Why Might an Assumption of Personality Clash Cause Problems in a Workplace Relationship - Assignment Example

• Portfolio Question 1: Critique the term ‘Personality clash’. Why might an assumption of personality clash cause problems in a workplace relationship?

Personality clash is a situation that occurs when two or more people are in conflict due to the incompatibility of their personality traits rather than differing over an issue. In this case, people differ in terms of their approaches, attitudes, interests and lifestyles. When it occurs at the workplace, personality clash tends to affect employees’ relations and work performance significantly.

This concept can be critiqued in terms of social constructionism as suggested by Burr (2003). Although social interaction allows people to share knowledge and ideas, personality clash may become an impediment because it affects individual cognition, attitudes, motivations and other internal factors that affect one’s personality traits. As a result, the individual develops personality traits that may be seen by others as a big impediment to interaction and may affect relations in the workplace. For instance, a person with significant attitudes of prejudice may not get along well with other people of different cultural backgrounds; hence causing conflicts and poor relations at the workplace. Personality clash affects the way people do and say, causing conflicts among employees as they relate in doing things and sharing ideas.

It is difficult to deal with personality clash at the workplace because it is often used by managers and employees as an excuse for interpersonal conflicts at the workplace. When people clash in terms of their ways of doing things, they may blame each other rather than addressing the real issues that have emerged from the situation (Bur, 2003). Personality clash has become the perfect excuse for people to avoid addressing the real issues that have caused conflict at the workplace. In order to resolve conflicts at the workplace, managers should have the ability to identify signs of conflict behaviours and address the causes of conflict rather than attacking other people’s personalities. Burr (2003) suggests that managers should focus more on processes than structures. In this regard, personality clash may be avoided by considering the processes of performing tasks rather than the personality traits of the people involved. According to Burr (2003), social interactions and processes should be isolated from the question of the nature of people and society and focused towards the ways of doing things, and how the society and its people achieve certain forms of knowledge and phenomena.

One of the most common consequences of personality clashes at the workplace is that it leads to poor performance at the workplace. When personality clash occurs between two people, the tasks performed by those people will be slowed down and errors could occur as people blame each other for problems occurring at the workplace. For effective performance, the managers should view conflicts as an opportunity to improve policies and processes at the workplace and ignore personal differences of employees to enhance greater productivity of workforce and promote workplace efficiency (Newton, 2010). However, personality clash can be considered as a necessary evil when employees face harsh business bullying. When employees face bullying at the workplace, their personalities will clash and that is necessary to punish people who perpetrate the intolerable actions of bullying.

• Portfolio Question 3: Managing Organisational Change

Lewin’s Force Field Analysis is a decision making tool used to make decisions related to change management by analyzing the forces of change. It also helps managers to communicate the purpose and reason for change in their organisations. According to Jabri (2012), the Lewin’s Force Field Analysis tool two purposes. First, it is used to decide whether to implement change or not. Secondly, it is used to strengthen the forces that support change and weaken those that oppose change. Lewin’s Force Field Analysis diagram is shown below:

Forces for ChangeForces against Change

From the diagram, the plan for change is placed on the middle column. The forces for change are placed on the left-hand side while the forces against change are listed on the right-hand side. The items in each column will consider the benefit of change, the people who support and those who are against change, the ease of making change, availability of resources to implement the change, and the costs involved.

Weick and Quinn’s model explain organisational change in two perspectives: episodic change and continuous change. These forms of organisational change are determined by the perspectives of various observers. Weick and Quinn (1999) suggest that episodic and continuous change are identical in the eyes of an unknowing observer but in reality they carry structural differences provided in terms of five characteristics of change including the analytical framework, metaphor of the organisation, the change agent, the ideal and the intervention theory.

The episodic change is considered to be discontinuous and infrequent; sporadic and externally driven; involves unfreeze-transition-refreeze intervention theory; linear and aimed at attaining specific goals; and the change agent seeks central leverage and state of inertia for change (Jabri, 2012). On the other hand, continuous change is characterised by constant and evolving change; internally driven continuous change; freeze-rebalance-unfreeze intervention theory; cyclical process of change; and the agent recognises and adjusts existing change.

