Bullying in the workplace

[Serendipity 42]

Hi everyone, looking for ideas, I manage a supervisor on another site, but because I am not based on that site the senior on site manager will take control if I am not around.

 

This other manager dislikes that the Supervisor was made up from her previous role and her attitude right from the beginning has been that because she has that position she should magically know how to manage every situation, including complex technology problems that can be challenging and we have to rely on the I.T. department and the main company help desk which is an exhaustive and messy process.

 

She accuses her of having no imagination and not looking at other options to support when there is a problem, this is not a fair summation of the situation and the supervisor contacts everyone and makes sure all are aware of the problems, I agree there are always options but instead of accusatory statements, I think these options should come in the form of suggestions from the senior manager which would show support and instruction and would help the supervisor become better equipped to deal with these issues more effectively in the future.

 

The upshot is that this manager confronted the supervisor and has spoken to her in a very unprofessional manner in front of other staff in an open plan office about her lack of imagination & ability, this was after a particularly stressful couple of days where the supervisor was constantly running around testing equipment with the help desk and sending out emails to keep all informed. The supervisor felt that the managers behaviour towards her was bullying and she had a bit of a meltdown, at which point she became emotional and said to the manager I am not sure I even want to do this job, the manager sent her home because she became very stressed and was crying, but at the same time she also said she would get a form to downgrade her back to her previous roll!!

 

I have since had a very tearful phone call from the supervisor who is afraid she may try to do this in her absence, which actually she cant do, so that is not a problem but ultimately I am a little lost on how to handle this situation. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened and when I speak to the manager about any of these incidents she comes across as she was only making reasonable requests and a manager should be able to do that without ringing the supervisors line manager all the time, she also claims that she thinks the supervisor is not equipped for the job and she should not have been given the opportunity but she schmoozes when talking to me and tries to show this as concern for the supervisor.

 

This manager has lots of on site support and this is going to be tricky for me to raise at a higher level, but I can not stand by and let the bullying behaviour continue, unfortunately, getting other staff to stand up against this person and admit she is a bully is difficult because they are all intimidated by her and I am not sure if the supervisor will do so either because these attacks always happen when she is on site and I am not there, she maybe afraid this will make things worse. I would welcome some advice please.

[Emmzzi]

can the supervisor actually do the job?

 

does the manager understand the tasks and responsibilities of the job?

 

can you be on site more often until she settles in?

[Serendipity 42]

I think she could do the job if there was not constant interference and criticism of her efforts, I believe she feels de-moralised and belittled and then feels she cant do the job.

 

The manager is only interested in the one aspect of the role the part that she is measured against, but seems oblivious to the competing demands on the supervisor and rest of the staffs time, sometimes the other stuff simply has to take priority.

 

I do try to be there as often as possible but the other site is bigger a bit further away and the impact of travelling between sites means I have less time to manage my own responsibilities, but on quieter weeks I do try and I am in constant phone contact.

 

I am wondering if this should be flagged through H.R. without a direct complaint from the supervisor just in case the situation escalates, the supervisor has now called in stating stress as a contributing factor for being away from work, however, if she is called in for comment this could add to the stress?

[Emmzzi]

I would say if you manage her, you try and sort it out before going to HR

 

A three way conversation explaining what the job is and the SLA for response times may help.