PHHE 441-1 Case Study #4 "Managing the Drama Queen" The Story: Janice Jenkins, one of several supervisors within the business office structure at Mammoth Medical Center, had an ongoing problem with one particular employee, a biller named Helen Benjamin. As Janice attempted to explain to her immediate manager, Casey Sutton, "I'm at a loss as to how to deal with Helen Benjamin. She's not the poorest performer in the group, but she's far from the best and she makes her share of mistakes. But every time I criticize her or try to get her to change the way she's doing something, I get a pretty wild reaction. It's not always the same reaction from one time to the next, and we seem never to get anything accomplished. Casey asked, "Wild in what ways? What is she doing?" Janice thought a moment before saying, "The mode I see her in most often is defensiveness. I'll try to correct something she's been doing wrong. First, she'll deny wrongdoing, sometimes quite vehemently. Almost always her reaction to criticism of any kind is that she just doesn't make mistakes. Then when we've reached a point where she can't successfully deny the mistake, she'll demand to know whether this incident is going to appear on her next evaluation. And she lets me know that if it does appear as part of her evaluation, she'll file a grievance." "What else?" "Her other significant approach is even tougher for me to deal with. I'll take her aside concerning something that's been done improperty-and it's always aside, always in private and when it's Helen! always try to approach the situation as gently as possible-she'll burst into tears and carry on about how unfair everything is, how she does her honest best all the time, and how the stress of the job and the way she's treated are driving her crazy. Whether she's in her defensive mode or her weeping mode, she carries on as though she's trying to impress an audience." Casey asked, "Is she treated differently from the others at all?" "Only to the extent that she takes up more of my time than any other employee. Believe me, I do my best to play no favorites. But I have 14 employees overall and I treat them all the same, and Helen is the only one who consistently gives me trouble. Seems to me that she has no clue as to how to take criticism like an adult." "How does she relate to the rest of the group?" "She seems to get along with coworkers just fine. In fact, I don't think that the others know what I go through with Helen. Whether it's been one of her defensive tirades or a weeping-and-whining session, she seems to be back to normal 30 seconds after leaving my office." Initial questions you need to answer: required to use information and help you get from McConnell for maximum number of points. Cite the text and page number for your references! 1. Offer three (3) possible reasons that explain the behavior of the "Drama Queen." 2. Recommend a course of action for Janice to consider in dealing with Helen. Be sure to provide justification for your recommendation. structions: Reply in your initial post with at least 6 sentences for EACH of the two questions below