In the Tribal Leaders Institute, there are a lot of stories about Joe the Tribal Worker and Susie Sainte. Erich says,
Joe is an unethical person who lies about his qualifications to get the job, comes to work late, leaves early, takes two hour lunches to run into town for groceries or a six-pack of beer, hires his relatives who also do almost no work - well, you get the picture.
Another person we discuss a lot is Susie Sainte. Susie is the opposite of Joe, competent, hard-working, ethical. Fortunately, for every Joe out there, we have meet at least one Susie, too.
Joe and Susie are frequently in conflict. Their goals, values and beliefs are completely different. You can read the stories some Tribal Leader Institute members have written about the Susie or Joe on their own reservation on the Tribal Leader Forum's Joe the Tribal Worker section.
Why would anyone want to keep Joe as a worker instead of Susie? It seems like a no-brainer, right?
It all goes back to two of the Dakota values discussed over and over, courage and honesty. Let's look at what happens with Marcia, a generous, hard-working manager, in her first year as manager of the Tribal Health Department. She has several people working for her, Joe, Susie and a few others who are neither as worthless as Joe nor as completely honest, reliable and effective as Susie.
In her first month on the job, Susie walks into Marcia's office and complains that Joe has three times missed a meeting that was scheduled with another department. Because the two of them were responsible for representing health concerns, Susie for the children's health programs and Joe for elder health, the project is behind schedule. Susie says,
Marcia thinks that Susie is a little too focused on herself and it is not worth getting angry about, however, she promises to talk to Joe. She does, and Joe tells her that Susie did not tell him about the meeting. Besides, he says, Susie is just an over-anxious person trying to be white. He jokes,
Joe is quite charming. Marcia tells Susie that she has talked to Joe and the situation should be better in the future. As the months go on, Joe continues to miss meetings while Susie obtains a new grant for an early childhood screening program. At evaluation time, Susie gets an outstanding evaluation and a raise.
Joe also gets a good evaluation and a raise. After all, he is a nice guy and we all need to get along. He has worked for the tribe a long time and we need to support our enrolled members. Or so Marcia tells herself. In that time, Joe has worked for seven different departments in the tribal administration, while Susie has been in her present job for three years and her last job for seven years before that.
The truth is that everyone gets a good evaluation. Marcia does not want any unpleasant scenes if someone gets a bad review and doesn't get a raise. After all, she tells herself, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Susie thinks the fact that they both received good evaluations and raises is extremely unfair but she can't think of a way to bring it up without looking stingy. She thinks about coming into work an hour late, as many of her co-workers have started to do, noticing that nothing happens to Joe. However, she believes it is just plain wrong to lie on your time card and claim you worked more hours than you actually did. She just can't bring herself to do it even if everyone else in her department does.
Susie mentions to Marcia that she has been working a lot of hours and it does not seem to be reflected in the difference in pay and promotions. Marcia tells her that she does not need to work so hard and should relax, the work can get done tomorrow. When Marcia tells Joe or the other employees this when they complain, they compliment her on being so understanding. On the other hand, Susie says, "Fine!" and walks out of her office.
Don't get me wrong, Marcia really likes Susie. She is smart and really cares about tribal health, and so does Marcia. They have good conversations on the future of health care, on what the tribe needs. Marcia thought it was great that Susie got a grant and has told her so many times. In fact, she can't understand why Susie seems so annoyed with her so often when Marcia tries to be a good supervisor, She gave her a good evaluation. She got a raise. Marcia tells Susie she appreciates her. What more does she want?
After a year, even Marcia is beginning to see that Joe is not doing his job. Other department managers have complained to her. The Transportation Department manager says when he asks questions about the number of elders needing transportation, or how many vehicles Tribal Health has for transportation or how many trips they make with elders per month, Joe either has no answer or gives an answer that turns out to be wrong. Other staff members seem to avoid being assigned to work with Joe.
Marcia does not want to confront Joe. He has a reputation as having a bad temper. He has a large family that is very active during tribal council elections. Besides, she tells herself, he has been working for the tribe for a long time, he has a family to support.
On Thursday, Susie walked into Marcia's office, slammed the door and told her that she had just found out that Joe had gone to the tribal council and claimed to have written the grant for the children's program. Believing him, after all, he worked in tribal health for Marcia, the council approved Joe to go ahead and write a proposal for health care funding. He did not get the proposal in on time and the tribe lost the chance for funding. Marcia finally sees the point. She says,
Susie says quietly,
Marcia is stunned. How can this be happening? She has given Susie raises, praised her work, let her have time off whenever she wanted. How can Susie be quitting?
It's simple, really. Marcia has not had the courage to take the action against Joe she needed to take. Marcia did not have the honesty to admit that Joe was a bad employee. He did not need more training, more time, another explanation of department needs. Marcia did not have the courage and honesty to fire Joe, so she lost Susie Sainte.
And this is how tribal organizations lose their good workers and keep their bad ones.
"Joe must have supernatural powers because I meet him on every reservation I visit."
