Just looking for opinions, feel free to expand on why your opinion is such that it is.
Scenario:
There are 2 employees that work for the same department of the same company. One has been there much longer and is very anal retentive about doing things correctly, the other is just there to get a paycheck and is pretty lazy (or maybe stupid?). In many of the systems used by both employees, they are identified by their initials. Since the longer-term employee has always used all 3 initials (ABC), there should be no confusion with the other employee (BC); however, ABC is known to her coworkers only by her middle name/last name which are the same initials as BC – except that she goes by all 3 initials in all programs.
Obviously, there have been a few instances where BC screwed something up and someone forgot that ABC is ABC, and asked her about it. ABC has had to point out enough times to enough people that she is (and has always been) ABC that her first reaction when someone brings an error to her attention is to have the initials checked.
One particular incident involved a major screw-up by BC that involved a large customer being extremely pissed off – BC denied that she had done the thing and insisted that ABC “once confided that she sometimes forgets to use all 3 initials when entering records.” Since ABC even signs personal emails with her initials and has been with the company long enough to be well-known to self-identify as ABC (even though no one knows what the A stands for) – the call was reviewed and BC was correctly disciplined for the incident.
Which brings us up to the issue at hand. ABC noticed that there is a record that has been entered into the system incorrectly. It does not involve any monetary loss for the company if it is not corrected, but could result in an annoyed customer. ABC would normally fix the record and never say a word about it, but since she noticed that the record was done by BC, and she’s still pissed off at the slander, she mentioned it to a coworker, knowing that it would be mentioned to a manager to be corrected. The manager to whom it was mentioned basically shrugged her shoulders and did nothing.**
It’s getting on ABC’s last nut to see that record in the system incorrectly, but ABC is good at holding a grudge and doesn’t want to fix it. ABC also doesn’t want to be a douche and go to BC’s manager and tattle.
What would you do and why?
**The manager is not in either ABC or BC’s food chain, so she has no real reason to correct the situation. This manager has no idea that ABC initiated the conversation to have the record fixed, either.
I’m assuming that you’re ABC in choosing pronouns for this answer. Seems easier.
Rat BC out. She has, after all, already attempted to do you harm by by blaming her careless and/or stupid error on you. Do not yourself correct the error, as it could be seen as evidence that you do sometimes neglect to include the initial initial in your initials.
It may seem douchish to rat out BC, particularly in the current economy. But your first obligation is to yourself and your family, not to someone who has already tried to do harm to you. Moreover, you have an obligation to the company and your own integrity.
I read it as the OP being the person ABC confided in. Or is it the NOP?
Anyway, if I were that person, I’d tell BC about the problem and gently suggest that it needs to be fixed. If BC fixes it, ABC won’t have her analness stoked, BC won’t get in trouble, and everybody will be a happy, loving workplace again.
If I were ABC, I would simply correct the thing (with, if possible a little note in the system making it crystal clear that it’s because I “happened to notice it was wrong” rather than because I was the screwup). Then I’d go on the dope and bitch about what an idiot BC is.
Reason: Life’s to short to hold grudges. Wait till next time she actually does something bad TO YOU (like trying to palm off one of her own mistakes), THEN give it both barrels.
ABC went to her supervisor (who happens to be the supervisor over BC’s manager by a strange turn of the management system) and explained that she wanted to see the error fixed, but didn’t want to fix it without letting someone know, as it is a dated record. ABC’s manager laughed and understood why ABC did what she did and how she did it and looked into it. ABC’s manager discovered that the other manager did not correct the record, but did let the department handling the request know about the error, so the customer was taken care of and all is well. ABC feels better that the issue is fixed and she didn’t have to feel like a total douche.
in your initials.