First, I want to address the question of whether or not I agree with the expert. Karen Firestone advises Elizabeth to aggressively pursue other opportunities and learn from her mistakes at this company. I tend to agree with Karen, because she makes a good case that Elizabeth is a highly desirable employee in the job market and she wants to leave her current company with a strong impression (and avoid drama, in case it gets worse). She could also potentially transfer to the London office, but if she doesn’t actually want to be in London, she might as well just transfer to a different company. On a more personal level, I think Elizabeth could choose to potentially stick it out and see if her feelings cool over time, but that seems like a riskier option and also unnecessary – how is she supposed to perform her best when her personal life troubles are constantly being shoved in her face?
If I was a manager and I found out about the situation, I think I would do my best to not take sides and not put anyone in an uncomfortable situation. For instance, in the story, Elizabeth’s boss sent her on a trip with her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend, which clearly shows he’s not the best at reading the room and managing personal relationships. Part of being a good manager is managing these disputes responsibly and professionally, and part of that could be limiting the interactions. Obviously, if behavior continues to get worse even after this avoidance policy, then I would have to talk to each team member to figure out the root of the issue.
