Co-worker rant. It was longer, but I got rid of the petty stuff. I still have a couple of issues with this person, one is that she constantly interrupts when I’m helping employees.
Even though she can clearly see that the situation is being taken care of, she jumps in and talks over me. This has become so annoying that now, when an employee approaches my desk, I immediately get up and take them into a conference room. So that problem’s solved.
The bigger problem is her attitude.
She’s management now, but for twenty years she worked on the assembly line and was a union member and even a steward.
She’s loyal, hard-working, energetic, enthusiastic, smart, talented, competent, capable, devoted, agreeable and generally pleasant to be around. (Actually, I think her extreme devotion to her job is one of the reasons why she “helps” me talk to employees – if there’s work to be done, she’s gonna do it.)
But she’s become a complete martinet. She’s more management than management ever thought of being.
She’s completely unsympathetic to hourly employees. She’s suspicious. If their lips are moving, they’re lying. And if she does catch someone in a lie, you’d think she won the lottery. She’s reminds me of Jaubert (sp?), from Les Miserables, except he was more flexible.
If an employee wants to add a new spouse to their medical insurance, she won’t take their word for it that they got married – they have to produce the marriage license or marriage certificate. We’ve never done this before, and as far as I know, no one has ever lied about getting married.
She won’t cut anyone any slack, and she disapproves of the rest of us when we do. Everyone knows the rules, but we also know when it’s okay to bend them.
We follow the Working Agreement (our contract with the union) to the letter – I don’t have any problem with this. Grievances and arbitrations are expensive and they cause hard feelings besides.
But in other areas, you can use your own good judgment and no harm is done.
An example: Computer systems were down all day Monday, so we decided to catch up on the filing. I found out that the new plant nurse was making separate files for short term disability records. I asked her why. She said she thought she was supposed to. I told her she didn’t have to, and she said fine. So the nurse and I decide to file those papers with the other medical records.
But this co-worker decides that a decision of this importance (!) needs a higher authority, so she asked the HR Manager what he thought. (His picture is next to “anal retentive” in the dictionary.) Of course he said no, keep those records separate in case we ever have to compile data or some stupid thing.
If we ever have to compile anything, we’ll do it using the computer records, not the paper files. I couldn’t believe she asked him about this, knowing how persnickety he is. I’m going to go ahead and combine the records anyway, but now I feel like a criminal.
And she talks down to hourly employees. Extremely condescending, treats everyone like a wayward child.
She loves to talk, so when anyone asks even the simplest question, they get chapter and verse, in small words, spoken very slowly. I would be insulted if someone spoke to me that way, and I imagine I’m not the only one who feels like this. (I’m not ultra-sensitive.)
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
This woman is an excellent employee in many ways, but I feel like she’s a pit bull and the leash could snap any minute.
On the other hand, if you always follow the rules, to the letter, you never have to worry about making decisions or judgments on your own.
Is that what she wants?
Do you think she’s afraid upper management will think she’s disloyal if she’s friendly with her former union brothers and sisters?
She’s handy to have around sometimes. If there’s a disagreeable task to do, she’ll do it. I’ve never heard her express dismay at turning down a job applicant, and she’s not distressed when someone has to be fired.
I don’t think she’s cruel, but if someone gets out of line or breaks a rule, then all’s right in her world if punishment follows.
And this is my problem how? Because I feel I have to be more “lax” (for want of a better word) to counter her rigidity. And when people are finished talking with her, and are demoralized, chastened and angry, I want to apologize for her attitude.
And I’m afraid that this attitude will rub off. Don’t laugh. Another co-worker who used to take a hard line with people now shares her work area with an extremely easy-going extra-sympathetic person, and she says she’s cutting people more slack.
I don’t know why I’m stressing this. At my company, change is constant, and who knows what assignments she or I will have next month.
I think she’d be good in quality audit – machines can be perfect, people can’t.
End of rant. Did you really read this far?
::AP is dancing around singing “I made Milo chuuuuuuuuuuckle”::