Introduction
Conflict in the workplace is inevitable because organizations consist of employees from different backgrounds and with different styles of work who come together for a common business purpose. In this regard, conflict can be expressed in various ways including noncooperation, insults, violence, anger, and bullying. Consequently, conflict can adversely impact organizations including decreased productivity, turnover, absenteeism, work disruptions and project failure among other effects. However, conflict can be resolved and managed in the workplace, and this role rest upon the management of the organization, especially managers and human resource professionals. The situation existing in the company I have just been employed is also a form of employee conflict, and it needs to be adequately addressed. As the new HR manager of the company, it is my duty to design policies and procedures and manage programs of conflict resolution to ensure the situation is solved and employee relations are improved. As such, this paper aims to address the issues that the manager raised to tackle the situation of employee hostility in the organization.
Appropriate Disciplinary Action for the Employees involved in this Situation
Appropriate disciplinary action for the two groups of employees in the night and morning shift with hostile behavior include a disciplinary action that is progressive, whereby the action that is taken in a manner that is progressing from actions of lesser to heavier intensity (Gorry, 2014). The first disciplinary action is to conduct an informal counseling for the employees to ensure that they are aware of the negative effects associated with their ad behavior and enable them to know what is expected of them. Thereafter, the employees can be issued with a verbal warning. Then, heavier disciplinary actions in this situation can be taken, especially for employees who will continue with the bad behavior after counseling and verbal warning (Gorry, 2014). These actions include suspension with pay that is half, show-cause letter issuance, issuance of the final warning letter and if the behavior persists, dismissal will be applicable.
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Motivational alternatives that can assist to turn around the situation of employees’ hostility include one, conflict management training (Society for Human Resource Management, 2018). This training can be helpful especially for employees with the behavior of passive-aggressive and angry employees. The training can help them attain skills of conflict management and teach them self-discipline as well. Second, is formal counseling and coaching (Tanner, 2018). Formal counseling assists to part knowledge to employees, thus they become more aware of what is expected of them and also help them learn to appreciate the differences which exist between them (Society for Human Resource Management, 2018). Another alternative action that will motivate employees is to design policies that help create an environment of open communication. This encourages employees to air their views and they get addressed, thus preventing issues from reaching the level of turning into conflict or other major issues.
Policies and Procedures that can be used in Guidance and Performance Management of the Shift Workers
One of the policies for guidance and performance management is supervision (Barbour, 2012). Employees will be regularly supervised to provide direction and accountability within a certain time period, and to ensure each and every employee complete their activities satisfactorily; to identify any resources or assistance needed, and ensure workers achieve their work goals and objectives. Every shift will be assigned two or three supervisors depending on the number of employees and workload. Performance review and evaluation is another policy for performance management and guidance (Barbour, 2012). These reviews will be conducted by line-manager of employees. Another policy is developing a work plan for individuals, which will show work goals, criteria for measuring performance, and training or development plans where skills needed to achieve major goals will be considered by employees and their supervisors. Apart from the three, formal review of progress is another policy for performance management. This review will be conducted after every six months and will provide a platform for feedback to staff concerning their performance and progress.
Performance standards for the Employees
Performance standards refer to the establishment of a system or organizational targets, goals, and standards to improve the performance of employees within an organizational setting (Barbour, 2012). These standards are expressions of performance requirements, expectations or thresholds which must be met at a specific performance level. The performance standards in this situation will include:
I. Employees must meet the timeline requirements by delivering their work as per the required time.
II. The quality of work of employees will be measured in terms of accuracy or how well the work is done. Measures will include the rate of errors (only errors of up to 10% will be allowable per work unit).
III. All employees are expected to deliver the quantity of work assigned to them by their supervisors on a daily basis. Failure to deliver on a daily basis will result in underperformance.
Appropriate Performance Appraisal Methods
Proper performance appraisal methods in this situation include first, management by objective or work standards method, where performance is rated against objective achievements stated by the management (Khanna & Sharma, 2014). The second appropriate method is the behaviorally anchored rating scales, in which ineffective and effective behaviors determine performance. Essay method is also suitable as it rates employees with a detailed description within a number of broad categories such as performance overall impression, employee promotability, weaknesses and strengths of employees, existing qualifications and capabilities of performing jobs and employee training needs (Khanna & Sharma, 2014). Finally, critical incidents method is another proper performance appraisal, in which performance takes account of all critical behaviors of employees which are recorded when they occur.
Appropriate Training to Help the Employees get back on Track
The training will take a period of three days, and it will involve full-day training of all employees in the three shifts. The significance of training will include impacting workers will knowledge of conflict management, teaching them how they can learn to appreciate their differences and embrace the attitude of togetherness in the organization. Additionally, the training will offer a platform to have a serious talk with employees, where the will air they views and finding the best approaches to handle them. Nonetheless, the training program will help them understand what is expected of them in the organization and how to focus on achieving these expectations.
References
Barbour, B. (2012). Staff performance management policy and framework. Ombudsman New South Wales. Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/4068/Staff-Performance-Management-Policy.PDF
Gorry, T. (2014, November 8). A Step by Step Disciplinary Procedure-From Verbal Warning to Dismissal. Employment Rights Ireland . Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://employmentrightsireland.com/a-step-by-step-disciplinary-procedure-from-verbal-warning-to-dismissal/
Khanna, M., & Sharma, R. K. (2014). Employees performance appraisal and its techniques: a review. Asian Journal of Advanced Basic Sciences, 2(2), 51-58.
Society for Human Resource Management (2015). Managing Workplace Conflict. Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-amples/toolkits/pages/managingworkplaceconflict.aspx
Tanner, R. (2018, May 14). Motivation – 7 Steps for Coaching Difficult Employees. Management is a Journey . Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://managementisajourney.com/motivation-7-steps-for-coaching-difficult-employees/
