The Importance of Communication as an Aid to Resolving Workplace Disputes - Assignment Example

Resolving Individual Disputes Within The Workplace Table of Contents Part 3 Explain the Importance of Communication as an Aid to Resolving Workplace Disputes 3 Part2 5 Critically discuss and debate the article of Harris et. al, Harris, L., Tuckman, A. & Snook, J.(2012) 5 Question d 5 Question g 6 Question h 8 Part3 9 Discussion of personal conflict style 9 References 11 Part 1 Explain the Importance of Communication as an Aid to Resolving Workplace Disputes According to Koontz & O’Donnell (2005), communication acts as the medium to maintain a good relationship with all the members of an organization. This might prove effective for the organization as well as the employees only if all sorts of information gets uniformly distributed or transferred among the organizational hierarchy. Only then, the level of conflicts among the members might get reduced significantly that may enhance their inner morale and confidence. Such type of communication also helps to increase the motivation and cooperation among the employees that amplifies their dedication and efficiency of work as stated by ERG theory of Clayton Alderfer (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010, pp. 234-245). According to Alderfer, motivation and communication is directly linked with one –another. If an individual fails to state his or her inner feelings or miss-confusions in front of other colleagues then, a good interpersonal relationship may not be developed. This is because; a sense of perplexity might remain within the minds of both the parties and so, it might hinder their level of dedication and performance of work (Alvesson & Wilmot, 1996, pp. 123-134). As a result, the level of dominance and effectiveness of the employees might get reduced that may hinder the productivity and position of the organization in the market among others (Braverman, 1974, pp. 278-301). Therefore, in order to reduce any sort of confusion or puzzlement, it’s extremely essential to arrange a meeting to clear off all sorts of doubts through face to face communications. This is recognised as the most active process that encourages an individual to attain instant feedbacks from the other end (Beder, 2000, pp. 334-345). As a result, it helps to reduce all sorts of mental tensions and puzzlement within an individual that enhances his or her inner confidence and buoyancy (Blake & et.al. 2011, pp. 356-367). Improvement of the inner confidence enhances the devotion and dedication of the employees towards work thereby amplifying the profitability of the organization. Hence, it might be clearly stated that it’s extremely essential for almost all phases of the organization and for each and every individual to communicate effectively with one –another so as to maintain uniformity. Furthermore, active discussion with the employees also helps the employer to analyse varied types of inner desires (Bradley & et al 2000, pp. 876-889) and feelings of the workers that reduces the chances of workplace disputes such as: dilemma due to overtime, incentives, fridge benefits and many others (Blyton & et.al. 2011, pp. 421-432). By knowing the inner desires, the organizational management might act accordingly so as to reduce the intensity of workplace conflicts that may reduce the rate of attritions (Bradley, 1999, pp. 765-776). However, implementation of such type of tactful policies might prove effective for the organization in enhancing the rate of motivation and performance of the employees thereby amplifying the intensity of retention of the experienced staffs. This is extremely essential for an organization to retain the experienced staffs in order to invent varied types of inventive products and services to cope up changing customer preferences (Blyton & Turnbull, 2004, pp. 523-534). Thus, it might be revealed that, it is the communication that helps to resolve all sorts of dilemmas and miss-confusions among the members and maintains a unique relationship among all (Bolton & Houlihan, 2007, pp. 567-576). Hence, communication is described as a two-way process, as it acts as an initiator as well as a receiver of message for an individual. Part2 Critically discuss and debate the article of Harris et. al, Harris, L., Tuckman, A. & Snook, J.(2012) Question d According to Harris & et. al (2012), conflict is the most common phenomenon within an organization. Due to which, the morale and confidence of the employee reduces that hinders their productivity and performance as well. Along with this, the dedication and motivation of the employees towards the assigned tasks and duties might also get reduced significantly due to the presence of varied types of interpersonal conflicts such as ineffective leadership style, disciplinary actions of the managers, aggressive attitude of the managers, poor communication of the managers and the employees and many others. However, all these above mentioned conflicts take place mainly in case of large multinational enterprise (LME) as compared to small multinational enterprise (SME). Due to which, as per the assumptions of Harris & et. al (2012), SME is the better place of work for the employees. This is mainly because; maximum SME’s follow participative leadership style. In this type of leadership style, the employees are free to communicate with the higher authority members of the management in case of any dilemma and with the help of face to face communication, it gets resolved. On the contrary, bureaucratic leadership style is followed in LME’s. As a result, the leader or the manager is the main decision maker of the organization and all the members had to follow it. Not a single employee comprises of the power to offer any sort of suggestions or ideas to the leader or manager. As a result, the level of inner morale and confidence of the employees gets lowered day by day that enhances the chances of attrition or strikes within the organization. However, in order to reduce such type of negative impacts, it might prove effective for the LME’s to follow participative or democratic leadership style. In which, the employees are