This discussion will focus on a personal issue that took place in ABC Company and was a significant source of concern thereby necessitating group resolution. Conflicts arose between the various stakeholders of the organization including the employees, supervisors and their subordinates, managers, and employees or between employees and external stakeholders such as the government, customers or suppliers. The conflicts arising in the workplace were managed as soon as they occurred to ensure that there was a peaceful coexistence among the company’s stakeholders as well as ensuring that its various operations went smoothly. The senior managers studied and ensured that they practiced conflict management skills effectively. The problem that emerged in ABC Company and had a significant impact on performance included discrimination of workers against their race and gender. The main problem to be considered in this paper is the case of discrimination which took place when I was placed in a particular team that helped promote the marketing of the company’s product. The co-workers regularly gave me the most menial tasks which meant I had to work twice as hard to meet the deadlines and with no additional pay. It made me face a certain level of resentment which eventually resulted in decreased productivity and cases of verbal conflicts as I sought answers concerning all the work from my colleagues. I completely isolated myself from the rest of the employees since I thought their acts were discriminatory which meant I could not consult on anything from them and the efficiency of my work decreased. There was no peaceful co-existence between the employees and this lead to a reduction in the company’s profits.
Problem-solving in the ABC Company was conducted by the human resource department where the process was broken down into six sequential steps to make the process simpler and ensure more effective communication. The first step involved clarifying what the disagreement concerned (Todd & Barr, 2016). My team was called upon to agree on what the problem was about and also to mutually decide on what was not being met by either party. A lot of information regarding the criteria used to assign tasks, the method of assessment, and the policy which regulated assigning of functions was obtained in this step as it formed the base on which the other measures would be conducted.
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After clarifying the argument, the next step entailed setting a common goal for each party. The goal to be achieved in the long run was made known to both parties of the team so that we could both work towards achieving a universal solution (Benjamin, 2013). In this case, the common goal was having tasks issued to all employees in a fair manner and according to the qualifications of each. In the third step, ways to achieve the common goal set were established. The manager came up with measures such as creating a schedule to determine the tasks to be done by each employee (Ingram, 2018). Barriers to achieving the common goal were later on established. They included different work schedules for most employees which meant the size of the tasks is different. The next step involved the team agreeing on the best ways to solving the conflict. There was an agreement to follow the work schedule for all employees. In the final step, both parties acknowledged their responsibilities in the solution an owned up to them. The result was a win-win situation for the rest of the team and me.
The managers came up with the decision to introduce work schedules to show what tasks were to be done by a particular employee and at what specific time. It greatly helped in solving the problem at hand whereby each employee knew what was expected of them, therefore, eliminating incidences where particular employees were overworked or given more laborious tasks compared to others (Ferriss, 2017). The company policy developed by the managers described how every employee should act. Its primary objective involved controlling what each employee could and couldn't do because they focused on ensuring equity amongst all employees.
If the problem could be identified immediately, as it had occurred, this would have resulted in better outcomes for all key stakeholders of the organization (Coget, & Losh, 2016). For instance, there would have been increased productivity, as a result, of positive relations among the employees thereby increasing the profits which would then benefit the shareholders. The managers would also use the time required to solve the conflict which has grown out of hand to conduct essential activities for the firm. The customers would have also benefited since the increased productivity would mean availability of the required product as and when needed.
References
Benjamin, K. A. (2013, June 24). 6 Steps to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace. HR Daily Advisor . Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2013/06/24/6steps-to-conflict-resolution-in-the-workplace/
Coget, J., & Losh, S. (2016). Group behavior in organizations (2nd Ed.) . Bridgepoint Education, INC
Ferriss, T. (2017). 4 Decision-making and problem solving examples in the workplace . Retrieved June 13, 2018, from https://www.bigthinkedge.com/blog/4-decision-making-and-problem-solving-examples-in-the-workplace
Ingram, D. (2018, January 31). Examples of conflicts & resolutions in the workplace. Chron . Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-conflicts-resolutions-workplace-11230.html
Todd, B., & Barr, L. (2016, March 2). The importance of teaching problem solving and how to do it. Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://emergingconsulting.com/2016/03/02/teaching-problem-solving-skills-and-its-importance/
