Managers should make all employees feel valued, included-PhenomenalWomen.com

Question:
     I am part of a small professional staff of ten women who work varying shifts to cover company needs. At one time, there are no more than four of us working independently to accomplish the day’s goals. We also rotate to cover overnight and weekend emergencies. Out of ten people, two of us are full-time and the rest work 20 hours per week or less.
     The manager is responsible for a large department, has little expertise in my specialty and spends very little time in my department.
     As one of the full-time staff, I feel slighted and devalued by the manager’s style. For example, she has selected a part-time employee (2 days a week) to act as the scheduler of staff hours. This gives this employee a power base. Others on the staff resent this but some try to ingratiate themselves with this person. The manager further validates this person’s importance by seeking her out and asking for her advice. The manager makes no effort to include full-time staff in her conversations, questions, or directions. While the manager should be a role model for communication and all staff have expertise to share, they are not consulted. This management style creates bad feelings and rivalry.
     The full-time staff have college degrees and previous management experience and specialty certification for the area. The favored person does not have a college degree, management experience or certification. The manager has a college degree and management experience.
     While I have found this to be a very difficult situation to work in, I have remained communicative and pleasant. Both full-time staff are professional and very competent. It is this professionalism that has prevented a confrontation with the manager regarding her choices. Her behavior is so blatant that I am wondering if it could be a management technique to get full-time staff to quit. She is so uncommunicative, she rarely extends the common courtesy of “good morning” but is talkative and friendly to certain part-time staff.
     Taking this situation to higher management is not an option. Could you suggest coping mechanisms to make this situation more tolerable?

Being a professional doesn’t mean you have to suffer in silence. It’s time to talk to your manager about this situation. Sometimes I find that people who handle themselves professionally at work don’t want to bring up little things that annoy or offend them because they don’t want to appear petty. The problem is that these little things accumulate into a big nasty ball of little things. For instance, not saying “good morning” isn’t so terrible, but when added to all the other slights and favoritism, it’s one more piece of kindling for the fire.

Your manager may not even be aware of her own behavior, so don’t assume that she is trying to get you to quit. She has a large department and knows very little about your specialty. She may feel that you have things under control and you don’t need much attention. Sometimes busy managers over-rely on one employee who shows enthusiasm for more responsibilities. Your reaction points out how this can backfire.

Before you approach your manager, find out if others feel the same way you do. It will help you to evaluate if the problem is with the manager’s overall style, or if she is singling you out for some reason.

Here is one way to approach this with your manager: “I know you are very busy, but I think it would help our team if we all had more time with you on a regular basis. I don’t want to speak for the rest of the staff, but I suspect they feel out of the loop, too. You rely on X for the scheduling and you communicate with her on a daily basis, but the rest of us don’t have the opportunity to provide input or get our questions answered. I think that it’s important for you to interact with all of us instead of just one or two people.

I also think it would be a good idea if we found another alternative to X doing all the scheduling. It has a major impact on all of us, so I think we should all have input. Maybe we could discuss alternative methods in a staff meeting (for example, rotating the scheduling). Or, you could approach individuals and ask for suggestions.”

If she is open to this feedback, she may probe for more details behind your concerns. Take the high road with your comments and stay focused on the benefits of including everyone, rather than pointing a finger at the favored employee. You will look like a professional, rather than a jealous employee who resents a co-worker.