Disciplinary proceedings
The store at which I work probably has around forty to fifty staff on the payroll, and with so many people interacting in the space of a day there will inevitably be people who don’t get on, disagreements and altercations. Everyone who works there has the option of speaking to the store manager if they have a problem with anything in the store – quite rightly. This includes members of staff, and they have every right to lodge a complaint about someone. Before our particular store manager will begin the disciplinary proceedings, if indeed the complaint warrants such action, he will always ask the member of staff who is complaining one particular question:
What have you done about it?
He never fails to ask this question, as he firmly believes that he should have as little as possible to do with relations between staff. He actively encourages people to solve their own problems. He advises them to speak to the person or persons and try to sort the issue out with mature discussion. If this has failed, then he will undertake disciplinary proceedings. I wholeheartedly endorse this theory.
I was demoted from my position as super moderator of The BBS yesterday afternoon. Comments I made about the tactics used by a certain member in an ASBN battle riled some, one or more users and led them to make a complaint about me.
I am not posting this blog to defend my actions. I can’t defend my actions, to be frank. What I did was wrong. I went too far with what I said, which combined with circumstances within this person’s life at home to make them feel uncomfortable (I didn’t find out about these circumstances until after the event, but that’s no excuse). I am posting this blog to highlight the fact that the first I knew of any disquiet was in the PM informing me of my demotion. I had no communication with this person whatsoever – they made no attempt to address the problem directly and maturely. Instead, they went straight to the top. This should have been the last option. I don’t accept the argument that this person’s uncomfortableness with me prevented them. It didn’t prevent them from conversing with me in any situation, be it on the forum or on IRC.
Allow me to reiterate that I know what I did was wrong, and allow me to expand upon that by saying that the punishment fits the crime. I take issue solely with the way in which what I did was dealt with by the certain person who I criticised. If the person had contacted me instead of the admin first, then we could have discussed the incidents and made progress. Instead, it will only serve to alienate us and breed resentment. And that makes me sad.
