1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Britney Saunders and welcome to Big Business Today. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: You've landed in one of my bonus episodes, which come 3 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: out every Wednesday. Just in case you didn't know, I 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: have had a juicy question slide into my DMS from Kristen. 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: Shout out to Kristin for sending this through. Let's read 6 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,639 Speaker 1: it out and let's give my advice. Even though I 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: don't know what I'm talking about. I do, but you know, okay? 8 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: Are you able to make an episode about employee conflict 9 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: and how you would expect an employee to approach you 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:43,680 Speaker 1: or manager about another employee. I work in a very 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:47,520 Speaker 1: small knit law firm and we have a receptionist who 12 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: completely messes up everything and makes more work for everyone else. 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: Oh that's a tough one. No matter how many times 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: you try and teach and explain how to do it correctly, 15 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: she never takes notes or changes her processes. Our files 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: are a mess. We've got missing documents constantly, and it 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: makes our job so much harder. Any advice how or 18 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: if I should approach my bosses? We are all blamed first, 19 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: and she never takes responsibility. That's really tough. Our bosses 20 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 1: never say anything, and I'm getting really over it and 21 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: tend to jump to her defense. I'm not sure if 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: it's even worth saying anything, but myself and other employees 23 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 1: are over it. That's a really hard scenario, so I 24 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: guess I can only speak from my standpoint. I guess 25 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: from my perspective being the boss, if there was one 26 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: team member in our workplace that was really kind of 27 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: dropping the ball and everyone else was suffering because of it, 28 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: and if it was something that I wasn't aware of 29 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: at all, I would absolutely want to know. But I 30 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: guess it depends, like how much you care and how 31 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: much your coworkers care. At the end of the day, 32 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: clearly you care enough because you know you've reached out 33 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: to me and you've let me know your trouble, So 34 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: obviously this is an issue that's bugging you enough that 35 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: I definitely think it's worth mentioning to your bosses. My 36 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: first question is, like, maybe your bosses are already aware 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: of this if like, surely they are, But then again, 38 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: like things can definitely go unnoticed. But I guess your 39 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: question is like, how would I expect an employee to 40 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: approach me about another employee. I think it's really important, 41 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: like for workplaces to have open communication, and I would 42 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: only hope that all of my staff would feel comfortable 43 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,239 Speaker 1: coming to me to talk about anything, especially if it 44 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: is about one of their co workers. And I guess 45 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: one of the hard things when it comes to having 46 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: an issue with another coworker is you never want to 47 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: look like you're throwing them under the bus. And I 48 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: think a lot of people will have guilt surrounding that. 49 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: And in my experience, you know, I've had staff come 50 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,800 Speaker 1: to me in the past to essentially make a complaint 51 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: about someone else. But the tricky thing from my end 52 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: is they've come to me and said, hey, Britt, this 53 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: problem is happening and this is the person that is 54 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,960 Speaker 1: causing it. But I don't want them to know that 55 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: I told you. And so as bosses we get put 56 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: in a really awkward situation where we can't do anything 57 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: without kind of pointing out who came to us kind 58 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,839 Speaker 1: of thing. And I've found myself in that situation where 59 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: I've had to say to someone, look, I absolutely want 60 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: to do something about this, but because you're the one 61 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 1: coming to me and the issue is lying between you 62 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: and this other person, like this is going to kind 63 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: of have to be all of us involved in this, 64 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: and I think as an employee, you just have to 65 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: not be scared in that situation of how that other 66 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: employee is going to maybe react or you know, they 67 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: might feel like you've dibb a dabbed on them or whatever, 68 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: because at the end of the day, as bosses, we 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:02,119 Speaker 1: only want what's best for the whole team. We want 70 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: everyone to be happy, and sometimes we have to have 71 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: a really shitty, awkward conversation that's going to make a 72 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: few people feel really out of their comfort zone in 73 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: order to fix that problem and hopefully move forward all together. 74 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: So my best advice for you would be to maybe 75 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,840 Speaker 1: speak with the other coworkers that are experiencing this same 76 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: problem and say, hey, like I think we should, you know, 77 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: take this to our bosses. Maybe there's two of you 78 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,720 Speaker 1: that want to arrange a meeting with your boss together 79 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: if you'd both like to give your feedback, or maybe 80 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: you're going to be the one that's going to kind 81 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: of take one for the team, and I'd schedule in 82 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,479 Speaker 1: a time to sit down with your boss, even write 83 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: everything out that you want to cover with them, like 84 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 1: give yourself some dot points all the things that you 85 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: want to go over. There's no shame in showing up 86 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: with a bunch of notes that you want to go through. 