Slighted At The Office
- By Miss Emily
- Published 08/26/2011
- General
Ms. Emily:
I have a female supervisor I will call Beth (I am a female), and we have always gotten along well. I left this office for a few months to work in another of our company offices and recently returned. There is another female "Mary" in the office who, for reasons I don't know, is very cold to me. We are always polite to each other, though, and the female supervisor and she had been distant. Since I returned, it appears that Beth and Mary have become friends. This would not be a problem except that it is Beth's job to assign work and our clients can call and ask specifically for one of us; if that is their preference to work on their account. I have worked with one set of clients no matter which office I was working from, so it was no surprise to learn they had called and asked for me. What was a surprise is that I learned this from the client. The client called me and said they had called Beth to request me, and she told her, that I was not the only writer they have who could work successfully on the account and, then, suggested Mary! I was truly upset and decided to go to Beth about this. When I did, she said that she simply wanted to make sure the clients know that no matter when they called they would have someone available to assist them. She pointed out that other workers had a success rate similar to mine. I did not press the issue since she is my supervisor, and I am dependent on her for future work to be assigned but feel very hurt and believe I should do more about this. I would appreciate your opinion.
---------------------------Miss Emily's advice------------------------
I don't know what "more" you can do about this other than, when your clients talk to you, personally, impress upon their need to ask for you, specifically, and insist on it. Beth and Mary's friendship has, apparently, affected Beth's need to level the playing field by attempting to get Mary a good share of the client load -- and maybe others in the office if there seems to be an imbalance. If this were me, I would not pursue this with Beth any further. Were you to not find this satisfactory to the point of resentment -- and your work suffers, consider transferring out if that's an option. For now, try to rise above Mary's cold shoulder. It comes from a place of jealousy, it would seem, and you don't even want to go there. However, there is that old saying: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
I have a female supervisor I will call Beth (I am a female), and we have always gotten along well. I left this office for a few months to work in another of our company offices and recently returned. There is another female "Mary" in the office who, for reasons I don't know, is very cold to me. We are always polite to each other, though, and the female supervisor and she had been distant. Since I returned, it appears that Beth and Mary have become friends. This would not be a problem except that it is Beth's job to assign work and our clients can call and ask specifically for one of us; if that is their preference to work on their account. I have worked with one set of clients no matter which office I was working from, so it was no surprise to learn they had called and asked for me. What was a surprise is that I learned this from the client. The client called me and said they had called Beth to request me, and she told her, that I was not the only writer they have who could work successfully on the account and, then, suggested Mary! I was truly upset and decided to go to Beth about this. When I did, she said that she simply wanted to make sure the clients know that no matter when they called they would have someone available to assist them. She pointed out that other workers had a success rate similar to mine. I did not press the issue since she is my supervisor, and I am dependent on her for future work to be assigned but feel very hurt and believe I should do more about this. I would appreciate your opinion.
---------------------------Miss Emily's advice------------------------
I don't know what "more" you can do about this other than, when your clients talk to you, personally, impress upon their need to ask for you, specifically, and insist on it. Beth and Mary's friendship has, apparently, affected Beth's need to level the playing field by attempting to get Mary a good share of the client load -- and maybe others in the office if there seems to be an imbalance. If this were me, I would not pursue this with Beth any further. Were you to not find this satisfactory to the point of resentment -- and your work suffers, consider transferring out if that's an option. For now, try to rise above Mary's cold shoulder. It comes from a place of jealousy, it would seem, and you don't even want to go there. However, there is that old saying: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."
