The following events were experienced while I was working at the local office of a famous Multinational corporation (MNC).
Crystale is a member of the customer service department in the local office of the MNC. Her team comprises of 4 other members and a team leader. She is well liked by her team members and is very efficient in her work. Crystale is viewed as being very friendly, loud and outspoken, often speaking whatever is on her mind even if it may comprise her working relationship. As a result, she is often viewed by her superiors as a very antagonistic person, who clashes frequently with her team leader Jana.
Jana is the team leader of the customer service team. Jana is known to be lazy and inefficient in her work, and is disliked by her own team members. She is known to be a very soft spoken person and often carries a sad docile face. She relies heavily on Crystale to help her finish her own work. However, Jana never checks the work that Crystale completes. She often takes credit for the work done by her own team members. Whenever a major mistake occurs, Jana would push the blame to her team members especially Crystale, often making her look like a villain in the team.
During a particular busy month, Jana made a serious error, which resulted in the company suffering losses. Jana had forgotten to transmit the orders processed to the warehouse, which would deliver the goods to the customers. To make matters worse, it was in the middle of the Great Singapore Sales, and many of the MNC’s customers were running low on stocks. In order to save herself, Jana pushed the blame to Crystale, accusing her of not transmitting the orders to the warehouse. As a result, Crystale received a warning letter from the MNC. Crystale was furious and wanted to confront Jana in a sort of “final showdown”. Her proposed method included sending out a mass “poison pen” email to all the staff of the local office, accusing Jana of all her wrong doings. Crystale planned to tender her resignation after sending out her email.
As a close friend of Crystale, I was at a loss. I supported her decision to fight for justice; however her methods were highly unorthodox and would only "burn more bridges" in her life. What could I have done to salvage the situation?
P.S
Just to clarify, Crystale’s intended course of action was to confront Jana in a final “show down”. Her proposed course of action was to send out a mass “poison pen” email detailing all of Jana’s misdeeds before resigning from the company. Crystale confided in me her proposed course of action and was seeking my advice on what was the best way to proceed.
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Hi Joshua,
ReplyDeleteYou have brought up a rather difficult situation indeed!
First off, I think that Crystale needs to exercise the principle of self-regulation. She must not let her anger and unhappiness towards Jana result in her (planned) disastrous actions. Perhaps a better course of action for Crystale would be to clarify with Jana as to why the blame was put on her for a mistake that she did not committed.
However, as you have mentioned, Jana might refuse to accept the blame. In that event, then Crystale should perhaps explain the situation to higher management. I am certain that the higher-ups would monitor the situation upon being alerted to such a matter.
Dear Joshua,
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fiery conflict! Like Clement, I feel that Crystale should exercise some form of respect for Jana. She should learn howo to better manage her feelings. Another thing that she could have done is to approach the chairman of the MNC directly and not start a whole whirlpool among the other workers. She should do what is right and speak to the Chairman the truth even if it might seem hopeless. That is part of accountability and holding herself to high standards. It would also show that she recognises her own rights and responsibilities as a free person.
Hi Joshua!
ReplyDeleteI do understand that being a close friend of Crystale, you empathize with her. Empathy is one of the EQ principles we learnt in class and I do agree on its importance. However, in your situation, I feel that you should take a step back when you are giving Crystale advice. At this point of time, she would probably be fuming with anger, and this could affect the decision she makes. If you are too absorbed in her anger, you would be thinking along the same lines as her and may not be able to give her the best advice on how to solve this problem.
Perhaps you could try talking to Crystale and get her to cool down before thinking of the necessary action to take. Sending a mass “poison pen” email to all the staff of the local office is certainly not a wise decision, given that it is not going to undo the fact that the management has blacklisted her. Instead, it would only ““burn more bridges" in her life”. My advice would be to take the same approach as Clement and Goh Chern have suggested – talk to Crystale and get her to clarify with Jana as to why the blame was pushed to her for a mistake she did not commit. If this does not solve the problem, she could seek an opportunity to explain the actual situation to the Chairman.
Dear Joshua,
ReplyDeleteWhile I do agree with Crystale's decision to resign, using poison pen anonymous letter would only get her into jail as it is a crime in most courts of law.
It is sad that Crystale bears the brunt of Jana's bad character but it's probably best to help Crystale understand that there is no point to burning bridges and just tenders in her resignation and leaves.
If the management do care about Crystale, I'm sure they would give her a chance and hear her out. If they don't, then it is a place that doesn't deserve an employee like her anyway.