87 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: Maybe there's certain things that have happened on certain days 88 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: or during certain times, and I'd just sit down and 89 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: as awkward as you'll feel, and you know, I want 90 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: to throw someone under the bus, I would just map 91 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: out to your boss, like all the things that are happening, 92 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: you know, how it's affecting your team, how it's affecting 93 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: you in your role. Is this person stopping you from 94 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: doing things that are more important because you're there just 95 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: constantly trying to pick up the pieces. I just go 96 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: to them, open and honestly, and hopefully you will get 97 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 1: a good response from the boss that they are willing 98 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: to look further into this and hopefully figure out a solution. 99 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 1: I think that's like my best advice, and you definitely 100 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: don't want to leave it, especially if it's impacting your 101 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: day to day job and your well being at work. 102 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: I'd just go in, have that awkward conversation and see 103 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:45,839 Speaker 1: how your boss comes back to you, and it may 104 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: have to be them then taking this information and going 105 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: and speaking with the employee. I know this is what 106 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: I would do. For example, let's say you were working 107 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: for me and you have come to me and said, look, 108 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: I'm experiencing X, Y and Z with this other person. 109 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: I would take that on board and say, no worries, 110 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: leave it with me for the time being. Then what 111 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: I would do is I would go and organize a 112 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: meeting with the other person. And I would tread really 113 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: lightly to begin with, because you don't want it to 114 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: turn into like a battle between your two employees. But 115 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: instead I would go to the other person and i'd 116 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: just sit them down and just do a check in, 117 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 1: like how are you going with everything? How are you 118 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: finding your workflow? There's ways for us as bosses to 119 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: kind of bring up issues without you know, throwing you 120 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: under the bus, for example, and I would say things like, oh, 121 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: I've noticed this, I've noticed that if I'm in that 122 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: office or wherever every day kind of thing. Before I 123 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,559 Speaker 1: would fully go and say this person has said, because 124 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: that's when it can get really awkward. But I would 125 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: only hope that That's what your boss would do for you, 126 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: is they would go and try and figure it out 127 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,200 Speaker 1: with the other person, try and help them in their 128 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,479 Speaker 1: role in any way before it gets to the point 129 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: of having to get everyone involved and everyone talking about 130 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 1: all of these issues in the sun room. So I 131 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: guess that would be my advice is just write everything down, 132 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: have the awkward conversation with your boss, and hope that 133 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: they will do something about it. And if they say 134 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: they're going to do something about it, and another month 135 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: goes by and nothing happens, like I just touch base again. 136 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: It is a tricky scenario, but at the end of 137 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: the day, I know, speaking from my experience, I want 138 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: everyone to be happy in their roles. I want everyone 139 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: to be fulfilling their roles, and I would be mortified, 140 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: you know, if one person was letting my entire team 141 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: down and I didn't know about it. So hopefully your 142 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: boss will be grateful that you are bringing this up 143 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: to them, and hopefully it can be something that can 144 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: be resolved, because there's nothing worse than just feeling like 145 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: you're constantly having to pick up after someone else if 146 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:51,840 Speaker 1: they're not doing their job right, and that's not on 147 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: you to fix that. It's definitely on your boss or 148 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: your manager or whoever it is that you're going to 149 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: be approaching. But yeah, I guess that's that's my best 150 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: advice for you, Kristen. Let me know how you go. 151 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: Keep me in the loop, and sorry that you're feeling 152 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: this way. I feel like, unfortunately, this is something that 153 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: a lot of people probably deal with in workplaces, just 154 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: feeling like they are constantly having to do someone else's 155 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: job and it really is not fair because you really 156 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: should only be doing the job that you're designated to do, 157 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: and that is your role. So I hope that your 158 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: boss can pull some strings and help out the other 159 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: employee to be more efficient in their role, or maybe 160 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: workout somewhere along the line that maybe that person isn't 161 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: meant to be in that role. But who am I 162 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: to say who should be in your workplace because I 163 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: don't even know where it is and I've got nothing 164 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: to do with it. But thanks so much for sending 165 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: through your question. If anyone else has any questions that 166 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: you would like me to give my professional not professional 167 00:08:48,760 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: advice on Britney's advisory is open. Send me an email. 168 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: It's always in my show notes or slide into my 169 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: DMS or my Big Business Podcast Instagram account. And that's 170 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: all for today's episode. I'll be back next week. For 171 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: my man, so I'll see you then, mhm.