There are those who are sent to HR and those who voluntarily show up. Of that latter group, I have seen some pretty strange complaints, requests and concerns.

Recently, I had someone come to complain about football. The beef: All anyone does on Monday is talk about football, and this guy has no interest in it. He feels like he has to find a way to talk about it and believes he will be alienated if he does not participate.

Knowing the group he works with combined with his personality (which I will describe as delightfully eclectic), I believe he is right. So what can be done?

Most people with half a brain and some desire can fake their way through a situation. In this case, however, this employee has no desire to know or learn anything about football. In fact, he is annoyed by what he calls his colleagues' obsession with football and grows more agitated about it every week.

He may have half a brain, but he lacks the desire to fake any interest.

Further, because of the length of the season and the fervor with which his department approaches it (they are all in fantasy football leagues as well), changing or avoiding the topic are also not options.

The HR generalist suggested a sit down — let the department know this employee is just not interested in football and for them to be aware of their conversations when he is around. That is a perfectly reasonable solution, but to me that sounds like an "HR"-ible option.

Putting football aside, the department runs smoothly. They have solid esprit de corps and open communication. If pressed, I would say the only weakness on the team is this employee.

To use the HR equivalent "F" word: He just does not fit.

The team is 60/40 male/female. They are blunt but professional. They move quickly, and they have high standards. While this employee keeps up, he is not in lock step with the rest of them. While he is liked, he certainly does not join them at lunch in the break room and would clearly never have a beer and watch the game with any of them after work.

Conversely, the group is open and always invites him. He does not participate, and they simply move on.

Because of that, my advice to this employee was to get over it and learn about football. He objected. I asked him if — aside from this issue — he felt like he was part of the department. He answered yes, adamantly.

When I responded by asking him if he could point to any specific examples of being a team player, he could not. When I asked him if he thought his colleagues would call him a team player, he said yes but again had no examples of why. He began to argue that work and personal interests should not be related; he likened it to politics and religion.

But, despite what it may seem, football is not a religion. And being a team player requires compromise. This department has found stress-relieving common ground. Their football conversations are how they bond; it is part of the culture they have created. It has also given them a common language to approach their projects and has definitely inspired some healthy competition — all of which has benefited the company from a productivity standpoint.

In my opinion, this employee is the problem, not football.

What do you think?