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Subject:Re: Jealousy in the TW Workplace? From:David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Sun, 7 Mar 2010 09:41:45 +0200
I do not believe it is at all confined to tech writing and education.
The same things happen in every field I can think of.
It is also by no means confined to older workers who have not advanced as much.
There are people with negative personalities, people for whom various
kinds of adversity--including personal things that have nothing to do
with work--may bring out a very bad side.
In fact, he human condition is such that there are some who at one
time or another will be far less than gracious. For a few, in fact,
those times seem rather continuous.
Often, it is a failure of management to permit this to go on once this
kind of behavior rears its head. If someone has been promoted who is
very junior in terms of age or experience but kept in the same
department, it may take special vigilence on the part of senior
management to be sure the transition is a smooth one, and that
resentments don't get out of hand among those who consider themselves
passed over.
Too frequently, that kind of resentment can fester and even spread so
an entire department is affected. Thus, it should be nipped in the bud
before it becomes something that poisons the atmosphere completely.
This is a relatively frequent thing in the military--a process
sometimes referred to as "deep selection" when someone is jumped over
other, more senior people. Quite often, the newly promoted individual
is moved to a different command to reduce the likelihood of problems.
In larger organizations in the private sector, this can also be a
very good idea if it is feasible.
However, no place is immune from the vagaries of human personality.
What seldom works, though, is for senior management to simply ignore
it and hope it goes away.
>From your description, too, I would say you were entirely too nice
with the individual who was so offensive. At the very least, after a
couple incidents with commensurate warnings, I would have made sure
her personnel file was updated with a full account both of the
incidents and the warnings she had been given. That relatively quickly
builds a case for termination if they don't cease.
David
> From: false <diamondvapor5 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 08:07:38 -0800 (PST)
> Subject: Jealousy in the TW Workplace?
> What is it about this field that seems to bring out the worst in people? Or so it seems. Maybe it is all fields. Come to think of it it may be just everywhere.
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