Hi Joshua,
ReplyDeleteThis is a difficult case! Since when I’m not in the conflict, it would be slightly easier to think of potential solutions. Definitely, the first thing to do is not to let our emotional take over our decision making process. This brings me back to the main idea of EQ, which revolves around the idea of being able to control one’s emotional in all scenarios. However, to be honest, I would react like Crystale, hitting back at Jana. Perhaps, my EQ level still have not reach a high level but I feel being wrongly accused is just too much for me to handle. To wait for a full investigation by the higher authorities will most likely prolong Crystale’s unhappiness. There might also be a possibility that real justice cannot be served as there might be a lack in evidence. I guess my comments to this post are definitely unconventional. I’m just wondering, at which point our emotions takes over our logical thinking, even for those who have exceptionally high EQ. I will look up for more information to verify my opinions and share my findings with you soon!
Hi Joshua,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the others that if Jana were to let her heart take over her mind, it will not benefit her at all. I can empathize with Crystale that it is indeed frustrating and intolerable to be made the scapegoat. It is also not easy for you since Crystale is your close friend and you are aware of the injustice.
Similar to what Jolene suggested, you should not support Crystale of her intended course of action. You could grab an opportunity to talk to her about it, allow her to know that you empathize with her and feel that justice should be uphold. In additional, let her know that the idea of sending a mass “poison pen” email to the other staff is not advisable and it will not resolve the problem. Rather, you could suggest that she inform the manager about it and let him take over the situation. I would have to disagree with Godwin that there is a lack of evidence in this case. From your post, I understand that the other members of the team are aware of Jana’s working attitude as she had claimed credits from jobs, which were done by other team members as well. Thus, I doubt the manager or higher authorities would ignore this problem.
Thanks, Joshua.
ReplyDeleteWow! This is a good example of a serious conflict.You describe the scenario and the characters involved quite well. What I have more difficulty with is understanding this:
"Crystale was furious and wanted to confront Jana in a sort of 'final showdown.' Her proposed method included sending out a mass 'poison pen' email to all the staff of the local office, accusing Jana of all her wrong doings. Crystale planned to tender her resignation after sending out her email."
Do you mean that Crystale proposed the mass email to you and she asked you for advice, or did she actually send the letter then ask you?
Clarity on this would have made this a stronger post.
There are also a few language items that need review:
1) loud and outspoken; often speaking >>> loud and outspoken, often speaking
2) To make matters worst,>>> To make matters worse,
3) Jana never checks the work which Crystale completes.>>> Jana never checks the work that Crystale completes.
4) Jana made a serious error which >>> Jana made a serious error, which
Thanks again for this effort!
Hey Guys,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your comments; it has really given me new insight into this matter. As you have read this was a rather complicated and serious conflict which I experienced.
Goh Chen: I would like to point out that I was part of a small team in the customer service department. I agree with your suggestion on approaching the chairman directly. However, approaching the Chairman of the company would be deemed highly inappropriate and bypassing the chain of command. It would be like a civil servant launching a complaint directly with the Prime Minister. I understand that showing respect is also important, however if you were in Crystale’s shoes would you still respect a superior who is only out to “get you”. The entire team really hated Jana to the core, and many of us would be glad if Jana left the company.
Clement, Jolene, Goh Chen: Just to add on, the higher ups, in this case the department head was actually aware of what was going on. However, she had chosen to stay out of the matter for reasons which I do not think I should be discussing.
Rohan: At that point of time, I did advice Crystale to resign, as she was having a really hard time in the office because of Jana. However, Crystale was extremely hardworking and a valuable asset to the office. Losing her would be a lost to the office.
I agree with all of you that the best way to approach the situation was to try and talk Crystale out of sending the mass email. In fact, this was the very thing which the entire team did and it took us quite a while to talk her out of it!
A “poison pen” email was the last thing Crystale should do, as it would only make life more difficult for her. For instance, the company would have chosen to fire her instead of letting her tender her resignation. That would have looked extremely bad on her next job application.
Hello Joshua,
ReplyDeleteI might be a little late in commenting, but I still wish to give my two cents.
I think in this matter, it might not be easy to just ask Crystale to approach Jana or to just tender her resignation. You mentioned that a warning had already been given to her, and that she had been blacklisted. In this situation, if I am in her shoes, I'd feel that some justice has to be done; Crystale's name has to be cleared from the blacklist.
In my opinion, clearing her name from the blacklist is important for future employment. Should her resume mention her work experience in this company, it'd not be good if her future employer contacted this company and come to know of her blacklist status.
Next, since Jana appears to be the culprit, it wouldn't be the best course of action to approach her. Moreover, she could push the blame onto an innocent member, its hard to imagine if she'd even own up to her mistakes. I'd think the appropriate solution would be to bypass the chain of command, as long as someone along the line cannot judge the situation fairly.
Ultimately, I feel the "poison pen" must not come into play. It shouldn't even be considered since it is only contributing to her own troubles. As much as someone might have caused her to feel miserable, she should recognize her responsibility in refraining from possible under-handed approaches to solve the problem. Moreover, this would be an act of self-respect too.
Lastly, I wish for the best for Crystale and hope the conflict can be resolved.