In my opinion, interpersonal conflicts can happen in any place and with any person. I can be having an argument with my family members, colleagues and even the closest friends I have. Here is one scenario that I would like to share with you all.
I worked in a convenience store while waiting for my entry to the university. Besides facing many obnoxious customers that have the most incredible demands, I have to endure a senior staff that seems to have been diagnosed with the inability to do certain kinds of work.
As a senior staff, her experience is definitely more than a newbie like me. However, she pushes all the administrative matters for me to settle and continues to man the counter. One day she really made my blood boil when she assumed it was my rightful duty to do the administrative duties no matter how busy I was with my other work. I mean there was no customer at that time and she was just staring at the space, why can’t she help?
To prevent my blood pressure from escalating into an overwhelming level, I confront (Have a talk) her to find out what is her problem. Her response is "I don't know how to do."
I try to find out more about the character of this senior staff from other colleagues that have work longer than me. It seems that this senior colleague loves to use this tactic to avoid duties she is not keen to do.
So I like to ask those reading my post, how would you solve this situation?
Edited x2
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Gillian,
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to work under or for a person who just does not pull his or her weight when there is work. Sad to say there is not much you can do about that situation. It's the senior staff's choice to behave in such a manner. Rather i would suggest concentrating on the fact that you would have gained more experience and knowledge with the extra duties that you have. It will certainly help lessen the frustration you feel.
This is an interesting and relevant conflict situation, Gillian. I won't comment on the content. However, I do want to state that since you are describing a past situation, you need to reevaluate the verb tense that you are using in your description.
ReplyDeleteYou can always edit this at your convenience.
Thank you for your effort!
Dear Mr Blackstone,
ReplyDeleteI have edited the post by changing my tenses to make it more consistent. Hope I have done it correctly.
Hi Kenneth,
ReplyDeleteI do something similar like what you have commented. I endure the irresponsible acts of that senior staff.
However,after working there for some time and see how the boss treats that staff, I am starting to understand why she keeps pulling this stunt.
That senior staff is quite old, aged around fifthly plus I think and will be scolded very severely by the boss whenever she makes any mistakes. So she try to push whatever duties she feels she can make mistakes easily to youngsters.
In retrospect,I feel I am really immature and not being understanding about her plight.
Hey Gillian,
ReplyDeleteWow you do sleep very late don't you?
I hope you don't mind me trying, but here's where I think the language could be improved (I hope I get it right):
1) "I worked in a convenience store" would be better because it was described as something that happened before entering University.
2) "she pushes all the administrative matters for me to settle and continueS to man the counter.". Notice the capitalized S.
3) "One day, she really maDE my blood boil". I think if you use "one day", the rest of the sentence can't be present tense.
Okay, I don't want to sound like an English teacher so I'll focus on the content.
I feel that the senior staff is really quite irresponsible despite her plight, because the way that she handles the problem does not solve the problem. Even though I understand that it is not a high paying job in a convenience store, I believe in having pride in your work and wanting to do it well. Nevertheless, there's no magic bullet to instantaneously change that staff's behavior, and what Kenneth suggested would make sense.
If possible, it would be nice if you showed her that you do understand her situation, and attempt to work out something with her. Always think optimistically, and try to end with a win-win situation in which she can learn to do some things with more confidence, and you can have a more enjoyable work stint.
That's what people usually want anyway, a comfortable work environment.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gillian, for working on this. Chong Yew has made some very fitting comments, especially in regard to the language. I hope that is helpful and that you can edit this once more. (Sorry that I AM sounding like an English teacher!) He and Kenneth have also made insightful comments on your conflict. The win-win situation mentioned is really an ideal that we should all strive for.
ReplyDeleteNow I wonder how you did resolve the conflict.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Chong Yew,
ReplyDeleteI don't sleep that late. The time reported was a mistake. For instance, did you really send me your comment at 2 plus in the morning like what is reported? You do not right?
Thank you very much for correcting my mistakes. I am always very weak in tenses and don't know when to use past tense or present tense very well. You may want to look though again to see if there is any more mistakes.^_^
I do agree that a win win situation is the best too. However, it is hard to have the best of both worlds. Sometimes one person has to be the losing side.
I did send at 2am.. Whats wrong with that? :P
ReplyDeletePractice makes perfect, so "jia you" and keep working hard on it. :)
Its not easy to have win-win indeed! One doesn't have to be the fully losing side though, parties can compromise so that the losing side doesn't lose out that badly. :)
I believe that this might be a recurring theme in many work places. Given the complexity of work related problems in the modern workplace, it is a well documented Human Resource problem of senior staff pushing tasks to junior staff due to fear of technology, fear of making mistakes, or a combination of various fears (and perhaps a feeling that they have earned the right not to have to do menial tasks). From the management perspective, there are many ways to prevent/reduce such things from happening, but being the junior stuff (which most of us will be once we graduate), I guess we need to just take it in our stride, and keep a positive attitude while performing the tasks.
ReplyDeleteCall me a risk taker, but I believe that when we begin to hate our job, it will significantly reduce our productivity, and perhaps it is time to move on to the next better opportunity.