Answer to Question of the Week #18
Each week, we post a thought-provoking question for your consideration. Here’s our last question, along with your answers . . .
A manager named Bob shows up more than two hours late for work. Bob is normally a responsible, quiet individual. Today, however, he acts “obscenely happy, wearing make-up, avoiding eye contact, continuously rubbing his legs and touching everyone.” He also does a “crazy monkey arm dance” and then “twirls and talks gibberish, flying around in the office in a hyper state.” Then he leaves. What do you do?
a. Fire him for inappropriate workplace behavior (4%)
b. Do a crazy monkey arm dance in his honor until he returns (4%)
c. Drug test him (9%)
d. Give him a chance to explain his behavior (74%)
e. Call the police (9%)
The correct answer is “d”: Give him a chance to explain his behavior.
Sometimes the logical answer is the right answer. When I was in private practice, I was surprised at how often I had to ask the seemingly obvious question: “Did you give the employee a chance to explain?” Too often, decision-makers want to jump to the conclusion (e.g., “Let’s fire him right now!) without getting all the facts.
In this particular case, the decision-maker was advised to ask that simple question. He was glad he did. Unbeknownst to him, “Bob” was suffering from cancer and had just started a new medication. Unfortunately, the medication had a side effect that resulted in the out-of-character behavior. The story has a happy ending: the medication was adjusted and Bob quickly returned to his “responsible, quiet” self.
Our viewers are now batting a healthy .611 (11 right, 7 wrong) on our weekly questions. The next one will be coming your way soon.
Thanks for your participation!
