Case Study $1$: Don't Set Supervisors Up for Failure

Danelle and Francine, two room attendants at the Center City Hotel, were chatting about their new supervisor while cleaning a guestroom together. "I like Leslie a lot, she's always treated me right," Danelle said while stripping the king$-$size bed. "But this situation with Naomi is starting to get to her."

Leslie is the newest supervisor in the housekeeping department; she was promoted to her position two months ago. Naomi is a room attendant who joined the department three weeks ago. She is from the South Pacific. She moved to the area because her husband is studying at the local university.

"Yep, Leslie's frustrated," Francine replied as she changed out the pillow cases. "She's a good supervisor, but I think she's in over her head with Naomi. Naomi keeps talking about how people in her culture think of time differently than us Americans, and when she starts talking about 'linear time', and 'sequential cultures versus synchronic cultures', I get completely lost. I think Leslie does, too," Francine laughed. "All I know is$,$ Naomi shows up late for things a lot, and that gets on Leslie's nerves."

"Right!" Danelle said$\{"$And Naomi doesn't like it when Leslie asks for us to give input on decisions that affect the department. 'Leslie is the boss; she should just tell us what to do$\text{'},$ Naomi told me$."$

"Yeah," Francine agreed, "I was having lunch with Naomi last week, and she said, $\text{'}$In my country, employees just do what they're told'"$\text{'}$

"Leslie's so discouraged, she even confided in me about it this morning," Danelle said. "She said she wants to be helpful to all her employees, but she knows she sometimes irritates Naomi, even though she supervises everyone exactly the same way. She doesn't know what to do$.$ She said she talked to her boss about it$,$ but didn't get much help."

Case Study $1$: Discussion Questions

What, if any, responsibility does the boss of a new supervisor have to help that new supervisor effectively manage a diverse workforce?