The two models can be compared using an example of an organisational change – e.g. introducing a new communication technology. Lewin’s Force Field Analysis provides the forces for and against this type of change. The forces for change include increased use of internet, support by the management, easy and fast communication, and faster decision making. On the other hand, forces against change include resistance by employees, replacement of human capital, high implementation costs, and loss of staff overtime. Based on these forces, the management decides whether it is viable to implement the change or not.

In terms of Weick and Quinn’s model, the change is examined in terms of episodic and continuous change. Implementing a new communication technology is constant and evolving to gain support from employees slowly, and it is internally driven by the need for effective communication between employees and management. These two models are similar in that they identify forces that determine whether the change is necessary. For instance, Lewin’s theory identifies the forces for and against change, and whether the forces for change are stronger than forces against change. If the forces for change are stronger, the Weick and Quinn’s model can be applied to determine whether a continuous or episodic change is necessary.

• Portfolio Question five: Storytelling

Story One

John entered the office early in the morning as usual. He expected a heavy workload from his boss as usual, so needed a short time to organise his desk before the boss arrived. For several days since the new boss came into the organisation, John had been doing a great portion of the work in the office because he was efficient and effective in his work. His workmates Dickson and Mary were feeling sympathetic and offered to help him on various occasions but the manager did not want them to do so because he thought that everyone was required to complete their tasks individually to avoid wasting time and get the work completed on time. John’s work good, but his workload was two times bigger than those of his workmates. Sometimes he worked overtime and skipped lunch and tea breaks to complete the heavy work.

John was responsible for entering purchase and sales entries on the general ledger book and records all cash transactions on the cash book. He was always given a junk of receipts and invoices to record on the books. He was effective in his accounting role, but the work was getting excessive since the new boss took over in the accounting department. The accounts were becoming more accurate and organized since the new boss entered, but with the rate at which he overworked John, things may work against him in the long run. Mullins (2005) suggests that work performance can be achieved by focusing on teamwork rather than individual effort.

Today, John felt exhausted. He was getting ready to confront the manager. He wanted his boss to allow the three employees in the accounting office department to work as a team because he was doing a lot of work, and it would cause him a burnout as suggested by Mullins (2005). Whether the boss would listen was yet to be determined, but John was sure that he would lead the team to do better.

Story Two

John learned from his experiences. He wanted others to work as effectively as him so that others can also have a share of the responsibility in the accounting department. He felt that if all employees contributed an equal share of the tasks the workplace would be a better place that it currently is. However, he understood that different people have different levels of abilities (Glendon et al, 2007). Therefore, he resolved to take the mantle and lead others to perform better. He understood that other employees, Mary and Dickson, lacked motivation because their boss did not give them as much responsibility as him.

John took up a personal responsibility to motivate the other employees. To achieve this, he would first act as a team leader. He already led as an example by performing a heavy load of work. Now he decided to support other employees in their work and delegate part of his own workload to Dickson and Mary. His leadership qualities were undeniable. That day he joined Dickson and Mary for lunch and tea where they discussed a few issues about work in an informal manner. Their manager was amazed by the turn of events. At the end of the day, the team complete their tasks earlier than ever, and John’s leadership qualities were identified. The manager allowed them to work as a team from then on, led by John.

From these stories I have learned that relations in the workplace can be maintained with effective work performance, effective communication, and participation in performing tasks. John displayed intelligence and key competencies of an effective leader. I also learned that teamwork is more important and effective than individual job performance (Mullins, 2005).

• Portfolio Question Six
• Personal Characteristics and Competencies of Change Agents

Narrating

According to Jabri (2012) communication is an important competency for change agents. They need to narrate the change story effectively. They should be able to narrate the change itself, the need for change, and the benefits that can be achieved from the change. The narration of the change agents should be attractive and convincing to persuade others to accept the change and support it from the beginning to the end.

Storytelling/storying

The change agents also exhibit the trait of being able to tell a compelling story about the organisational change. The change agent needs to convince the audience to accept the change by telling them a persuasive story with humour, coherence and clarity.

Articulating a Vision

As part of leadership and strategic change management approach, the change agents should be able to articulate a clear vision for the change. The change agent should have a clear vision and be able to communicate that vision effectively to others (Pugh & Mayle, 2009). Setting a clear vision is a good start to create a sense of direction to guide others towards a common purpose. Other people should be convinced by a clearly communicated vision that they can be able to achieve the best from supporting the change.

