Workplace Conflict - Case Study Example

Promotion Conflict case study (Insert Name) (Institution Affiliation) In most cases, workplace resembles family; a place which requires people to with each other and coexist peacefully even though they have different religious believes, background, are from different race or ethnicity. It is usually expected that workmates will find it easy and straightforward and will be able to accommodate each other’s behavior and embrace challenges. However, many workplaces in reality are often fraught with various conflicts (Devine, 2008). This is the case with the National University where John and Tania who works in the finance division are entangled in a conflict following Tania’s promotion which John disputes. It should be noted that effective working relationship is not a happy coincidence but it usually depends on concerted efforts from those involved (Abiodan & Remi, 2011). John and Tania had failed to settle their differences for five years and the management needs to take a coercive action to end the row. Workplace conflict can be generally defined as the actual or perceived clash of expectations or interests between groups or individuals. These may include interest or expectations about how people should work, gender equity, how they should behave, how much they should be paid, for what they should be paid, the chain of command to be observed and sometimes job promotion (Axelrod & Johnson, 2005). These expectations usually interplay and the extent with which there is a clash in any of them determines the nature of the workplace conflict. Regardless of where the power lies, the people in charge of an organization should always ensure that these expectations are factored out during strategy design in order to minimize risks associated with workplace conflicts and maximize opportunities. Workplace conflicts can be broadly categorized in to two: either individual conflict, which is also referred to as interpersonally conflict, or collective conflict which is usually based on rights (Salami, 2010). On a point of argument, these distinctions are basically artificial particularly in the light of the steady movement from a collective approach in workplace relations to an individual approach. The case presented about the conflict between John and Tania who works at the National University Finance department is a typical example of the interpersonal conflict. However, in this case gender issue is also portrayed. John have confronted Tania on several occasions and involved in an exchange of bitter words. This can be treated as bullying which has implication on both the individual and the department in general since it affects the way work is done (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011). Other categories of workplace conflicts include: alleged breach of expected conduct which may or may not be protected by company policies or law, gender based conflicts, alleged breach of human rights that are protected by law such as freedom from sex, race, age, disability, preference, marital status and sexual discrimination and lastly, alleged breach of other rights that are protected by law including terms and conditions of employment, awards, workplace agreements, equal opportunity and legislation. Common examples of conflicts that are most prevalent in workplaces include: conflict over conduct that does not amount to bullying, all forms of discrimination including age and gender based, conflict over performance, workplace bullying, conflict due to actual or perceived unfair treatment, breach of terms and/or conditions of employment, conflict caused by management or communication style; conflict emanating from differing perception on how work is done, organized, distributed and the nature of work place environment; and finally conflict originating from how promotion and organization change is carried out or managed (Masters & Albright, 2002). Performance problems or conflict often arise whenever there is a clash of interest or expectation over what a person in a particular role or position ought to be playing. Employer should manage the performance history, employee discipline and engagement in order to determine the right person to be given a promotion or an organizations award. Failure to do that will cause conflict of interest among employees. Internal competition within an organization, though perceived as an effective method of achieving good result, is a major source of conflict. Employees with fixed mindsets usually do not embrace challenges and often feel threatened by the success of others (Falconer, 2004). As a result, they work towards discrediting their successful colleagues rather than improving their performance. At National University Finance Division, the key players in the conflict are John and Tania. John, who expressed his discontent about a promotion that his colleague received about five years ago, is the perpetrator of the conflict while Tania, who received a promotion that according to John she did not deserve, is the victim. John complained that there was gender bias and discrimination in granting Tania a promotion that he had worked so hard to get. Generally, very few people enjoy being treated unfavorably or being discriminated based on something which is different from the so called norm. In the case provide, John feels discriminated on the basis of gender. Regardless whether his claims are genuine or not or whether this form of discrimination is unlawful, it has severe consequences on both the victim and perpetrator together with their employer and is evidenced in decreased productivity, staff turnover, absenteeism, stress and poor morale. Bullying is another major source of conflict in a work place. Some of the things that constitute to bullying include insults and put downs, verbal abuse. Inappropriate and unreasonable criticism, teasing, intimidation and threats, workplace violence, unreasonable performance demands, exclusion, too much work, demeaning work in regard to employee seniority and skills, imposed hardship, blackmail, sabotage and withholding information or support which is needed by someone else to perform his or her duty well (Devine, 2008). Bullying is evident in this case and John is portrayed as a bully. This is due to the fact that a few months after Tania’s promotion, John said some very rude and hurtful things to her which resulted in the two avoiding each other despite being required to work together. John believed that the finance division had a softer spot for women but this does not justify his action. The right thing would be to complain to the management instead of harassing Tania who did not give herself the promotion. The sore working relation between the two affects the way they perform their duties. John, who needs monthly revenue reports that are usually prepared by Tania, usually discredit her work and talk ill about her to anyone who cares to listen. He points out that his inability to do his job is caused by deficiencies in the reports. On the other hand, Tania relies on raw data from other staff including John in order to prepare comprehensive reports. Failure by John to provide reliable data frustrates her efforts and leaves her helpless. Attempt by Tania to settle the dispute through dialogue had met a dead end on many occasions. At her partner's urging, Tania does try talking to John directly, but they end up shouting at each other and Tania is