Joe is an unethical person who lies about his qualifications to get the job, comes to work late, leaves early, takes two hour lunches to run into town for groceries or a six-pack of beer, hires his relatives who also do almost no work - well, you get the picture.
Another person we discuss a lot is Susie Sainte. Susie is the opposite of Joe, competent, hard-working, ethical. Fortunately, for every Joe out there, we have meet at least one Susie, too.
Joe and Susie are frequently in conflict. Their goals, values and beliefs are completely different. You can read the stories some Tribal Leader Institute members have written about the Susie or Joe on their own reservation on the Tribal Leader Forum's Joe the Tribal Worker section.
Why would anyone want to keep Joe as a worker instead of Susie? It seems like a no-brainer, right?
It all goes back to two of the Dakota values discussed over and over, courage and honesty. Let's look at what happens with Marcia, a generous, hard-working manager, in her first year as manager of the Tribal Health Department. She has several people working for her, Joe, Susie and a few others who are neither as worthless as Joe nor as completely honest, reliable and effective as Susie.
In her first month on the job, Susie walks into Marcia's office and complains that Joe has three times missed a meeting that was scheduled with another department. Because the two of them were responsible for representing health concerns, Susie for the children's health programs and Joe for elder health, the project is behind schedule. Susie says,
"I put a lot of work into this. I have come to the meeting and presented my programs and we are all waiting on Joe. He is making the department look bad and wasting everyone's time."
Marcia thinks that Susie is a little too focused on herself and it is not worth getting angry about, however, she promises to talk to Joe. She does, and Joe tells her that Susie did not tell him about the meeting. Besides, he says, Susie is just an over-anxious person trying to be white. He jokes,
"She doesn't understand about reservation time, like real Indians like you and me."
Joe is quite charming. Marcia tells Susie that she has talked to Joe and the situation should be better in the future. As the months go on, Joe continues to miss meetings while Susie obtains a new grant for an early childhood screening program. At evaluation time, Susie gets an outstanding evaluation and a raise.
Joe also gets a good evaluation and a raise. After all, he is a nice guy and we all need to get along. He has worked for the tribe a long time and we need to support our enrolled members. Or so Marcia tells herself. In that time, Joe has worked for seven different departments in the tribal administration, while Susie has been in her present job for three years and her last job for seven years before that.
The truth is that everyone gets a good evaluation. Marcia does not want any unpleasant scenes if someone gets a bad review and doesn't get a raise. After all, she tells herself, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Susie thinks the fact that they both received good evaluations and raises is extremely unfair but she can't think of a way to bring it up without looking stingy. She thinks about coming into work an hour late, as many of her co-workers have started to do, noticing that nothing happens to Joe. However, she believes it is just plain wrong to lie on your time card and claim you worked more hours than you actually did. She just can't bring herself to do it even if everyone else in her department does.
Susie mentions to Marcia that she has been working a lot of hours and it does not seem to be reflected in the difference in pay and promotions. Marcia tells her that she does not need to work so hard and should relax, the work can get done tomorrow. When Marcia tells Joe or the other employees this when they complain, they compliment her on being so understanding. On the other hand, Susie says, "Fine!" and walks out of her office.
Don't get me wrong, Marcia really likes Susie. She is smart and really cares about tribal health, and so does Marcia. They have good conversations on the future of health care, on what the tribe needs. Marcia thought it was great that Susie got a grant and has told her so many times. In fact, she can't understand why Susie seems so annoyed with her so often when Marcia tries to be a good supervisor, She gave her a good evaluation. She got a raise. Marcia tells Susie she appreciates her. What more does she want?
After a year, even Marcia is beginning to see that Joe is not doing his job. Other department managers have complained to her. The Transportation Department manager says when he asks questions about the number of elders needing transportation, or how many vehicles Tribal Health has for transportation or how many trips they make with elders per month, Joe either has no answer or gives an answer that turns out to be wrong. Other staff members seem to avoid being assigned to work with Joe.
Marcia does not want to confront Joe. He has a reputation as having a bad temper. He has a large family that is very active during tribal council elections. Besides, she tells herself, he has been working for the tribe for a long time, he has a family to support.
On Thursday, Susie walked into Marcia's office, slammed the door and told her that she had just found out that Joe had gone to the tribal council and claimed to have written the grant for the children's program. Believing him, after all, he worked in tribal health for Marcia, the council approved Joe to go ahead and write a proposal for health care funding. He did not get the proposal in on time and the tribe lost the chance for funding. Marcia finally sees the point. She says,
"That's it. I am going to move Joe out of the elder programs tomorrow and you are going to take those over."
Susie says quietly,
"No, I don't think so. I am leaving to work for the Tribal Controller."
Marcia is stunned. How can this be happening? She has given Susie raises, praised her work, let her have time off whenever she wanted. How can Susie be quitting?
It's simple, really. Marcia has not had the courage to take the action against Joe she needed to take. Marcia did not have the honesty to admit that Joe was a bad employee. He did not need more training, more time, another explanation of department needs. Marcia did not have the courage and honesty to fire Joe, so she lost Susie Sainte.
And this is how tribal organizations lose their good workers and keep their bad ones.
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