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Franke James is Editor/Founder of Office-Politics.com and Inventor of the Office-Politics® Game. Peter R. Garber has worked as an HR professional for over 25 years and is the author of many business books including: Winning the Rat Race at Work and 100 Ways to Get on the Wrong Side of your Boss. Dina Beach Lynch, is an Ombudsman, Author and former attorney. An award-winning mediator, Dina served as the Corporate Ombudsman for the 7th largest bank in the US helping over 48,000 employees to resolve workplace issues. Dr. Rick Brandon is CEO of Brandon Partners. He has consulted and trained tens of thousands at corporations worldwide, including Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries. Dr. Marty Seldman is one of America's most experienced executive coaches. His 35-year career includes expertise in executive coaching, group dynamics, cross-cultural studies, clinical psychology, and training. Arnie Herz, is a lawyer, mediator, speaker, author and consultant nationally recognized for his practical and inspired approach to conflict resolution and client counseling. Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities. |
Last week, one of our co-workers was attacked at work... This incident showed us that the security in the building needs an overhaul. April 2005, Article 9 Dear Office-Politics,
Sincerely,
Dear Troubled, Your
situation is a troubling one indeed. It sounds like you have
exhausted all avenues of complaint within your firm. If there
is no higher authority to whom you can appeal, and if you are unable
to get any response at all from management there is little that can
be done. Two
options occur to me. You might try contacting the Ministry
of Labour and consulting with their officials who oversee workplace
safety. The security risk of this unlocked door may or may
not qualify as an issue that they would become involved with, they
would have to tell you about that. Even
if the Ministry of Labour is able to help with respect to this particular
issue, however, the longer term problem seems to be the obnoxious
behaviour of this individual, and management's refusal to rein her
in. This leads to the second suggestion, which is collective
action. You
might contact a labour union about organizing the office staff, so
that you can have some say in the face of such abuse. Or you
might organize the staff informally by going to confront management
together. You would have to decide going into such a conversation
what action you are prepared to take to make an impact on management.
Are your co-workers prepared to quit if nothing is done? That
leads to the final alternative, which is simply to leave. While
it is never an easy decision to make, too often people stay in job
situations that are unhealthy because of stress. Your paycheque
cannot compensate you for days spent in fear of an outside attacker
and an internal bully. I wish you well with this situation. Thanks
for writing to Office-Politics. Dr. John Burton LL.B. M.B.A. M.Div. Ph.D. is an ethicist, mediator, lawyer and theologian whose passion is helping people and organizations create better relationships and stronger communities by being clear, committed and collaborative in their approach to ethics and conflict. John is currently located in Prince Rupert, B.C., Canada, working with Canada's aboriginal communities.
The Ethics Letters that appears as a feature of this Website is an educational and discussion oriented column designed to help the reader better understand ethical issues. The matters discussed in the letter are reviewed in a summary/abbreviated way and are only meant to foster thinking on the part of the reader. If a person decides to adopt or implement suggestions, they do so at their own risk. No representation or warranty is provided in relation to suggestions or the contents of the letter. Neither the authors of the letter, Franke James, John W. Burton, or the owners of this Website accept any liability whatsoever for any opinions expressed in the letter or for errors and omissions. Submission of letters to the Office-Politics Forum grants the Publisher, Nerdheaven Ltd. the right to reproduce, republish, repurpose and excerpt the submission in any and all other media, without compensation or contacting the author. Copyright Nerdheaven Ltd. 2002-2005
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