shocked that John is still making accusations about the validity of her promotion 5 years back, and she is disappointed in her own behaviour in that she was not able to stay calm. Some informal mediation has been attempted by different officers within the Finance Division over the years, but without any success in restoring amicable working relations between the two. It is evident that though John is also suffering from stress, he is not interested in settling the dispute. Gender discrimination is another issue that sits at the heart of the dispute. It seems that the Finance Division was trying to reduce the gender gaps but instead a conflict emanates. In fact, Tania might be more qualified than John who apparently is a male chauvinist. It is thus necessary to develop a mechanism of ensuring women in the department and entire organization are neither favored as john suggests nor discriminated based on their gender. One of the strategies that can be used to resolve the interpersonal dispute is called A –B- C work place resolving process (Newton, 2009). It involves equipping all the employees of all ranks in a given department or unit with knowledge and ability to address interpersonal conflict properly. This process also allows workers to easily simplify conflicts into manageable short statements or segments. Once simplified or broken down, the conflict becomes manageable to a point of resolution. The A-B-C resolution process consists of three basic steps for resolving interpersonal conflicts. A stands for - Achieve contact or attention with each of the conflicting parties, Boil down whatever presenting problems are and lastly, Cope with the conflict causing problems through development of action plans. Achieving contact with the parties involve is the first step in conflict resolution. It involves simply gaining the undivided attention of both parties involved; in this case John’s and Tania’s. The main goal of this step is to get both parties to sit down and commit themselves to a set conflict resolution process (Newton, 2009). However, sometimes it is necessary for the individuals to be approached separately in order to convince them to enter the conflict resolution process. This is often when parties involved are radical in nature or bullies. The exercise of good people skills is the key to getting both parties to sit down and agree to resolution. The second step in conflict resolution involves boiling down the problem. In most cases, a conflict consists of more than one item. As it can be seen in the conflict between John and Tania, the conflict is characterized by many items such as a jumble of differing emotions, battle over job tasks, verbal abuse, behavioral tendencies whereby they try avoiding each other and lack of respect. The B step is thus designed to help the involved parties to engage in dialogue and boil down the problems into single manageable issue. Bringing such an order out of chaotic situation usually requires a well organized and formalized listening process which allows each of the participants to tell the facilitator what he or she thinks the problems are. The major purpose of the facilitator in this case is not to provide judgment but help the warring parties decode their problems and summarize the root cause of the conflict. A good facilitator should allow each of the participants to speak up without interaction and use reflective listening questions to provide feedback hence giving them a chance to agree or disagree with his or her summary (Crawley & Graham, 2002). Such a facilitator will help John and Tania engage in a conversation without shouting at each other and enable the mess of their feverish input to be boiled down in to simple and straight forward summary statement. He will also help them focus on the main issues by revealing past experience, facing reality, formulating a better understanding of the problem and filtering out irrelevant data. The final stage of A-B-C conflict resolution process is copping up with the prevailing issues. Once the major issues have been identified, proper plan should be developed and implemented to end the dispute. It is of great importance that the plan be easy to carry out, simple and easily evaluated for success and at the same time remain focused on issues identified by both parties. In case the parties fail to settle their conflict, the management should intervene and implement a more brutal strategy commonly known as win-lose strategy. In this case, the finance department will be required to get rid of one of the employee who is deemed as the perpetrator (studyvalue, 2010). However, in resolving the conflict using this method, the department will require people with good skills to be able to establish the root cause of the problem or who the perpetrator really is. Furthermore, for the sake of risk management, the answers to address the personal factors of loss causation need to lie in equipping present line level supervisors with the necessary skills that will enhance their abilities in resolving interpersonal conflicts. This is basically because they are the ones who are more likely to identify any form of interpersonal conflict in the work place. The task at first may seem daunting but neglect could lead to unnecessary loss. In conclusion, this was a typical case of interpersonal work conflict in which the key players were John and Tania. Although Tania was at the center of the conflict, John was the main perpetrator following a promotion that he claims he deserved but instead awarded to his colleague. A-B-C conflict resolution was found as the best option for resolving this dispute whereby a member of the finance department would facilitate the meeting that will enable the two to settle their dispute based on mutual consent. If this strategy fails, the administration should come in and deal with the situation in a more coercive manner. References Abiodan, G. M., & Remi, A. (2011). Gender-Related Differences in Attitudinal Disposition of University Workers to Resolving Conflict through Mediation. Academic journal article from Gender & Behaviour , 9 (2), 77-89. Axelrod, L., & Johnson, R. (2005). Turning Conflict Into Profit: A Roadmap For Resolving Personal And Organizational Disputes. NJ: University of Alberta. Cloke, K., & Goldsmith, J. (2011). Resolving Conflicts at Work: Ten Strategies for Everyone on the Job. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Crawley, J., & Graham, K. (2002). Mediation for Managers: Resolving Conflict and Rebuilding Relationships at Work. New York: Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Devine, E. (2008). Devine law at work. devine law at work , 4-8. Doucet, O., Poitras, J., & Chênevert, D. (2009). The impacts of leadership on workplace conflicts. International Journal of Conflict Management, 20(4), 340-354. Falconer, H. (2004). Irs Managing Conflict in the Workplace. London: Elsevier. Masters, M. F., & Albright, R. R. (2002). The Complete Guide to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Newton, R. (2009). Resolving Interpersonal Workplace Conflicts:. Journal of mediation for mangers , 10-15. Salami, S. (2010). Conflict Resolution Strategies and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Moderating Role of Trait Emotional Intelligence. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal , 38 (1), 53-59. studyvalue. (2010, May 20). Management Sciences. 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