independence Day in 87 Seconds or Less
July 4 marks the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776—basically the U.S.’s formal “It’s not you, it’s tyranny” breakup with Great Britain. It was bold, it was risky, and it launched a nation. And while not everyone got their freedom right away (and many are still fighting for equity today), the holiday is a marker of a promise—a messy, evolving, and determined one—that all people are created equal and deserve a voice.

Fun Facts to Casually Drop at the Office BBQ

  • It wasn’t always a party. July 4 became an unpaid holiday in 1870 and didn’t become a paid federal holiday until 1938. We’re late bloomers, apparently.
  • Presidential coincidences are real. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826. James Monroe joined the July 4th club in 1831.
  • You’re not imagining the hot dog overload. Americans eat about 150 million hot dogs on the 4th. If you’re wondering, that’s enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. more than five times. Gross and impressive.
  • Fireworks are older than the U.S. The first 4th of July celebration featured fireworks in 1777—because nothing says independence like lighting things on fire in the sky.

Workplace Ways to Celebrate (Without Starting a Fire)

  • Red, White & Woohoo Day – Let your team wear their most festive patriotic outfits—bonus points for stripes, stars, and borderline costume-level commitment.
  • History, But Make It Fun – Post a “Did you know?” board with quirky July 4 trivia. Or better yet, create a Slack channel where folks can share their favorite weird U.S. facts or family 4th traditions.
  • Star-Spangled Snack Break – Organize a quick mid-day treat fest: red and blue berries, white cheddar popcorn, flag-themed cookies…and maybe a very clear sign next to the deviled eggs that says refrigerate immediately.
  • Freedom to Log Off Early – If you can swing it, nothing says “we value you” like a surprise early dismissal before a holiday weekend. Freedom and time off go hand in hand.
  • Playlist of the People – Let each team member submit one song for a collaborative July 4 playlist—play it in the breakroom or share it with your remote folks.

A Little Gratitude to Go With the Grub
Independence Day reminds us that progress takes time and courage, that democracy is always in motion, and that no great revolution starts without a little teamwork. In that spirit, it’s a great time to say thanks—to our colleagues, clients, and coworkers who keep showing up, bringing their full selves, and building better workplaces together.

So, raise a sparkler (metaphorically, please) to your crew and enjoy the heck out of your holiday. Whether you’re watching fireworks, sipping something icy, or just enjoying a well-earned nap—we wish you a safe and joyful Independence Day.

Need help lighting a spark in your workplace culture (figuratively)? HR Answers is here with expert advice, good humor, and no open flames.

Trust is Not a Timecard

Client: I’ve offered flexible work hours to support my team, but I’m starting to feel like one employee is stretching that flexibility a little too far. They’re not around when I need them, and some of their work is slipping. How do I address this without micromanaging?

Consultant: That’s a fair concern. Flexibility is a great tool—but only when it’s paired with accountability. Let’s walk through how to address this while keeping trust and performance in balance.

Client: Okay, so how do I bring it up without sounding accusatory?

Consultant: Start by focusing on outcomes, not hours. Look for patterns: missed deadlines, unavailability during critical hours, or team disruption. Then, frame the conversation around shared expectations.

You could say:
“I want to check in on how your schedule is working. I’ve noticed a few times when communication or project timelines have slipped, and I want to make sure we’re aligned on expectations.”

Client: What if they say they’re still working the same hours, just on their own time?

Consultant: That might be true—and still not working. Flexibility doesn’t mean invisibility. There has to be shared structure.

Try:
“I appreciate you managing your time, and we also need overlap for collaboration and responsiveness. Let’s talk about what availability looks like moving forward so we can support the team and get things done.”

Client: Should I start monitoring when they’re online or clocking in?

Consultant: Not unless they’re in a non-exempt role that requires it. Focus on the work, not the clock.

You can say:
“I’m not here to monitor hours—I’m here to make sure the work gets done and that everyone feels supported. Let’s figure out how we can make this schedule work for both you and the team.”

Client: What if nothing changes after the conversation?

Consultant: Then you need to escalate. Flexibility is earned and maintained by meeting expectations. If they’re not meeting them, it’s okay to rein things in.

You might say:
“We’ve discussed expectations, and I’m still seeing missed deadlines and inconsistent availability. At this point, we need to shift to a more structured schedule to ensure work is completed consistently.”

Client: What if the employee pushes back or says I’m treating them differently?

Consultant: That’s why consistency and documentation matter. If everyone else is thriving under the same structure, it’s reasonable to expect the same from them.

You can reinforce with:
“The flexibility we offer is built on trust and results. This isn’t about comparison—it’s about making sure we all meet our responsibilities.”

Client: So, I don’t have to cancel flexibility for the whole team?

Consultant: Not at all. Address the individual issue. Protect the policy by managing how it’s used—not removing it because one person isn’t holding up their end.

Client: This really helps. So, the key is expectations, outcomes, and fairness?

Consultant: Exactly. Flexibility is a tool—not a loophole. Lead with clarity, manage through performance, and stay consistent. If flexibility stops working, it’s okay to change the arrangement.

Recap:
✔ Define what flexibility means in your organization
✔ Focus on outcomes, not hours
✔ Revisit expectations early, not after frustration builds
✔ Adjust the individual schedule if necessary—don’t punish the group
✔ Document and follow up

And if you need help navigating those conversations—or crafting a flexible work policy that works for everyone—we’re always here to help.