Being Respected the Employees Work More Effectively and Don't Strive - Research Paper Example

Team Case Analysis (Long Beach Port) Recommendations When a conflict arises in a workplace, it is important to know the measures that can be used to contain the situation. The knowledge will help to prevent any major effects avoid losses that are incurred when workers decide to go on a strike. The means taken by the management to handle a strike should not oppress the workers. The dock workers strike that was experienced at the West Coast could have been averted if effective communication was practiced. Communication should be a two-way process where both the authorities and workers are willing to listen to one other (Lasater, 2010). It would have helped to come to an agreement earlier, thus avoiding the losses that were incurred during the strike. When workers decided to go on a strike, it is because they realized that it is the only solution left to have their complaints effectively handled (Blackard, 2000). The employer should allow the workers an opportunity to be heard and their concerns handled appropriately. Improvement of working conditions should be considered to avert strikes. Leading to the dock workers’ strike, the workload had increased as more containers were brought into the port (Khouri, 2015). The employers were unwilling to bring in more people to help with the workload, and this caused backlog of work. The workers could not handle all the work. When they tried to air their concerns with the help of their union, no one paid attention, and this led to the strike. In any work environment, employers should adequately prepare themselves for any changes that they may want to happen (Blackard, 2000). In the case of the dock workers, the management should have increased the amount of workers who would have been able to handle all the containers that are brought by the ships. By doing this, no strike or losses would have been witnessed. Overworking employees causes problems not only to the individual, but also to the quality of work he delivers. By making a person work more than the hours he is required to work and with minimal rest, the worker becomes ineffective. An employer should respect the rights of his workers. If a worker falls sick during working hours, he should not be forced to work (Sundstrom, 1986). When employees realize that their employer respects them, they are motivated and work hard to deliver the best results for the company and bring in more profits (Ezorsky, 1987). Such a situation will even earn the employees more salary. This should not be experienced in places where an employer has zero respect for his workers. Strikes and losses will be the order of the day, and this will lead to the eventual closure of the businesses. The management should have respected that the dock workers were humans as well and not made them work for long hours to clear the backlog of the containers. Mediation is also another factor that could have been used to avert the dockworkers strike. A mediator will be an external person, who is not affiliated to either the employee or the employee or the employer. His aim will be to help get a favorable solution for both parties. It may not be easy trusting a person not in the company to resolve the conflict, but it is the best way to deal with strikes, especially in instances where communication between the management and the workers has broken down (Tutton, 2010). In the dock workers scenario, a mediator was called when huge losses had already been incurred by the port authority as well as the retailers who depend on the products from the containers, to earn a living. President Obama stepped in and sent Labor Secretary, Thomas Perez to help end the standoff. Had this been done earlier, the port would not have been closed, and the strike would have been avoided. Employers should also have the ability to note when their workers are not happy working and deal with the situation immediately. When workers are not happy working, it is easy for them to deliver poor results, as they have no motivation to work. Sometimes they do not engage in communication, and if attention is not closely paid by the employer, this may lead to serious consequences. By knowing how to observe such cases, the employer will manage to ensure that the workers concerns are addressed on time, and quality work is delivered (Perkins, 2008). Understanding the working conditions that would not be favorable to the employees would also be effective. Employees can also be consulted before any changes are implemented in the workplace, and they can help the management plan on the effective measures that can be used to make it easy for everyone to adapt. To prevent strikes, threats should not be used to intimidate workers into resuming work. Employers tend to threat workers with being laid off from their position. Instead, the employer should focus on finding better ways to ensure that the worker operates in an area that he is happy (Bacal, 1998). Such kind of threats may not settle well with employees, and the employer may find himself in court, especially if a contract of employment was signed. To avoid this, an amicable way should be found to deal with a standoff caused by the workers. Hiring new employees will require a lot of time and resources. It will take time before they new employees manage to deliver excellent results (Burnette, 2008). Management of a company should work on retaining their employees who are already skilled in the day to day activities of the company. Workers should be given good remuneration that matches the tasks they perform. It would be unfair to overwork an employee and still expect him to give good results (Mayhew). When a worker feels exploited, he loses motivation of doing his work. He will spend time looking for other places to work, where his worth would be realized. That said, the dock workers’ management failed to compensate workers fully for their contributions to the business. The salary paid to workers should be able to take care of his needs and those of his family without any struggle. It can be concluded that a strike at the workplace does more harm than good to the economy. It does not matter what the reason of the strike is or how major the strike is. A strike leads to loss of profits in a business, and this cripples the economy. Proper measures should be taken to ensure that the situation is put under control and to avoid a recurrence of the same in future. References Bacal. R, (1998). Conflict Prevention in the Workplace: Using Cooperative Communication, Bacal and associates. Blackard. K. (2000). Managing Change in a Unionized Workplace: Countervailing Collaboration, Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Burnette. J, (2008). Gender, Work and Wages in Industrial Revolution Britain, Cambridge University Press. Ezorsky. G. (1987). Moral Rights in the Workplace, State University of NewYork Press. Khouri. A. (February 25, 2015). Port dispute: What you need to know. LA Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-port-dispute-qa-20150212-story.html Lasater. I. (2010). Words That Work In Bussiness, PuddlerDancer Press. Mayhew. R. (n.d.). Prevention of Strike Action. Az Central. Retrieved from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/prevention-strike-action-14697.html Perkins. P. S. (2008), The Art And Science Of Communication, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sundstrom. E. (1986). Work Places: The Psychology of the Physical Environment in Offices and Factories, Cambridge University Press. Tutton. M. (February 26, 2010). How can managers avoid workers going on strike? CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/02/25/strikes.negotiation/ Read More