Secretary: Sir, I did instruct the cleaner to tidy up the place before meeting
Manager: Are you trying to hold the cleaner responsible for the untidy condition of the room?
Secretary: Partly, sir, I gave him an instruction which he failed to carry out. It is certainly my intention to make a formal complaint against him for dereliction of duty.
Manager: And would you wash your hands off any blame after that? Do you think that just making a formal complaint against the cleaner absolves you of all blame? When do you consider an assignment as properly executed; when the execution is properly supervised or not? Was it sufficient for you to give instruction to the cleaner with out ensuring that he actually carried them out?
Secretary: Sir, I do not see what else I could have done, short of doing the job myself. The cleaner Is a six-footer and I could not have intimidated him physically.
Manager: I see, I await your complaints against the cleaner, but I shall not forget that you allowed a board meeting to take place in an untidy conference room.
The secretary’s attitude seems to be
- manager sir, you empolyed this huge and recalcitrant cleaner and i am not to do his job for him
-
it is not the duty of a secretary to enforce the instruction he gives to his junior workers
- i am a secretary by profession not a cleaner
- it is not terribly important how tidy the conference room is for the meeting