offered the power to present their effective ideas and decisions, regarding any policy. Only then, it might prove effective for both the organization and the employees to enhance their productivity and dominance that may amplify its sustainability. Apart from this, Harris & et. al (2012) also assumes that SME’s experiences better uniformity and consistency within the organization. This is mainly due to its lack of autocratic leadership style or Hr policies. As a result, in case of any sort of workplace conflict, the SME’s try to adopt external dispute handling technique, named meditation. Although, it is costly for the SME’s still it’s adopted, as the HR managers of SME’s lack HR expertise or talents. So, they often get failed to resolve any sort of workplace conflicts. However, on the contrary, it might be stated that, the HR managers of the SME’s need to be offered with varied types of HR training and development programs. These programs might prove effective for the managers to enhance their talents and skills over HR topics that may prove effective in resolving conflicts. As a result of implementation of such type of trainings, the conflicts might be easily resolved by the internal HR managers that may save a huge amount of revenue. That revenue might be utilised in up-liftment and development of the organizational structure. Hence, it might be stated that neither bureaucratic culture nor meditation is fruitful for long run. So, both the LME’s and SME’s might try to offer more attention over HR training programs in order to enhance the expertise of the HR managers of the organizations. So that, they might resolve the workplace conflicts in an effective way as compared to external dispute handlers. Hence, from the above mentioned points, it might be revealed that mediation is an effective way but training is considered as the best way for resolution of disputes. Question g As per the assumptions mentioned in previous questions, external dispute resolution process is mediation and it is best for the HR managers of those SME’s, who lacks experiences, skills and talents. For example: a survey performed by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Aces) depicted that almost 64 percent of the SME’s heard about the benefits of mediation, so as to resolve varied types of workplace disputes (Laetrile & et.al. 2012). However, only 7 percent of them adopted it, for resolution of disputes as it is quite expensive in real aspects. So maximum extent of the SME’s, desired to offer trainings to its managers to enhance its knowledge and skills as stated by the research paper of Johnston (2008) (Johnston, 2008). Moreover, as per the survey conducted by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), workplace mediation is a sort of report that includes the skills and talents of the LME managers to tackle HR issues. By analysing and evaluating these reports, the knowledge of the individual to tackle and handle HR issues might get enhanced that may prove effective for the organization (Harris & et.al. 2008). Thus, from the above mentioned example, it might be clearly revealed that mediation is recognised as one of the best methods to resolve workplace disputes but may prove hideous for the SME’s in terms of revenue. However, in order to reduce this extra expenditure of SME’s, it’s better to implement varied types of training and developmental programs so as to gain experiences and knowledge to resolve varied types of disputes and issues of workplaces. Only then, the disputes might get resolved effectively that may amplify the skills and commitments of the employees towards work. Along with this, the level of interpersonal relationships within the employees (Claydon, 2003, pp. 656-676) might also get enhanced that may increase their coordination and cooperation within the assigned responsibilities. Such type of coordination and cooperation might prove effective for the employees to enhance their inner skills and morale that may increase their dedication towards work. As a result of which, the productivity and profitability of the organization might get enhanced that may amplify its brand image and dominance in the market among others (Collings & Wood, 2009, pp. 178-189). Hence, it might be depicted that uniformity and homogeneity are the prime requirements of an organization, irrespective of size and segment. However, in order to attain that, it’s better to adopt experienced HR managers or mediation processes to resolve all sorts of disputes occurring within an organization (Coyle-Shapiro & et. al. 2004, pp. 912-923). Only then, the uniformity and uniqueness of the organization might be maintained in the market among many other rival players. As a result, the level of retention of the employees within the organization might get enhanced that might prove extremely effective for it in future era among others. This is because; human resource is considered as the most essential asset of an organization, but it night increase its effectiveness only if tackled and maintained in an effective way (Edwards, 1985, pp. 818-823). Otherwise, it may hinder the entire profitability and image of the organization thereby declining its position and competitive advantage in the market. SO, human resources of an organization need to be maintained in an effective and efficient way in order to enhance its performance and efficiency. Question h Conclusively, it might be stated that, as per Harris & et.al (2008), that the intensity of workplace conflicts or disputes is increasing at a rapid pace in this age. This is mainly due to the presence of multicultural employees. Therefore, in order to handle the diverse workforces of an organization, irrespective of size, it’s better to enhance the inner skills and knowledge of the human resource managers that might prove effective in resolving varied types of disputes. Apart from this, improvement of the knowledge and skills of the human resource managers might prove effective in enhancing the interpersonal relationships among the employees. As a result of which, the level of coordination and communication might get enhanced. Such type of coordination might help