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Divas at Work

A television sitcom, 90’s cult following movie, corporate America, and workforce development: what do they all have in common? They are all home to a workplace diva. The one thing that makes workforce development even more special than your average American workplace is that there are divas that work in workforce development and there are diva customers of the workforce development system.

Let’s get this out in the open. Everyone is special and unique in their own right. Everyone has unique qualities that make them talented and unique. The work place takes all those special talents, unique qualities, and backgrounds and mixes them together for a recipe all its own. Although this may seem like a hearty stew or salad, the mix is more like a delicate soufflĂ©. It needs the correct environment and timing to get it just right.  I like to think I am putting this nicely. Really, it can be more like the Survivor television show with strategic alliances or high school with cliques and mean girl/boy groups. As adults we have a name for this, “office politics.”

I want to take a closer look at the “Employed Diva” and the “Unemployed Diva” as both are in our midst.

Employed Diva (a.k.a Diva Co-Worker):

§     May have issues getting along with people or groups. Some people in the workplace may avoid this individual.
§     May come off as “self-important” and wants you to know it.
§     Is high maintenance and craves attention
§     Likes to drive the office politics
§    May not be accountable for his actions and may look to place blame on others (conspiracy alert!)

Now what happens if the above individual loses his/her job? The job search may not be easy. This person may not be the easiest of customers to assist.  This person is now the “Unemployed Diva!”

Unemployed Diva (a.k.a Diva Customer):

§   Has trouble with networking to the next position. May not be able to get referrals from his connections
§   May have issues with references from past employers
§   The conspiracy is now bigger! It is the reason he is not getting employed!
§   Can be thrown for a loop on an interview with introspective questions that require self-evaluation

Bringing it home to us, the workforce development professionals, it means that it does feel like we work on a reality show, star on a sitcom, or are scared of the infamous “RED STAPLER” because we are surrounded.  It means that we need to do “Diva Management”

Tips for Diva Management:

§       Personality plays a bigger role in our lives than we suspect. It doesn’t matter what the hard skills are if the soft skills aren’t there. If you can provide some counseling to a “diva customer” to talk them through some situations that may cause issues, it would be a benefit to that customer. For the “diva coworker” only a trusted mentor will be able to make the impact the diva will hear

§       You can’t change personality, but you can drive people toward introspection and self-evaluation.  There may be books you can give as a “gift” to a “diva coworker” or keep on your shelf for a  recommendation to a “diva customer.”

§        There will come a time that every diva will need to learn to manage their quirks, so that they don’t manage them and destroy their reputation. For the diva, employment retention is an issue, so helping them understand their role in situations, will hopefully lead to a change in future situations.


If anyone has any more tips, feel free to comment on this post. If anyone has any topics of interest, you would like me to discuss, shoot me an email or comment. Happy reading! ~Karen Cirincione~ kcirincione@gmail.com



Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2014 at 6:33 PM

    Dear KC,
    I love the way you have pegged the "un-self-aware" individual, and recommended some very useful, easy-to-employ, strategies. I recommend a workshop called "I've done everything they said, and no one will hire me, it must be me!" But I suppose it may require more insight than a diva has to know when to register for that workshop. Thanks for shedding a light on the difficult to assist individual...but then when our helpful suggestions bounce off like Teflon, then all we have to do is sit back, watch, and wait until life hands them a mirror....Mirror, Mirror, in the unemployment line....JH Fields

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KCSpeaksFebruary 4, 2014 at 5:23 AM

      True. Hopefully a few divas will become self-aware in the process of educating the general population. It's like the beginning of the anti-smoking campaigns. Like smokers, divas will become aware because it will be acceptable to make note the negative effective of "divaish" behavior. So much of our economy is service oriented and that requires soft skills. That is the reason divas have such a hard time getting and keeping a job. I like the workshop idea. It can reach so many more divas at once. Thanks for reading and commenting!

      Delete

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