CASE 14 Pain In Claims Background Information Sandy Jones supervises a clerical and secretarial pool of eight employees at the American Standard Insurance Company. Her group is responsible for typing and filing the insurance claims and registrations for Standard’s customers in the Southern region. It is high-volume work that, although requiring speed and ac- curacy, is often tedious. Sandy is proud of her unit because they get the work done well. Generally, Sandy enjoys her job and likes the people she works with. Most of her subordi nates are young women who recently graduated from high school, some from the same school. By and large, this is their first regular job. Sandy has one headache, though, and that headache is Katherine Brusk- owicz. Katherine is a very good worker, perhaps quicker and more accurate than anyone else in the unit. She leamed the job very quickly and now finishes her work before the others. The only problem with Katherine, as Sandy told a friend at lunch one day, is that "she’s just a pain in the ass." "For example," Sandy said, "Katherine talks all the time. Now I know the work can be tedious, and I let the girls talk as long as they get their work done, but Katherine can get really loud at times, especially when I'm gone. I know, I’ve gotten complaints from others.” Sandy is worred that Katherine’ talkative- hess may become an annoyance and distraction to the other employees. Even more disturbing than the volume of her talk is its content. Katherine seems to delight in verbally harassing and intimidating the other employees in the unit. She brags about all the boyfriends she has. She'll often mock how other employees dress or talk, and will argue with them about doing certain tasks. She even picks on Sharon regularly, teasing her about her weight and lack of boyfriends. Some of the employees in the unit have become accustomed to Katherine and can now take her in stride, although there are others who have a more diffi- cult time dealing with her, and whom she still upsets. In either case, the employ- ees in the unit have to make adjustments, and morale in the unit stays low. Sandy is certain that if Katherine weren’t there, everyone would be much hap- pier. Sandy has informally talked with Katherine a few times about these matters, and Katherine will behave for a day or two—then pick up again where she left off. 14Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training CASE QUESTIONS 1. Is there a problem? Explain. 2. How should Sandy respond?Case 14: Pain in Claims CASE DISCUSSIO! A Pain In Claims Summary Sandy Jones supervises a group of eight clerks who do high-volume, rela- tively routine typing and filing tasks. The employees tend to be young women who recently graduated from high school. This is their first job. Katherine Bruskowicz. is perhaps Sandy's best performer. However, she tends to be a disruption in the workplace. For example, she is a loud and inces- sant talker. She is also verbally abusive. She boasts about her boyfriends and be- lites Sandy, who has no boyfriends. She also teases Sandy about being overweight. Although some of the employees take her in stride, others are upset by her. Sandy believes that Katherine causes some morale problems. Sandy has "infor- mally" talked with Katherine about these matters on several occasions, Kather- ine will make a temporary improvement then revert to form, Answers to Case Questions 1. Is there a problem? If so, what is it? This is a borderline call. While Katherine is annoying, it is not clear that there are significant productivity problems as a result. Some of her co- workers have adjusted to her. Furthermore, Katherine's job performance is evidently good. On the other hand, Katherine’s talking and rudeness do seem to heighten the level of tension and reduce the group's morale. Considering the above, the question is whether Kathcrinc’s verbal be~ havior is an annoyance or a problem. This is a determin: supervisor needs to make individually. However, Sandy should watch for signs of hostility or stress directed at Katherine. She should also pay attention to the turnover of her staff. If either increases, Sandy will need to act so that the work problems caused by Katherine will not grow even more serious and the work environment further deteriorate. 2. How should Sandy respond? It is not clear that Sandy now should do much more than she is already doing. Certainly, as noted above, she should begin monitoring the mood of her group more closely. She should also continue to correct Katherine when she gets out of hand, Sandy should also schedule a formal meeting with Katherine to discuss the problem of her loud and abusive behaviors. Unless matters grow worse, itis not clear that Katherine’s behavior is of sufficient nature to justify a formal disciplinary procedure. 143