The Role of Procedure in Managing Both Individual and Collective Conflict - Essay Example

193743 In most conflicts, neither party is right or wrong; instead, different perceptions collide to create disagreement. Conflict is natural and it's up to you to respond to conflict situations quickly and professionally. Conflict can be very positive; if you deal with it openly, you can strengthen your work unit by correcting problems. Conflicting views give you a chance to learn more about yourself, explore views of others, and develop productive relationships. Clear and open communication is the cornerstone of successful conflict resolution. http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/guide/conflict.htm INTRODUCTION Human resource development and conflict management have become perhaps the most important issues today in the globalised world economy. These are common problems in smaller and bigger organisations with varying degrees of significance; but they could never be ignored. Very few organisations could overlook the need of human resource management today. When a group of people are working for the better part of the day, every day, day after day, together, at the same place, dealing with the same issues, it is not surprising that individual and collective conflicts take place in the world sphere. It becomes part of the daily management to deal with these kind of unpleasant skirmishes; nevertheless, it is also important to manage them correctly so that the managing itself should not leave a residue that would create further problems for not only the individual workers, but also for the organisation itself. Every organisation has realised how important it is to have pleasant situations at the working place and how imperative it is to please the worker. Workers too have understood that never-ending conflicts can bring unpleasantness, mental turmoil, continuous annoyance, loss of efficiency and job and hence, opportunities. So, when both the sides are more understanding, it is not very difficult to adapt some procedures that would deal with any eventuality. We have heard a lot about the Japanese way of treating their workers and the effective procedures they adapt to solve the conflicts at work place. Perhaps it is always necessary for the western society to take a leaf from their in managing their own people. PURPOSE It is necessary to know more about the various dimensions and variables of human resource management and how it should deal with the conflict management. In every organisation conflict management procedure is absolutely necessary, because if conflict management is not effective or is not according to the style and perspective of the company's work, the small problems could branch out into bigger issues and shake the very structure of the organisation. Hence, a study on human resources conflict management is necessary from all the points of view. METHODOLOGY This study depends on the secondary sources like connected books, journals, reports, case studies and sources from the internet. There will not be any primary research in the shape of personal and face to face interviews. This also could be called the limitations of the project. DISCUSSION "Conflict persists at all levels of contemporary corporate life, including the top. Yet conflict rarely escapes the boundaries of executive contexts to escalate into large-scale public disputes or firings the kinds of events that receive widespread media attention," Morrill (1995, p.1). Resolving conflict situations is definitely not an easy task and needs patience, understanding, kindness and more than that, a set of procedures. It is imperative that the person should be a skilled communicator, who can create an open communication environment, where both the parties feel comfortable and ready to discuss the matter. Listening to the complaints of both the sides is the first procedure in solving any complaint. It is also important to keep an open mind while listening or discussing. It is necessary to venture into discussion only after the complete matter and the diverse viewpoints are totally understood by the negotiator. It is necessary for the Human Resource manager to create an open atmosphere in the department by improving relations, teamwork and a communicative atmosphere in the place of a stifling one. It is always better to acknowledge that there is a difficult situation, instead of saying that there is absolutely no problem. Familiarising with the problem by allowing the parties to express their points of view, so that they can define the problem as they see it is of foremost importance. Differing personality styles and backgrounds could see the same problem from two different angles. Determining the underlying needs of both the parties would simplify all the conflicts. It is not possible to solve a conflict without understanding it. Sometimes, when the driving needs are understood, more than half of the problem is solved simply by attending to one of the primary needs. At the same time the problem solver cannot agree to all the demands by accepting the conflicting points of view. Instead, while agreeing on the problem, its existence, and the procedure, it is also necessary to give in on a small change to bring the experience of success. Once this placating mission is over, the manager has to really find solutions to satisfy the conflicting groups. It could be done in many ways. Creating multiple and agreeable alternatives that could solve the problem is the main work. Once it is presented to the warring parties, it becomes necessary to choose one of the options. It is very significant to involve both the parties in these actions. It is better to get their acceptance in a more concrete way, other than in accusing silence, because silence could also be a part of passive resistance. Scheduling the follow up actions like meetings, reports or some other action should be agreed by both the parties, so that a follow up path could be chalked out. It is always better to find an 'exit route' in case the conflict remains unsolved. It is necessary to explore the other avenues to have a sensible option. This means that the manager may have to deal with anger and disappointment and sometimes even abuse. