Leadership is the ability to manage a given organization, workplace or a group of people effectively. A good leader has special attributes that enable them to effectively solve conflicts. Decision making requires keenness as it is the key factor of any conflict resolution. There are a variety of challenges faced by both the managers and their employees in an organization (Adler et al, 2011, p. 139). This may include a disagreement between the employers and their employees concerning certain policies. An example is the JKL industries in Australia that have implemented some strategies to restructure its operations. The mission, however, faces some challenges among the employees concerning certain policies and the security of their jobs as a result of its restructuring.
The company's aim to restructure its operations and ensure effective relationship among employees is a challenge and therefore as a manager, there is the need to come out with the best alternative in ensuring the mission has been attained. First, a leader is a role model and he should ensure that he follows the set policies agreed upon by the employees. It is important to have the employees in mind and how their motivation can improve the performance of an organization (Behfar and Trochim, 2016, p.170). Conflicts among the employees can interfere with their motivation and, therefore, it is important to listen and consider all the employee's grievances and take an effective action that does not harm them.
Decision making for conflict resolution is procedural. This involves identifying the problem, listing alternatives and among the list identifying the best choice, acting on the chosen alternative and finally identifying the effectiveness of the decision made after a certain period of time. After receiving complaints from the employees, it is important to discuss the matters with the employee's supervisor and effective feedback to the employees can be given out. The employees should feel free to express their grievances to their supervisors or the closest managers. The managers can also observe keenly on the performance of the employees (Jauch and Kraft, 2012, p.777). It helps in identifying the presence of any conflict among the employees. Managers should be flexible and ready to listen to their employees for better performance of an organization. Harsh management in most cases ends up losing the best employees. Before any feedback to the conflict, the employers should consider the best choice among the alternatives. It is also important to evaluate the performance of the decision made after a certain period of time.
The best way of conflict resolution among the employees in the workplace is to use the decision-making plan. Through the plan, the grievances of the employees are given priority and the best decision is made for the benefit of both the employees, employers and the company. The set policies of the company should be considered to ensure the employees are not distorted (Bercovitch, 2013). Any mission to restructure an organization with the aim of making more profit is always important but it should consider any set policies. The managers should consider compensating fully the employees who lose their jobs. Listening to the employees and making effective decision helps in achieving the best solution for any conflict and also enhancing the morale among the employees.
Grievances are fundamentally regarded as matters brought by the employees, various management systems are designed to handle employee grievances (McDermott and Forgy, 2016, p. 177). Handling employee’s grievances and complaints is a process that requires critical measures in an organization (Billingham, 2012, p.283). In many organizations employee’s complaints and grievances are motivated by genuine concern about the perception of behavior and actions of the management or other employees. However, as the Human resource director, I will set strict disciplinary rules for employees who forward complaints that are improper and inappropriate. As the human resource business partner in JKL industries, I laid down effective procedures to ensure that employee’s grievances are heard and solved adamantly. The guidance session will cover the specific issues that I should be focusing on as the Human resource business partner. Certain grievances were brought forward by the employees to restructure the business, the employees are afraid that they will lose their jobs and will not be offered an opportunity to retrain (Freeman, 2015). The best and effective strategy that I will implement will focus on:
I will hold a formal meeting with the employees, the meeting will comprise of the human resource team who will be the representatives, and the employees, on the other hand, will be the witnesses who might provide valuable input regarding the grievances. This will be a very vital process in identifying the procedures and hearing them from the employees firsthand, however, the grievances will not be solved in the first step. I will need further investigation to find out from the manager and other employees if the grievances presented are true.
The second step includes further investigation, as members of the grievances committee, it is important to conduct an investigation and gather more information pertaining the employee grievances. The information provided in the formal meeting might not sufficient, further conduction of interviews with the managers and other employees will be necessary hence the grievances are twofold.
Building employee trust and confidence will include the employee's interpersonal relationships, in addition to protecting the interest of all employees and displaying competence is important in gaining employees confidence. Through effective communication skills, I will communicate with the manager. Employees trust and confidence can only be assured if the management is competent enough and implement actionable strategies, the strategies will include being honest and supportive to the employees, employee trust and confidence can further be demonstrated by listening effectively, for instance by listening to the employees grievances effectively and posing questions to them on what is supposed to be improved and what is supposed to be removed. Listening to the employees is a major issue in many organizations when the employees are given an opportunity to speak and present various pressing issues to the manager, they subsequently gain their trust with the manager, and this is, in addition, a very effective method to offer your own trust as a manager. This further is complemented by communication skills that will arise from the human resource manager, to communicate to the employees using ethical communication techniques, this gains trust and respect.
Restructuring the business corporate culture of JKL industries will not only advance cooperate culture but the welfare of the employees. Contrary to the employee's idealized approach to the restructuring process, the process is aimed at effectively strategizing the workforce planning and development hence improves the welfare of the employees. The employees pay will only be improved if the skills are not competent enough.
Building trust with my colleagues through assuming a calm, professional and emotionally receptive attitude and demeanor will begin by wearing down my emotions, turning down my emotions will earn trust between me and my colleagues, consequently my gestures or body language will not indicate my emotions, secondly I must speak to the colleagues authoritatively without fear, maintaining a fearless attitude enable leaders to develop a sense of confidence in you and the team, having a fearful attitude can make a leader vulnerable, the colleagues, in addition, might not respect or listen to the leader hence they doubt the leader (Kuhl and Goschke, 2014, p.93). The plan to solve grievances will include the use of a transparent process for the resolution of grievances and complaints raised; I will outline various principles which will be necessary if followed for the achievement of conflict resolution among the employees and the management.
References
Adler, M.R., Davis, A.B., Weihmayer, R. and Worrest, R.W., 2011. Conflict-resolution strategies for nonhierarchical distributed agents. In Distributed artificial intelligence (pp. 139-161).
Behfar, K.J., and Trochim, W.M., 2016. The critical role of conflict resolution in teams: a close look at the links between conflict type, conflict management strategies, and team outcomes. Journal of applied psychology, 93(1), p.170.
Bercovitch, J., 2013. Social conflicts and third parties: Strategies of conflict resolution. Westview Press.
Billingham, R.E., 2012. Courtship violence: The patterns of conflict resolution strategies across seven levels of emotional commitment. Family Relations, pp.283-289.
Freeman, R.E., 2015. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge university press.
Jauch, L.R. and Kraft, K.L., 2012. Strategic management of uncertainty. Academy of management review, 11(4), pp.777-790.
Kuhl, J. and Goschke, T., 2014. A theory of action control: Mental subsystems, modes of control, and volitional conflict-resolution strategies. Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation, 5, pp.93-124.
McDermott, J. and Forgy, C., 2016. Production system conflict resolution strategies. In Pattern-directed inference systems (pp. 177-199).
