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Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,415
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

If your friend is professionally responsible for the content of the data that she inputs, and then the clerk changes it - this is a big deal. Your friend should discuss this in a sit down with both the clerk and the supervisor.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.... ~ S & G
Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,958
Registered: ‎09-28-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

Not going to get in to the right or wrong of it as the supervisor obviously doesn't see it as big an issue as your friend OR the supervisor would have talked to the clerk and chose not to. By telling your friend she could talk to the clerk, that's telling me the super sees it as a personal issue, not a job issue.

I will say however that consistency in entry, or inconsistency will show up on the report pulled. If I'm pulling a report, I want it to look professional and I don't want to have to go in and modify the entries in a specific field to get that appearance.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,221
Registered: ‎08-09-2012

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

On 3/5/2014 TaxyLady said:
On 3/5/2014 kittymomNC said:

I don't understand why the supervisor is putting this off on your friend to work out - if the supervisor is aware of the problem, why is she not directly involved in resolving it??? That should be in her job description......sounds to me like she doesn't want to deal with it....

Coming from management I know why. This is petty. There are always trouble makers and some managers do not want to deal with petty squabbles. Women are notorious for them. I know this from experience. I once said to my staff "you better learn how to get along or we can walk upstairs and you can explain it to the big boss" They got along.

I was in HR management myself, and yes, this is petty. But when your staff had problems with each other, you were apparently the one who took care of it by saying what you did. This supervisor could do the same thing.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 16,584
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

If the clerk changes significant info, I'd be upset and talk with her. I wouldn't expect much good to happen though, so the changes would really have to be important.

Capitalization? Lots of websites automatically change that to conform with whatever parameters they set or the local administrator sets. I wouldn't get involved.

If the changes are the clerk exerting her power, the friend is in trouble. I worked under a power-obsessed supervisor for many years before finally getting a transfer. A year or two later, I found myself in another office with a colleague as we told one of us was to be transferred back to our previous placement. We were told I wasn't wanted. I guess I should have been offended, but I was so relieved I felt guilty, just not guilty enough to insist on being put back into that "transfer pot." Fortunately, another way was found to protect my colleague from being transferred and we were all happy once again. Few workers do well with control-hungry management. I feel for OP's friend.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,706
Registered: ‎06-23-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

Most databases have naming conventions, and it would probably help out in this case. It sounds like both parties may be at "fault," as both seem to have some control issues? JMHO I would tend to "side" a bit more with the clerk, as the database is primarily her responsibility (with others filling in when she is absent). The clerk should probably not use "slang" with hospital names, though. Maybe a compromise will settle things - the clerk can agree to not use "slang," and the co-worker can agree to use lower case. Also, any time there are changes made, the database keeps record of who made the changes, so there shouldn't be any database integrity issues. I think the department can resolve this issue by establishing naming conventions, but it sounds like there will always be some resentment between the two workers. Hope they can talk things out.

(edited to change Clerk to clerk. ;-) )

♥ Life is beauty full ♥
Honored Contributor
Posts: 12,195
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

The clerk sees it as her job and her choice how data is entered. She wants uniformity, who wouldn't? Having these outliers entered by your friend annoys her so she changes them. Your friend is in the wrong here, she should follow the form the clerk has established. Her insistence on capitals and formal names is a criticism of the clerk who doesn't.

Your friend should do her job and when she enters data for the clerk she should do it the clerk's way. Going to a supervisor over such petty nonsense doesn't put your friend in a positive light.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,559
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

It's a petty squabble. If the clerk needs to change entries that don't change the actual facts, that's on her. It's no one else's job to conform to irrelevanacies -- or -- let the supervisor decide what is relevant. Either way, let it go.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,958
Registered: ‎09-28-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

On 3/5/2014 occasional rain said:

The clerk sees it as her job and her choice how data is entered. She wants uniformity, who wouldn't? Having these outliers entered by your friend annoys her so she changes them. Your friend is in the wrong here, she should follow the form the clerk has established. Her insistence on capitals and formal names is a criticism of the clerk who doesn't.

Your friend should do her job and when she enters data for the clerk she should do it the clerk's way. Going to a supervisor over such petty nonsense doesn't put your friend in a positive light.

It has occurred to me that there is definitely resentment over the clerk's attendance problem and I wonder if that is really what is behind the data entry disagreement. Perhaps it's a passive/aggressive means of making an issue of it? Why would someone filling in insist on doing it differently and make so much an issue of it as to take it to the supervisor? I think there is a whole lot more involved here.

Super Contributor
Posts: 1,057
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

On 3/5/2014 Buck-i-Nana said:
On 3/5/2014 occasional rain said:

The clerk sees it as her job and her choice how data is entered. She wants uniformity, who wouldn't? Having these outliers entered by your friend annoys her so she changes them. Your friend is in the wrong here, she should follow the form the clerk has established. Her insistence on capitals and formal names is a criticism of the clerk who doesn't.

Your friend should do her job and when she enters data for the clerk she should do it the clerk's way. Going to a supervisor over such petty nonsense doesn't put your friend in a positive light.

It has occurred to me that there is definitely resentment over the clerk's attendance problem and I wonder if that is really what is behind the data entry disagreement. Perhaps it's a passive/aggressive means of making an issue of it? Why would someone filling in insist on doing it differently and make so much an issue of it as to take it to the supervisor? I think there is a whole lot more involved here.

Bingo!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,527
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Co-worker Issue..Would you let it go?

Supervisor seems to be happy with the way the clerk wants it done.

I'd do it the way the clerk wants it, then she won't change it.

End of story.

My guess is she doesn't like the clerk for reasons other than that she changes her work. She needs to get over it and/or find another job.

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Keepin' it real.