dealing with a difficult senior member of staff

[makeithappen]

Hello all,

 

how to deal with a senior member of staff who is difficult, suffers from paranoia (i.e. assumes that people have bad intentions towards her), and lashes out, making the atmosphere intimidating and scary? This only happens when said member faces the slightest criticism, even if really, it's the procedure/activity that's the problem, not the person!

 

 

Many thanks

[UpwardForward]

You might have to also present things to her in writing, at the time you tell her your expectations?

 

Or there could be more problems, with her making up stories at another time.

[Wiff180]

What about raising her conduct with HR anonymously ?

[preraph]

Her paranoia might not be baseless, since she has seniority and a lot of people probably want her job. With people who have been there forever, there is going to be some slack given to them so they can work for as long as they want to (if the company has a heart). Of course you can report to HR but you have to realize everyone who's been there any length of time already knows what she's like and has chosen to keep her because she's been there a long time.

[Tullyseptember]

I had a co-worker who would sounds like she was very similar to your situation. The intimidation and bullying was horrific and she had the support of some very senior people. The only tolerable solution was a lot of oh I see comments and to stay out of her way as much as possible. Interestingly she was laid off two months ago. A never ending bad situation turned into a fresh start. It's for sure a tough situation and you can only change your game plan when around this person. In my situation this person thrived on conflict and enjoyed getting negative reactions from people.