I’m confused…when did training and networking become wasted time for Human Resource Professionals? SHRM puts on conferences that cost thousands of dollars and take up days of time, and I get more from the exchanges on these sites. As Ed says, most or us will put in the work necessary to get our work done.

Some of us can still get the job done while sharing in thoughts and experiences that can help each other grow as HR professionals.

Most of us will put in the work necessary to get all of our work done.

I agree that the supervisor should address the situation. I ask you then, given what we know, how could the supervisor PROVE that he/she addressed the situation? Beyond a note in the supervisor’s daily journal that Curlee had a complaint about two co-workers wasting time, what else would the supervisor do? This is a fire department and their documentation is used in courts for arson cases, to justify replacement equipment, used to justify manpower and utilization records, given to emergency reponse teams and hospitals for emergency planning and evacuation. So where on the priority list is Curlee’s complaint?

And if this supervisor spent more that three minutes on this employee’s complaint, then he/she is wasting taxpayers money.

My response starts out by hinging on one assumption- that Curlee did indeed THINK that the supervisor gave her the authority to do the log and the supervisor had not.

So many times employees HEAR WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR. Supervisors are not mind readers. For those who are so willing to criticize the supervisor, how many workers have you supervised “hear thinsg differently than you say them?” If you say never, then you obviously don’t supervise anyone or are delussional. It is most prevalent when the worker is new.

The employee has a responsibility to do the right thing. If the supervisor would have said, “You are right, go kill Muffy and Buffy!” Curlee would have been expected to say, “Wait! That is wrong!” and not comply. So at what level is Curlee responsible for keeping this log which is morally questionable, using derrogatory names, failing to secure this log so it would not be found, and failing to follow up with the supervisor?

Supervisors give directions every day. This is a fire house where they have to be clear and direct and workers are trained to respond to get clarity. There is a problem here, but it is with Curlee. She has a problem with two co-workers, but doesn’t try to work it out. If she has an idea on how to be more efficient or effective with time, one would think she would have shared that with her co-workers. There is no evidence that she tried to get along with co-workers. She tries to get the supervisor to get involved by complaining about them wasting time. The supervisor refuses to be pulled into this drama. He may have said something like “They are both good workers and I haven’t seen them wasting any time. If you have any ideas on how they could do better, why don’t you write them down for me.” This was taken by Curlee as “keep a log.”

If it is indeed the case that a little information is a dangerous thing, then it can also be said that a little authority is also a dangerous thing. If Mary was given a certain authority, then she may have perceived that the supervisors “had her back” on this, and felt that a little arrogance (ie., name-calling) might not be that big of an issue. There is never an appropriate time for this kind of name-calling, but the logic may have played itself out a little better in her own mind then it did in reality.

The problem starts with the supervisors not taking Mary’s initial report of the issue and then taking over control of the situation from there. If control of the situation changed hands then, there would not have even been the opportunity for such liberties like name-calling. Mary made her mistake, but the supervisors should not have set her up for any such opportunity as this.

I wonder what would have happened if the co-workers would not have found the report. Would the supervisors have considered the log as “gospel,” and used as part of documentation or support information in a disciplinary action with them? That wouldn’t have been good, either. Any way it plays out, the supervisors had the responsibility to conduct their own complete investigation of the situation.

If Mary did not receive the authority from the supervisor for completing the log, then that plays against her, as well. The responsibility and fault would have been completely hers.