Genuine Engagement with others

Change agents should not take up change as their own personal creation. Instead, they should engage others so that they can also have a sense of belonging. Engagement minimises issues of resistance and allows others to participate in implementing the change to achieve the intended outcome. Engagement also leads to collaboration of efforts to make the change successful.

Mindfulness

There is need for the change agent to mind his knowledge and awareness to ensure that the change is properly evaluated and implemented to achieve the needs of the wider society (Cameron & Green, 2004). Self-knowledge and self-awareness are essential for understanding and promoting effective change in the organisation.

Being Able to look beyond yourself

A change agent should not only be self-knowledgeable and self-aware but also knowledgeable of the needs of others in implementing change (Green, 2007). Change agents should genuinely care about the people and issues involved in the organisational change.

• My Style of Influencing Change

My style of change agency is a balanced style which focuses on both morale and task involved in the change. This style is a form of ethical leadership which ensures that the change agent is always concerned with moral and ethical positions while at the same time achieving a balanced stance of change. In this regard, I believe in changing the routines, structure and processes of the organisation to improve tasks to achieve higher performance at the workplace. However, I am also concerned with building the morale of employees to ensure that they are motivated to support the change in structure and processes at the workplace. If the morale of the people is destroyed, the overall success of the organisational change may not be achieved because employees may not be willing to support the change.

• Portfolio Question Eight: Managing Business Responsibly

British American Tobacco (BAT) is a company that operates in a controversial business line – marketing a product that has a health problem to consumers. The company sells tobacco products especially cigarettes. All cigarettes are often sold with a warning – “Cigarette smoking is harmful to your health.” Cigarettes cause lung cancer and other diseases. Companies are also required to refrain from selling cigarettes to young people. However, once cigarettes are released in the market it becomes difficult to monitor who consumes them. The conflict between making profits and behaving responsibly as a business is also a challenge in managing a business responsibly (Applewhite, 1965). However, BAT is a responsible business despite the controversy surrounding its line of business. The company’s responsiveness is clearly demonstrated through its ethical business approach, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

The company’s sustainability agenda developed in 2007 and revised in 2014 indicates that the company promotes research and development that enhances the creation of less risky products to reduce the health problems caused by cigarettes (BAT, 2015). Important elements of this agenda include reduction of harm, corporate behaviour and sustainable farming to alleviate poverty.

First, BAT provides education as part of its sustainability approach to create awareness among the youth and provide learning opportunities for them. For example, the company provides grants and scholarships for students. The company also supported the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility with a contribution of £3.8 million in 2000. BAT has also developed youth initiatives that discourage the consumption of cigarettes by young people. The company promotes responsible consumption by educating the youth on the risks involved in smoking, and making clear instructions and agreements with distributors to avoid selling cigarettes to young people. It also provides information about the risks involved in cigarette consumption through the youth smoking prevention programmes.

The corporate responsibility approach of the company also includes responsible citizenship demonstrated through equal and fair employment opportunities and provision of charities to organisations and communities. This demonstrates ethical business of corporate citizenship (Giesler and Veresiu, 2014). The company runs several environmental, social and cultural programmes to empower local communities to alleviate poverty and engage in responsible consumption. For example, the company worked with communities in Kenya to develop projects such as the Kerio Trade Winds Project aimed at developing best tobacco farming practices to alleviate poverty.

In terms of corporate governance, BAT promotes transparency, good corporate responsibility, and supporting communities, employees and the environment (BAT, 2015). BAT uses transparent, open and good corporate conduct to build trust from stakeholders. The company uses open marketing, good stakeholder relations, open engagement, reducing environmental impact, and working to reduce tobacco trafficking. Engaging with stakeholders consistently and reporting the business performance transparently are important corporate governance aspects of the company.

Figure 1: Summary of CSR Approach of BAT (BAT, 2015)

These corporate governance and corporate responsibility activities in the figure clearly show that BAT is acting responsibly in its business to meet the needs of the society and build a good corporate image. By supporting communities, protecting the environment and encouraging responsible consumption the company seeks to promote sustainable business in the markets where it operates its business.