“She’s been nursing these grievances for years,” Lisa said. “I don’t think it’s really personal. She wouldn’t be happy with anybody in the position, because it’s not her who’s in it.” She shook her head. “The problem is, she can’t see that she isn’t being promoted because she doesn’t have the right people skills to be a manager at that level.”
“We’ve had problems with turnover in her department for years,” Delbert said. “Her staff doesn’t like her, and she’s rude to them all the time.”
“If she’s so unhappy here, why hasn’t she looked for another job?” I asked. “She might stand a better chance elsewhere.”
Delbert emitted a short bark of laughter. “She has looked, even gone for a few interviews, but nobody else will hire her. Can you imagine that she’s any more pleasant when she interviews than she is on a daily basis here?” He grimaced. “She just doesn’t get it.”
“Thank you for the background information,” I said. “I’m going to have to talk to her about her behavior, and it’s good to know the history. Now, on to other matters. I need to get up to speed on what’s going on in your departments. What I’d like is to have a meeting with each of you, separately, to go over your budgets, any personnel issues you might have, and discuss any concerns you and your staff have. I want to understand the workflow in your areas, too, so information on that will be helpful. This is the end of the week, and I’m not expecting you to pull everything together today. How about Wednesday?”
“That’s fine with me,” Lisa said. Delbert nodded.
“Excellent,” I said. “If you will, e-mail Melba and set up a time. I don’t know offhand what my schedule might be for Wednesday, but she will get it sorted out. Now, before we get back to work, is there anything you’d like to ask?”
“How detailed do you want the budget information to be?” Delbert asked. “I mean, I’ve got spreadsheets like you wouldn’t believe, thanks to Reilly, who wanted the same information presented seventeen different ways.” He snorted. “I think he did it just to be difficult.”
Lisa nodded. “I’ve never spent so much time on a budget in my life.”
Was Reilly being purposely difficult? I wondered. Or was he hoping to find discrepancies, evidence of financial malfeasance? I kept those thoughts to myself when I answered.
“I’d like to see your most recent figures, with expenses to date for the year, plus, let’s say, the last three years. Can you pull that together by Wednesday?”
Both Lisa and Delbert nodded.
“Thanks very much.” I rose. “I know that, with your help, we’ll get through the next few months in good fashion. I’ll be on the search committee for the new director, and I’m hopeful we’ll find someone outstanding.”
“That would be a nice change,” Delbert said. “See you later.” He loped off, and Lisa, after a quick smile, followed him out of the room.
I stared at the wall for a moment. I didn’t relish my next task, but I couldn’t put it off. I had to talk to Cassandra and let her know I was not going to tolerate her behavior. I had dealt with recalcitrant employees before, and though I didn’t like confrontations, I also wouldn’t shrink from one, especially in cases like this.
I picked up my briefcase and wended my way through the public areas to the staff-only section in the southeast corner of the building. The librarians’ offices formed a row against the outside wall. The wall of each office facing the common area was floor-to-ceiling glass, and that allowed the occupants to see the activity in the staff cubicles and work areas. I spotted Cassandra, phone to her ear, and I headed for her office. I smiled and greeted staff members as I passed.
I knocked on Cassandra’s closed door, then opened it without waiting for an invitation to enter. I was determined to have the upper hand and keep it. If this action put her off balance, all the better.
Cassandra glared when I walked in.
“I’ll have to call you back,” she said, then hung up the phone.
I stopped in front of her desk and stared down at her.
“Forrest Wyatt asked me to serve as interim director of this library,” I said. “I agreed to do it, and however long I hold this position, I expect complete cooperation from every single staff member in the library. I will not tolerate anything else, and I will not tolerate the kind of behavior you exhibited a few minutes ago. If there are any further incidents like that, then you and I will be sitting down with Penny Sisson in HR and deciding what action to take. I will be going through all the personnel files and examining performance appraisals, staff turnover, and budgets in minute detail. I will not tolerate any obstacles.”
Cassandra looked shell-shocked, and I had to wonder whether anyone had ever stood up to her bullying behavior. I doubted Peter had. He shrank from confrontation much more than I did and was inclined to let problems fester until they became worse. I wasn’t fond of confrontation, either, but in my management roles in Houston I’d had to be tough on occasion.
“I will be meeting with you on Wednesday to go over your budget, your staff, and any ongoing issues in your department that need attention. Please e-mail Melba to arrange a time. I don’t know yet what my schedule for that day will be, but I expect to see your appointment with me on it by the end of the day. Is that clear?”
Cassandra nodded, then opened her mouth to speak.
“I don’t believe there’s anything else I have to say at the moment, and I know you have work that needs attention, so I will let you get on with it. Have a good day.” With that, I turned and walked out of her office.
I realized I had forgotten to close her door behind me when I went in, and obviously some of the staff in nearby cubicles had overheard everything. I was aggravated with myself for the lapse, but also amused to see the miming of applause from several people as I walked by.
During the time it took for me to wend my way through the library and back to my office in the other building, I worked on cooling my temper down. I despised bullying in any form, and that’s what Cassandra was basically: a bully. She used her rudeness and blatant contempt for other people to bulldoze her way through things. When she didn’t get what she wanted, she had no idea why she didn’t get it. I had dealt with her kind before in the workplace, and they had all moved on. I could be unbelievably stubborn over some things, and this was one of them. She would not persist in this behavior. She would either learn to behave properly and professionally, or she could find a job elsewhere.
Back in the office, I found Melba filing and Diesel lolling on the carpet near her. “How’s it going?” I asked. There was no sign of Kanesha and her department. The campus policeman remained on duty near the front door, though.
Diesel chirped happily at the sight of me and got up to come rub against my legs. I scratched his head, and he meowed in pleasure.
“Not bad,” Melba said. “Fortunately the idiot got interrupted before he could dump all the files on the floor, only about a third of them.” She waved a hand to indicate the cleared floor. “I’ve got most of them sorted, and I’m filing them. I should be done by lunchtime.”
“Good,” I said. “I’m going to be working on the files in my office.”
“No need.” Melba smiled. “I started in there and got everything sorted and filed. I printed a copy of your schedule for today and next week, and it’s on your desk. The IT person has set things up so you can access all the files you need, and given you access to Peter’s and Reilly’s e-mail accounts.”
“I’ll be drowning in information,” I said wryly. “Speaking of which, I’d like to take a look at the personnel files we have on the department heads.” I told her about the meetings I wanted set up for next week.