50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

73

Case 15

Don’t Let Her Get Behind You

Part 1—Making Adjustments—NOT!

Background Information

Lynecia Jackson was a supervisor of the Secretarial Support Unit in Monumental

Services Corporation. The primary responsibility of her unit was to provide secre-

tarial support to the three groups making up the Administrative Support Division:

the Property Services, Purchasing, and Auditing departments (see the organizational

chart below).

Administrative Support Division

(Bud Fuller)

(Jerry Corder)

PurchasingProperty Services

(Helen Mahan)

Auditing

(Betty Rolander)

Leasing Maintenance

Secretarial

Support

(Lynecia Jackson)

Lynecia supervised the four secretaries in the unit, and during her first year as

supervisor, she had to face a major personnel problem with Betty Rolander. Betty,

28, had been with Monumental for almost six years, holding various clerical and

secretarial positions during her career there.

Betty had a “bad attitude” problem that drove Betty crazy: Betty was haughty,

abrasive, and even antagonistic when dealing with other people. For example, when

Lynecia noted problems or errors with her work, Betty would fly off the handle and

become very defensive.

Lynecia told her friend Bob Erhard about Betty one day: “At first, I thought it

was just me, you know, that Betty just didn’t like me. But I checked her personnel

file. Almost every one of her previous bosses had written complaints about the poor

way she dealt with people, but they never did anything about it—and now she’s my

problem.”

The roots of Lynecia’s problem with Betty went back to the reorganization that

had led to Lynecia’s promotion. Shortly before Lynecia was made supervisor, about

a year ago, the centralized secretarial support system in use at Monumental’s Head-

quarters office was disbanded and replaced by a more traditional structure. Under

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

74

Case 15 (continued)

the prior, centralized system, all the secretaries in Headquarters were hired, man-

aged, and controlled through a single manager, Helen Mahan, even though the

secretaries worked in other departments. Betty Rolander had worked directly for

Helen Mahan. They liked each other and got along well together, and Betty became

a lawyer and devoted follower of Helen’s.

However, recurring problems with this centralized system caused its demise.

Under the reorganized system, secretaries were reassigned to each department and

reported to the manager of each division. Helen Mahan was reassigned as manager

of a newly formed Property Services Department. To take the sting out of this reor-

ganization, Helen retained the management duties of the secretarial staff in the

Administrative Services Division. Lynecia Jackson was made supervisor of the sec-

retaries and reported to Helen Mahan.

In reviewing some of the items in Betty’s personnel file, Lynecia learned that

Betty had applied for the supervisory job, but had been turned down. When Lynecia

saw this, she thought it explained Betty’s hostile behavior. She also hoped that the

hostility would subside as they began to work more closely together. Unfortunately,

she was wrong. After a few months on the job, the problems with Betty grew worse,

not better.

One of the most significant incidents that confirmed this trend developed when

Lynecia received a complaint from Neal Coleman. Neal was an executive vice

president in charge of Monumental’s Operations Division. One day, he called

Lynecia directly to complain about the rude way Betty had talked to Miriam, his

secretary, during a phone call that morning. As he explained it to Lynecia, “She

insulted and argued with her. Miriam became very upset, and I don’t blame her.

You better do something about her.” He was angry.

Lynecia thanked him for the message, and then called Betty into her office.

Lynecia told her: “We have a problem, Betty. I’ve just received a complaint from

Mr. Coleman about how you spoke to his secretary this morning.”

“What did you say in reply?” Betty shot back.

“I said I would take care of it. You just can’t talk to people like that,” Lynecia

said.

“You did what?” Betty shouted back. “I can’t believe it! I didn’t do anything!

This is your problem. You’ve got a bad attitude.”

Lynecia was surprised at the intensity of Betty’s reply but continued to explain

what Mr. Coleman said and why Betty had to improve her phone manner. Lynecia

continued to deny it forcefully. They argued like this for another five minutes.

Throughout the entire discussion, Lynecia felt like she was the one on the carpet for

making a mistake, not Betty. The discussion finally ended, but not cleanly or decisively.

CASE QUESTION

1. How should Lynecia have responded to the complaint from Neal Coleman?