Bigwig is complaining about our office. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I have just hired a business development/marketing manager who comes highly recommended and to whom I am paying a small fortune. In fact he is earning more than me.

I interviewed him in hotels because he didn’t want to be spotted in our office during the interview process.

So then he turns up at our office on day one and has a hissy fit because he is sitting in open plan.

His desk is larger than everyone else’s and he has lots of space around him but he says he needs his own office to make private work calls and to give people the impression that we are not a small outfit and that he has authority to make decisions.

He in effect gave me a little lecture stating it was time we grew up and took a more formal approach to office layout, which he says is part of our brand identity and the kind of thing he wants to change.

Should I dress him down or dress the office up?

We are already short of meeting rooms and to give him an office means we would need to sacrifice two small meeting rooms. Our offices are quite nice by the way and he is the first one who has complained.

Bemused,
Sydney

Dear Bemused,

Well of course he has a point if you are selling office fit-outs.

Look, Bigwig has probably walked straight out of Bigwig Inc into Small Co and it can be a shock coming into a smaller entrepreneurial culture.

He’s wondering where are the walls to separate you from your back-biting colleagues.

Where is the door that you or others can slam shut in a fit of rage?

How on earth can you do your job when you can be held accountable because everyone can see and hear what you are doing?

It can take some getting used to so be patient and kind to Bigwig.

Point out that you don’t sell glass or office partitioning so brand identity really has nothing to do with offices.

Remind him that authority comes with respect, not with a door and tell him that he is welcome, like everyone else, to use the meeting rooms to make private calls.

Tell him you want him with his team and that you feel the office will benefit hugely by his more mature presence.

He will come around!

Be smart,
Your Aunty B