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- Do I agree with the expert (🧑🏼🔬)?
- Yeah, for the most part I agree with the experts. With regards to Karen Firestone’s commentary, I think it is paramount that Elizabeth secures a new job before she decides to leave her current one, if she commits to leaving that is. She has reached a level within the company that has a certain amount of prestige. It is also lucrative in terms of the compensation she receives. It would be a terrible shame for Elizabeth to sacrifice these benefits so early on in her career over some minor dalliance with a co-worker (😏). I think the best thing for Elizabeth would be to take some time off, perhaps a transfer to the European office could be beneficial, both professionally and personally, in order to consider her options and remove herself from the immediacy of the situation. Wendi Lazar reinforces this is a way by remarking that Elizabeth should take some time to digest the situation before making any rash decisions. I will say, however, that while the corporate environment is definitely male-dominated and chauvinistic, Elizabeth should have shown more foresight in entering a relationship with a high-level executive at a small company. It was inevitable that the status of their relationship would emerge at some point, and both parties should have given more thought (although it sounds like Brad doesn’t think too much) about the potential consequences of a failed relationship between the two (💔).
- If I was a manager, and found out about the situation, what would I do about this (👩🏼💼)?
- I think the manager, having noticed that a relationship was developing between Brad and Elizabeth, made the right decision to talk to Elizabeth about keeping the relationship out of the office, as they were worried it would detract from the company’s productivity and Elizabeth’s career. The failure on the manager’s part is two-pronged, however, as they failed to speak to Brad (at least from the details we know within the case) about his involvement or role in the relationship, which essentially created an imbalance of power between the two employees within the firm (something that is aggravated by the fact that one is male and one is female) (👩🏻❤️👨🏽). If it were me in this situation, I would have made it very apparent to both parties that this relationship would have to remain outside of the office, in the event that it hinders the other employees capacities to work efficiently. The other issue that I think was made by the management was their failure to create distinct policies at the outset of the company’s formation for dealing with issues like this. By neglecting this potential issue and kicking the can down the road, the management set themselves up for a potential lawsuit down the road, which could greatly hinder the company’s growth and its ability to compete within the industry if it has to pay restitution costs to Elizabeth, especially in the event she wins (💪🏼). An issue like this could also damage the company’s credibility and make it more difficult for them to hire or retain employees down the line. Again, if I were the management of the firm, I would set out clear guidelines and expectations in the event that a relationship was formed between two employees in the company. I would enact clear procedures on how to deal with instances like this, leaving no nebulous approaches as to how a situation like this should be dealt with (📜).
