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CPA Inc. Roleplay

            For this roleplay, I was playing JT, the head of payroll for CPA Inc. There was trouble between the workers because pay checks had been stolen. Three long-term employees of the firms were sure that Sandy was the one who did it, because of that, they wanted me to fire him without any delay.

            I had to remain calm, and try to impose a respectful atmosphere that was not present. The employees were ruthless and did not let Sandy nor me speak. They were quite aggressive and really rude towards him. Sandy chose to remain discrete during most of the discussion and I had to be the ne taking his defence but not too much otherwise the other employees would accuse me of favouritism. I had to contain the general argument and to think a lot about my sayings before hand as is was a difficult situation. I’m kind of proud of what I did, but I know I could have been better in French. But I remain objective and did not let them influence me.

            As they didn’t let Sandy talk nor me asking him questions I stand up and asked Sandy to come with me to give him a chance of sharing his side of the story. It immediately calmed down the employees. They really didn’t want me to go and talk to him so we stayed and they started to listen to me a bit more.

            After that I had to find solutions, because the team really didn’t want to work with Sandy anymore. I said that before the get the results of the police investigation, nobody was guilty and to contain the situation until the results came, Sandy would, if he agrees to, continue his work but in an office of another department. That way, he wouldn’t be molested by the angry employees. Moreover, he was quite a lonely person so he accepted my proposition.

            At first the team didn’t understand why I didn’t fire Sandy, I explained them that, as they had previously said, we were a family, and I could not fire a member of our family without proof. They (hardly) understood and respected my decision.  So the team would not feel wronged, I told them how much I valued them and their work. I remembered them the strength of our relationships and made them feel part of the family again. I played the role of a mother that conciliates her two children and it worked quite well. I’m proud of the soft authority I played so anyone would feel wronged and that at the end they agreed that my decision was a good and respectful one. I managed to impose the respect for me but also for everyone who was in the room, and I believe that respect is the key to everything in life.



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