Sarah and Lisa were
colleagues who had been working together in the same department of a retail
organisation. Sarah was a middle aged, loyal member of staff who had been in
her role for almost 20 years and Lisa was a young, entry level salesperson who
had been with the company for just over a year. Susan was known to have a
strong, brash personality towards all staff, supposedly a by product of working
in the same job and industry. In her long standing position, several people had
been unable to cope with the demands and clashes of trivial conflict with Sarah
and had even requested for transfers to other departments.
Over the course of the year,
Lisa had grown accustomed to conduct of the department and established a sense
of comfort within the working environment.
She also developed a relatively friendly relationship with Sarah and the
other staff. However, one day Sarah commented something in passing that deeply
upset and offended Lisa. She broke down in tears in the staff bathroom where
several colleagues offered her words of consolation. When she returned to her
department, she stopped conversing entirely with Sarah, except for necessary
work related talk. As this was not the
first time Sarah had affronted a fellow colleague, Lisa approached a manager
about her specific issue and they provided her with a choice to change
department.
Although realising Lisa’s
change of behaviour and demeanour, Sarah was only made aware of the effects of
her comment through other colleagues. Unwilling to address the issue, both
women continued to avoid each other and as consequence, much tension and
rigidity was felt in the department environment.
How can the other colleagues
approach this situation in order to restore the working environment?