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to allow the speaker to let his steam off, because reasoning with him when he continues to be angry is useless. The angry person expects to be heard, understood and appreciated. It is necessary to convey all these points by being attentive and patient. He should be calm, sincere and forgiving. The manager should understand enough to forget the heated conversation, blame game and name calling. Unless that is done, it is difficult to proceed further because a person who carries the grudge in his heart can never solve the issues impartially. Conflict management is a serious part of the regular working of any organisation, as an organisation without conflicts is yet to be seen. It is necessary to build up a conflict management strategy that is suitable for that particular institution. In addition, there are a few ways of avoiding the unnecessary conflicts. Creative conflicts could be contributory to the company's growth; but unnecessary conflicts could be mutilating. One way of doing it is to make it look unimportant. That is, whenever a conflict is raised, the manager would simply say that it is too small a matter and perhaps would attend to it later himself and solve the problem, in case one exists. Another way of doing it is bureaucratise it, misdirect it, and send it through the longest possible channel so that the person who had raised the grievances would forget it eventually. The third way is getting angry with the conflict riser or involving the wrath of his superior authorities so that the person could feel dispirited and hesitate to incur the wrath of his superiors once again. Fourth is called premature problem solving, or solving the connected issues, but not the problem itself. Having said that, it must be pointed out that all the above four deal with avoiding the problem from cropping up, but not really solving it. They are methods of postponement and creating unhappiness amongst the staff, which eventually, at one point or other, have to be solved and perhaps by then, it would have grown out of hand. These are part of Old School management and do not work any more in the globalised world. another risk that is involved here is that the thoroughly intimidated workers will stop complaining or reporting the conflicts, and refrain from expressing their pointes of view and the organisation might learn the lesson in a hard way, if some major loss happens, which could have been stopped if only it was reported earlier by the employees. At the organisational level, an organisation that has gone through some ferocious strikes and lock-outs usually finds it difficult to appreciate conflicts that might lead to further talks. Such managements are usually very defensive and neither the employees nor the employers are ready to forget the past. Such atmosphere, unless it is completely changed does not contribute much to the conflict friendly environment. Conflicts at the organisational level have to be anticipated without fail, as these are simply inevitable. "In all human relationships there are inevitably constant disagreements over resource allocations, roles and rights. In some cases there can be acceptable compromises and adjustments made. This is usually so when material resources are the source of differences. A little more or a little less of material betable in the preservation of social relationships. In these cases the traditional means of settlement--power bargaining, negotiation, mediation and arbitration -- may be appropriate" Burton, http://www.gmu.edu/academic/pcs/burton.html Don Hofstrand, talking about collective conflicts, offers different conflict management styles including competition, accommodation, avoidance, collaboration, and compromise as shown abovre. According to him the significant steps are: initiating dialogues, involving all pertinent parties, assimilate information, reinforce agreements, negotiate disagreements and solidify agreements. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-115.html These methods are not accepted by all HR specialists. It is also important to know that one single procedural code cannot fit all the organisations. "By contrast, HR specialists focus more on organizational effectiveness and emphasize that although employment relationship conflict is indeed widespread, such conflict stems largely from poor management and thus can be substantially reduced, if not eliminated, through organizational and procedural innovations and other management improvements; that a unity of interests among employers and employees can be achieved; that remaining conflicts can best be dealt with through mutual problem-solving techniques that promote cooperation and integration rather than adversarialism and fractionalization; and that power imbalances will fade from the employment scene as employers and employees come to have similar goals and objectives". Lewin (2001, p.454). Organisations should have their own procedures of conflict management according to the region, level, quality, product, size, culture and gender policies. As Burton says conflict could be creative and essential at all levels for growth and change. "Conflict, like sex, is an essential creative element in human relationships. It is the means to change, the means by which our social values of welfare, security, justice and opportunities for personal development can be achieved. If suppressed.society becomes static" Burton, 1972c, 137-138) in Hill (1982, p.113). There are other connected problems that could be attached to conflicts. One of them is bringing personal baggage to work. No doubt, this could be annoying and could start a conflict. Still the manager has to preserve dignity and self-respect of all the stakeholders and listen with empathy without expecting to change others' behavioural style. But it is important to express his own independent perspective. "When you're the lone dissenter, it's tempting to surrender your conviction to conform with more popular views. At other times, it's easy to get so embroiled in a heated dispute that you lose yourself, and the war, to win a battle. Your gift to others is your independent point of view - which requires that you understand and