the employees to enhance their inner talents and confidence to perform their duties (Harris & et.al. 2008). This might improve the effective of the work thereby amplifying the profitability and efficiency of the employees as well as the organization. Moreover, due to the improvement of the efficiency of the employees, the organization might become able to develop varied types of inventive products and services thereby amplifying its dominance and demand in the market. Furthermore, due to maintenance of proper culture within the organization, the brand image and dominance of the organization might also get enhanced to a significant extent among other rival players. Hence, in order to attain such type of organizational culture, it’s better to implement varied types of training and developmental programs within the organization that may resolve all sorts of conflicts and clashes within the employees. But, in case the Hr managers lack the expertise or knowledge to tackle the disputing conditions, then external dispute resolution approach such as mediation need to be implemented. However, implementation of such type of approaches might prove effective but may increase the financial expenditure (Harris & et.al. 2008). But such type of expenses may not be bearable for the organizations of small sizes for a longer period of time, so it’s better to increase the knowledge and talents of the Hr personals or managers of the organizations. This might be much better for the organization of varying sizes in this age of competitiveness. Part3 Discussion of personal conflict style Controller conflict style is one of the most common and popular approach to tackle varied types of clashes and disputes. This is because; in this way of conflicting style, the individual tries to analyse the reason or facts that lead to the conflict so as to resolve it. However, it is done with the help of face to face conversation with the two parties involved in the process of disputes. By doing so, the controller might analyse the exact cause of dispute or conflict. After knowing the exact cause of the conflict, the controller might present varied types of suggestions or ideas to resolve it effectively. However, in order to do so, the controller needs to attain vivid understanding and expertise over the matter of dispute. Only then, he or she might resolve it. Apart from this, after presenting the suggestive advise, the controller asks both the parties, whether they accept it or not. However, if they include any sort of confusion regarding those suggestions, they are free to consult it with the controller. After proper acceptance of both the parties, the controller implements it so as to resolve it. Only then, the inner morale and confidence of the employees might get enhanced that may lead you organizational improvement. Apart from this, implementation of such types of conflict resolution style, the dedication and devotion of the employees might get enhanced leading to organization improvement. Other than this, due to improvement of the relationships among the employees, the level of coordination and communication among the members might also get improved. As a result, the dedication and devotion of the employees towards their assigned tasks might get enhanced resulting in amplification of their performances. This is extremely beneficial for the organization, operating in this age of competitiveness as improvement of coordination might prove effective in developing varied types of inventive products and services for the customers so as to retain its reliability and consistency. Thus, it might be revealed that, controller helps an organization to enhance its interpersonal relationships thereby amplifying its portfolio sand reputation in the market among other rival players (Edwards, 1985, pp. 876-889). Hence, it might be clearly revealed that controlling type of conflicting style is recognised as the best for the organization, operating in this age of aggressiveness. References Alvesson, M & Wilmot, H. 1996. Making Sense of Management. London: Sage. Beardwell, .J. & Claydon, T. 2010. Human Resource Management. London: Sage. Beder, S. 2000. Selling the Work Ethic. New York: Zed Books. Blake, S. & et.al. 2011. A Practical Approach to Alternative Dispute Resolution. London: Oxford. Blyton, P. & et.al. 2011. Reassessing the Employment Relationship. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. (see chapters 3, 5 and 15). Blyton, P. & Turnbull, P. 2004 The Dynamics of Employee Relations, 3rd edition. London: Sage. Bolton S & Houlihan, M. 2007. Searching for the Human in Human Resource Management. New York: Palgrave. (see chapters 7, 11, and 14). Bradley, H. 1999. Gender and Power in the Workplace.Macmillan. London:Sage. Bradley H. & et. al. 2000. Myths at Work.Polity Press. New York: McGraw-Hill Braverman, H. 1974. Labour and Monopoly Capitalism.Monthly Review Press. New York: McGraw-Hill. Claydon, T. 2003. Introduction to the Employment Relationship. London: Sage. Collings, D & Wood, G 2009. Human Resource management: a critical approach. : London Routledge. (see chapters 2,4, 6, and 11). Coyle-Shapiro & et. al. 2004. The Employment Relationship. New York: Oxford University Press. Edwards, P. 1985. ‘The Myth of the Macho Manager’, Personnel Management. New York: Oxford University Press. Harris, L. & et.al. 2008. Small firms and workplace disputes resolution. [Online]Available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/q/9/Acas_0108_Small_firms_workplace_disputes-accessible-version-July-2011.pdf [Accessed on 19th March, 2014]. Johnston, T. 2008. “Knowledge and Use of Mediation in SMEs”, Acas Research Paper, No. 2/08. New York: Oxford University Press. Koontz, H., & O’Donnell, C. (2005). Management: A systems and contingency analysis of managerial functions. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company Latreille, P, L. & et.al. 2012. SME attitudes towards workplace mediation: the role of experience. [Online]Available at: http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/5/f/SME_attitudes_towards_workplace_mediation-accessible-version-may-2012.pdf [Accessed on 19th March, 2014]. Read More