wherein Liz talks about office conflicts
Feb. 20th, 2015 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Some random thoughts about my time thus far at the hill office of Not the IRS:
So there are two beginner(ish) math employees at the hill office, and from what I've gathered, they really don't like each other. I will call them Ms. Abrasive and Ms. Opinionated. I think Ms. Abrasive has been with Not the IRS for a couple years now, but is still stuck at beginner level. Ms. Opinionated is just starting this year. Both are friendly to clients, but aside from that I think Ms. Opinionated is genuinely better at the work -- she makes more effort to learn how to deal with complicated scenarios, and is efficient at completing her appointments. But I don't think all Ms. Abrasive's problems are related to performance issues.
I don't know anywhere near all the details, because I haven't known any of them for long and don't have the context to evaluate their work performance, but Ms. Abrasive blames her lack of official advancement on Hill Boss, whom she says is actively sabotaging her and has allegedly made horribly bigoted comments about her to various people, including Valley Boss. She also says Ms. Opinionated is a teacher's pet and spy, and will gossip about Ms. Abrasive behind her back with Hill Boss. Ms. Opinionated has not talked as much about Ms. Abrasive, but did hint that she's difficult to work with and not great at her job.
It's true that weird things happen to Ms. Abrasive's appointments in the office scheduling program. And I think it's also true that Ms. Opinionated is working very hard to get into and stay in Hill Boss's good book, which may include reporting on other employees' actions. (Somebody told Hill Boss that I was reading a textbook at the front desk between clients, after all, without having the consideration to tell me that I should stop. I note for context that such reading was tolerated at the busier valley office.) But it's also true that Ms. Abrasive is, well, abrasive, and doesn't display much work ethic, and hasn't brought her concerns to either the district manager or to Not the IRS's human resources department, which strikes me as odd since she's quite willing to complain -- loudly and at length -- to her coworkers when Hill Boss and Ms. Opinionated aren't in the office.
...
I dunno. I mean, I have definitely gotten a sense that Hill Boss plays favorites and is not great at managing interpersonal conflicts. She's also not great at giving clear instructions up front -- I keep making mistakes and getting corrected after the fact instead of being told the correct procedure beforehand. But this mess is deeper than I know what to do with, and I would really prefer not to get involved. :-(
For my next job, I would like to work in an office without stressful employee feuds, please and thank you!
So there are two beginner(ish) math employees at the hill office, and from what I've gathered, they really don't like each other. I will call them Ms. Abrasive and Ms. Opinionated. I think Ms. Abrasive has been with Not the IRS for a couple years now, but is still stuck at beginner level. Ms. Opinionated is just starting this year. Both are friendly to clients, but aside from that I think Ms. Opinionated is genuinely better at the work -- she makes more effort to learn how to deal with complicated scenarios, and is efficient at completing her appointments. But I don't think all Ms. Abrasive's problems are related to performance issues.
I don't know anywhere near all the details, because I haven't known any of them for long and don't have the context to evaluate their work performance, but Ms. Abrasive blames her lack of official advancement on Hill Boss, whom she says is actively sabotaging her and has allegedly made horribly bigoted comments about her to various people, including Valley Boss. She also says Ms. Opinionated is a teacher's pet and spy, and will gossip about Ms. Abrasive behind her back with Hill Boss. Ms. Opinionated has not talked as much about Ms. Abrasive, but did hint that she's difficult to work with and not great at her job.
It's true that weird things happen to Ms. Abrasive's appointments in the office scheduling program. And I think it's also true that Ms. Opinionated is working very hard to get into and stay in Hill Boss's good book, which may include reporting on other employees' actions. (Somebody told Hill Boss that I was reading a textbook at the front desk between clients, after all, without having the consideration to tell me that I should stop. I note for context that such reading was tolerated at the busier valley office.) But it's also true that Ms. Abrasive is, well, abrasive, and doesn't display much work ethic, and hasn't brought her concerns to either the district manager or to Not the IRS's human resources department, which strikes me as odd since she's quite willing to complain -- loudly and at length -- to her coworkers when Hill Boss and Ms. Opinionated aren't in the office.
...
I dunno. I mean, I have definitely gotten a sense that Hill Boss plays favorites and is not great at managing interpersonal conflicts. She's also not great at giving clear instructions up front -- I keep making mistakes and getting corrected after the fact instead of being told the correct procedure beforehand. But this mess is deeper than I know what to do with, and I would really prefer not to get involved. :-(
For my next job, I would like to work in an office without stressful employee feuds, please and thank you!