Employee
communication
In
communication with people it is necessary to understand ones purpose
beforehand. Understanding ones purpose can prepare oneself for the
confrontation when needing to deliver negative information especially. Should I
be in the position of managing a team of employees that would require me to
present negative information it would be required of me to present myself well,
with confidence and preparedness. Bad news can open doors for miscommunication,
anger, and generally poor reception in listening skills. If it came to my
needing to present an employee with negative information I would need to get
all of my ducks in a row in order to present the information with the upmost
consideration for that individual, his feelings, culture, and understanding of
the situation.
In
considering of the scenario that I should be the manager of a mid-sized company
and an employee had become confrontational there may be many plausible ways by
which the situation could be managed. I can before approaching the employee try
to assess his behavior as of late. Perhaps there is a reason for the change in
behavior. It occurs that in stress people can become angered and feel an
inability to cope with the surmounting pressure. It can also occur that in the
absence of stimulation at work boredom can produce a substandard level of work.
People who feel unchallenged sometimes meet a point at which they feel that
their efforts are without reward and may begin to withdraw from performing well
at work because of the lack (Cahn, 2007). If it was discovered that part of the
belligerent employee’s problem met the criteria for either of these stress
related issues, measures could be met in order to try to rectify the problem. In
the lack of stimulation the employee could be placed on certain projects that
would be catered to his skills, if available, or even be given special
assignment to learn a new skill within the company. Something a change of
scenery can do wonders. In the case of being overworked, some smaller tasks
could be reallocated to other employees to balance the workload.
There does
come a point however, when employees run their course in the company and need
the chance to consider for themselves if this is the case. Approaching the
employee should come in the upmost care. “Effective conflict management occurs
when our communication behavior produces desirable results for all the parties
concerned” (Cahn, 2007, p.8) I would ask him to my office. Upon arrival I would
sit near to the employee not separated by the desk in order to try to create
some trust away from the position of authority. It would be my hope that in so
doing I would gain better ground for conversation and reason. In conversation I
would be direct, establishing the problem as a matter of effect on the business
and increased difficulty of organizational efficiency because of the employee’s
behavior and actions. By illustrating the effect I am allowing the employee to
take note of the responsibility and accountability he holds to the organization
and its people. After I deliver this information I would alert the employee to
his options in rectifying the error, increase his standing in the company or
face dismissal.
It would be
my hope that he would come to terms with the information I presented and want
to fix the problem for the sake of his job. It may come to this though, that he
would no longer find attachment to the position and want to be let go, perhaps
even put in his notice. There of course lies the option that he would feel the
information to be unjustified and become aggravated. Perhaps he would feel
wronged by the company, hence “causing” his recent mood, and this news would
only feel like salt in the wound. In this case, should the employee become
greatly confrontational it would be healthiest for the organization to
discontinue employee.
Cahn, D.D., & Abigail, R.A. (2007). Managing conflict
through communication (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:
978-0-205-68556-1
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