Tuesday, March 07, 2006

mid-afternoon moral dilemma

The temporary credit analyst who sits right behind you spends the whole morning in a loud, verbal wrestling match with his/her temp agency about health insurance issues. You are glad for the reprieve from the temps usual topics of conversation - which include bitching about mother, talking about food and boasting about how he/she “confronts” his/her boss, mother and circumstances – but you are frustrated by the non-stop laments about his/her inability to visit specialty doctors as well as his/her attempts to cajole your co-workers into taking his/her side on this issue.

After five hours of enduring the temp’s non-stop yammering, do you report his/her “time theft” to her superior for the good of your company as well as your own well being? Or, do you show empathy to the temp and incredible, patient, perseverance by letting the issue slide?

9 comments:

ahbahsean said...

G, it sounds like from this situation the main relationship would be between the manager who hired her and the temp he/she isn't giving enough work to do.

The ill report by this third (obviously annoyed) party is more of a way for that individual to have his/her own personal gain (quiet time) rather than to truly benefit the so called "good of the company".

As much as the temp may be annoying I think the 3rd party should remain silent and concentrate on his/her own job.

kidpositive said...

do the christian thing -- offer your own medical assistance for his/her ailment. Dr. gLO...

g13 said...

ahbahsean,

that's not bad advice. the difficult thing is, we're all in a (sinking) ship together. our bosses are as busy as we are and they expect us to pull our own weight (trust me, everyone is given plenty of work). so the team concept might be a factor in this issue. i'll definitely chew on your ideer though...i mean, i'll think about how your ideas might shape this wholly theoretical situation.

kp,

i never wanted to be the kind of doctor that he/she says that he/she needs. i had a friend in high school who wanted to be that kind of doctor though. but i think that latter friend was only joking.

gosh, business ethics are fun!

ahbahsean said...

G, what if it wasn't this temp but say the third party's close friend at work... would he be so willing to talk to the management about this less-than-stellar use of company time?

g13 said...

if it was the third party's close friend, she would probably still be pissed about the waste of time. however, she would confront her friend about his actions before going to management.

Before Girl said...

I think a discreet discussion with boss of temp only about how loud the talking is. That way, you're not actually speaking ill, but you are rather instead discussing a genuine issue of noise.

ahbahsean said...

If the person has a problem with the temp...why isn't he talking to the temp herself, w/o bringing other people into the situation?

g13 said...

perhaps because he fears the temp would make a scene. the temp doesn't appear to be the most stable person.

there are times when empathy and understanding need to give way to pragmatism and production. but discerning these times is difficult.

Anonymous said...

Through personal experience (on a daily basis) I have found that bosses notice/know about a lot more than we think. If the boss is not addressing the issue, it is most likely because they don't care, rather than that they don't notice. I wouldn't bother.