How to handle the Workers’ Champion at Work?

This type of person has an attitude of ‘Us, The Poorly Paid Workers vs. ‘You, The Rich Fat Cat Management’. When you ask him (or her) to implement a strategy, he assesses it against his benchmark of whether it benefits the workers. He may challenge you directly on this point or may quietly sabotage and delay changes that he does not approve of.

So how can you handle the Workers’ Champion type successfully so that he cooperates with you and your goal is achieved?

The Workers’ Champion has a strong belief system and will not easily back down. It is also important to recognise that he does have the interests of the organisation as a whole at heart. However, are his values in alignment with the organisational values? In the longer term if they are not aligned, he may need encouraging to move on to another organisation that is a better match for his beliefs.

In the short term and especially if his values are in alignment with the organisation values, you would be wise to listen to what he is suggesting, even though he can seem aggressive in his approach to you. Listen to understand his intentions and not to reply to his strident tone. His tone may be saying ‘I think you are an idiot for not considering this factor of how your proposal impacts on the workers’.

However, if you want him to cooperate with you both now and in the future, you would be advised to ignore the tone of voice and openly consider the factor he is pointing out to you. Allow a discussion to develop on it, seeking his opinion.

By adopting this approach, you will earn his respect and cooperation, and may even benefit from an improved proposal.