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54 The PCB Design Magazine • March 2017 who seemed to have everything going for her, eventually get branded as a difficult co-worker who ended leaving for something better while no one was sorry to see her go? On a management level, there are many methods available to evaluate, coach, and help a worker who is having work-related difficul- ties. In Sarah's story, her manager should have already been working with her to help her to resolve these difficulties. But I would like to sug- gest that there is another component to this sto- ry: the reaction from the rest of the group. Am I saying that the group is responsible for Sarah's personal problems? No, it is not the group's re- sponsibility to fix Sarah's personal life. But just because they didn't do anything wrong doesn't mean that they couldn't have done better. Let me explain. The group was glad to be rid of someone that they thought no longer fit in, but did her resig- nation accomplish anything good? Sarah had already demonstrated that she was an excellent employee with a proven track record. She also had been at the company for quite some time in another department and therefore carried with her an ample amount of experience and corpo- rate culture. As we all know, losing an employee for any reason carries with it a very real cost. Schedules slip which could affect future sales, and contract help may be required to fill in the gap for a missing employee. Unproductive time will get spent by employees dealing with the loss of a team-mate instead of doing their reg- ular work, and then of course there's the time spent by human resources to find, hire and train a replacement for an employee who has left. Everyone is going to have some kind of per- sonal problems that will affect them at some point or another in their lives. And sadly, when those difficult times come, those problems will probably spill out into their work lives. Re- search has established an important correla- tion between a stable personal life and success on the job. One study (Turvey & Olson, 2006) linked successful personal relationships, such as a happy marriage, to reduced job turnover, lower absenteeism, higher motivation and bet- ter health. The survey suggests that positive employee personal relationships can improve a company's overall financial health, while ig- noring their employees' problems can decrease a company's profitability. It could be surmised then that helping a co-worker through a dif- ficult time could actually end up helping the company as well. Therefore, in our hypothetical story of Sar- ah, how could the group have done better? The group was quick to judge what they saw in her behavior instead looking for how they could help. Obviously, no one should stick their nose into another's personal business if uninvited. But at the same time, we should be very care- ful to not come to a conclusion about some- one based purely on observed behavior. Sarah's story might have been very different if instead of judging her for her behavior her co-workers had extended a helping hand of compassion in- stead. Our country has gone through a very tur- bulent time lately with the 2016 presidential election, and this turbulence gives every indica- tion of lasting for a while. Don't worry; I have absolutely no desire or intention of making any kind of political statement here. But I do want to comment that I have never before in my life seen as many judgmental opinions and person- al attacks as I have lately due to disagreements in politics. The proliferation of social media has magnified this effect, and it seems like more than ever before people are willing to label each other as villains just because of differing politi- cal ideologies. This has made me wonder; how will these behaviors affect the working relation- ships within our companies? Are some people TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE IN OUR INDUSTRY " No, it is not the group's responsibility to fix Sarah's personal life. But just because they didn't do anything wrong doesn't mean that they couldn't have done better. "