reflect about what really matters to you," says Kindler (1988, p.13). It is important not to surrender just because the voice is a lonely one. If the conflict is of a collective kind, it has to be handled differently. It is always better to have a step-by-step procedure like anticipating the conflict, planning a proper strategy, preparing the strategy in advance, and reacting as decided earlier to the results. Collective conflict is like mass psychology and one can never completely predict where it would lead. Hence, it is absolutely necessary to be prepared to all the eventualities, as, while in a group, people, psychologically tend to become heroes and leaders even though the situation does not warrant it. In addition, new and dangerous problems could crop up. Handling a collective conflict should be done with utmost care and one of the best procedures to deal with the collective conflict, psychologically speaking, is the postponement of the entire issue giving some reason or other and then dealing with people one group after another and never in one single group. With the lapse of time, some doubts will crop up and better sense will prevail amongst the conflict makers and handling will be easier that way. Assessing sources of conflict, recognising its spreading pattern, identifying personal agendas, minimising pitfalls, using problem solving frameworks, are necessary at different levels. Only with a perfect procedure to tackle inner disharmony, it is possible to have a perfectly working organisation. "Organisations are networks. Relations between units are characterized by impulses towards mutual dependency and towards autonomy. Structure, strategy, culture and information systems offer levers to generate a positive dynamic of increasing motivation and vitality. This can be done by a balanced articulation of the autonomy as well as the interdependency of units," Mastenbroek (1993, p.163). CONCLUSION "There is no general agreement on the precise definition of a conflict management system, even among experts. Clearly though, an authentic system is not merely a practice, a procedure, or a policy. It is something more encompassing, which may incorporate all three - practice, procedure and policy," Lipsky et al (2003, p.11). For every organisation, it is important to create a 'conflict friendly' environment at the work place. This atmosphere acknowledges the existence of conflicts as a natural occurrence, as people have diverse values and needs and hold different viewpoints. A healthy, democratic organisation, that welcomes all the points of views would rather welcome conflicts as a means of finding faults, repair them and grow on their strength through the constructive response from the staff members. This means people are not intimidated and even though their views could not be accepted, it will not be ridiculed either. It is important for the workers to know that they will not be targeted as a scapegoat for holding a diverse point of view or for arguing with the higher authorities. People usually do not want their problems and grievances to be solved or dealt with in a highly bureaucratic and impersonal way. Underlying cultural and gender politics might need immediate attention and such issues would not go away easily. It is necessary to handle the situations in such a way that it becomes profitable for the organisation and that means accepting conflicts as healthy and inevitable and then try to understand it on a deeper level and solve it to the best possible level. A simple procedure of trying to know more about the problem itself is the best possible attitude that makes the conflict riser feel gratified and accepted. It is necessary to recognise the resources drain of any organisation through unresolved conflict. This usually happens by avoiding the conflict, not solving the issues, intimidating the workers while some practical thinking could have solved the problem from its route and unity at the workplace could have been preserved. At the same time, it is futile to go through the entire rigmarole of procedures, restructuring and planning to appease a single employee who refuses to understand. This only shows that when people are determined not to understand, there should be another way of dealing with it and conflict solving in the softest possible way might not work. Individual conflict solving could be more personal and effective dealing with it usually solves the problem. Collective conflicts, if not properly solved, could become the bane of the very organisation that is sustaining the conflict creators. It is necessary for the management and the managers to understand its potential danger of paralysing the organisation and its growth. Hence, these conflicts should be dealt with very carefully, because the Workers' Unions could take part in such conflicts and this might lead to a totally different dimension. No doubt, the management roles are difficult and complex. But it is not possible to forget the role of the workers. It never pays to take the conflict beyond a certain limit, erect barriers between colleagues and with the management. Also it would be too much to expect to have a pleasant place of work when one returns after the conflict. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Hill, Barbara, 'An Analysis of Conflict Resolution Techniques: From Problem solving Workshops to Theory, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 26, No. 1. (Mar., 1982), pp. 109-138. 2. Kindler, Herbert (1988), Managing Disagreement Constructively, Kogan Page Limited, London. 3. Lipsky, David et al (2003), Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict, Jossey - Bass, San Francisco. 4. Lewin, David, 'IR and HR perspectives on workplace conflict; What can each learn from the other' Human Resource Management Review, 11 (2001) 453-485 5. Mastenbroek, Willem (1993), Conflict Management and Organization Development, John Wiley, Chickester. 6. Morrill, Calvin (1995), The Executive Way, Conflict Management in Corporations, The University of Chicago Press. ONLINE SOURCES 1. http://www.rantcollective.net/article.phpid=15 2. http://www.gmu.edu/academic/pcs/burton.html 3. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-115.html 4. Read More