Tell Us About A Time You Had To Comply With A Policy You Didn’t Agree With? [With Answers For 2024]

This world follows a pre-defined set of rules following which nature conducts its operations. In the same way, all business organizations also develop a set of rules, policies, and guidelines, which will act as a guiding force and would pave the way for the smooth conduct of business operations. These rules have to be followed by all the employees working in an organization.

It has been observed that there are possible instances of conflicts and clashes with these established rules and policies, which lead to the formation of a feud or misunderstanding between the employees and the management. Through this question, an interviewer wants to know about a time, when you faced a similar situation, yet followed that particular policy.

Tips To Effectively Answer This Interview Question

1. Reply In The Form Of A Story

Interviewers simply love to listen to the real stories and experiences that you have faced in your professional life. The nature of this question is such that it will be best if you narrate any practical experience which you faced in your own professional life.

2. Maintain a Professional Tone

Even though this question gives you the liberty to express your opinion against any unacceptable policy of your employer organization, yet you are required to maintain a decent and professional tone throughout your answer. By becoming aggressive or raising your voice beyond acceptable levels, you will seriously decrease your selection chances as you will be seen as a person who is simply not equipped to handle a critical situation. So, never act like a bull in the china shop and perform wisely.

3. Say A No To “Negative Replies”

An interview is a set of inter-related questions that are carefully designed to check your overall performance and personality and attitude. By answering any interview question in a negative manner, you are simply reducing the opportunities of an interviewer to assess or examine you. Thus, always share what is required and never respond in a below-mentioned way:

• Being a compliant and loyal employee, I never faced any such situation.
• Sir, the policies and rules are designed by the top level management which comprises some highly qualified and learned people. I just never doubt them or their policies.
• It is mandatory for an employee to follow the organizational rules and policies. Hence, I always follow them blindly, and thus, never faced any such situation.

Ten Best Sample Answers To Consider

Sample Answer One

Sir, the organizational rules and policies are devised after a lot of considerations and deliberations. I really admire them, but at times, these are just not acceptable. I remember how during my previous tenure, as a sales executive, my sales target was immediately doubled without any prior intimation, which caused all of my bonuses and incentives to lapse. However, being a committed person, I never complained and kept on working hard for my employer.

Sample Answer Two

Sir, I faced such a situation at the very beginning of my professional career, when I was working as a business development intern with a manufacturing organization. It was the policy of the company to pay interns, half of the government stipulated stipend for a full day of work. This was really bad and was a sort of exploitation. However, I quickly understood my role, which was to learn the skills while working with the organization, and thus, never made a single complaint in regards to my stipend.

Sample Answer Three

It is common for the rules and policies to differ from the expectations of the employees. I remember, during my previous instance, that how ineffectively the policy related to anti-harassment was framed. I raised my voice quite a few times, but to my dismay, every time my voice was suppressed. Yet, I continued working with the organization, which is nothing but my loyalty and commitment.

Sample Answer Four

Sir, several employees face such a situation and it is not new for me too. I did face such a situation while working at my previous tenure with ABC Manufacturing Inc. There was a policy in place, which promoted only the employees with proven work experience and referrals. While the former was good, but the latter part of the policy was quite disputable. As per it, if you lack effective referrals or in simple language contacts or links, who will write a recommendation for you, you will simply not be promoted despite having contributed in a good way. Thus, this policy defeated merit, but yet I continued working, as I really loved the job profile.

Sample Answer Five (For Freshers)

Sir, I am a fresh college graduate and this is my first job application. I have never faced any such situation with any corporate, however, I did face such situations while studying in high school. I remember a policy of my high school wherein only those students would be promoted to the next grade, who have performed decently well in the extra-curricular activities, which comprised primarily of all the outdoor sports. Being a studious kid, I never participated in any outdoor sport and preferred studies more. Having no other option, I just followed it and took part in basketball.

Sample Answer Six

Not all, but sometimes a few policies are so pathetic, that you feel like leaving the organization. I remember, during my tenure with XYZ Manufacturing Inc. wherein I was working as an assembly line worker, and as per their production policy, I was supposed to share my work progress after every hour. This was really burdensome and in a nine-hour shift, you were supposed to give progress reports nine times in a single day. But, I never gave up and accepted every challenge that came my way.

Sample Answer Seven

During my last tenure with UUY Trading Inc., while working in a shift, we were not supposed to attend social media messages and even normal calls. This is absolutely correct and should be implemented. However, every organization allows its employees to pick calls, in events of distress or emergency. This was lacking in the policy, I was discontent with but due to lack of job opportunities in the market, I persisted.

Sample Answer Eight

At my organization, there was a lot of office politics and simply no effective policy in place to stop the mess. The employees used to communicate and engage in absolute gibberish talks, which affected the performance of serious workers, like me. I complained several times to my manager, but to no avail. I seriously loved the job profile and was utterly satisfied with my salary, thus, I never gave up and kept on working with them for the next three years.

Sample Answer Nine

The policies must be framed after having a consultation with employees from all the management levels. This will lead to the formation of an effective and employee-friendly policy. However, this was not the case with my previous organization and we employees were forced to work for almost 65 hours in a 6 day week, and that too without any additional compensation. The reasoning behind this was simple, the company needs extra labor hours and has no finance to pay the additional expenses. Due to job shortages and the depressing market situation, I kept on working with them, even though I was not satisfied.

Sample Answer Ten

Sir, I faced such a situation during my previous tenure. There was an incentive distribution policy in place, which rewarded the hard-working sales executives, not on the basis of the sales figures, but on the basis of recommendation letters, which they had to obtain from their clients. This was really a tough task and was irrelevant too. If a sales personnel is giving you customers then just promote him, why is there a need for the recommendation letters? The policy was really vague, but being a committed employee, I kept on working with the company.

References

1. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00028312211027586
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/joms.12577