“You are a department manager in a mid-sized company that provides technology support services. You have ten employees who are required to maintain a high level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One of your employees, who has been with the company for two years, is performing at a substandard level and you have received numerous complaints from customers and coworkers. In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. You must now meet with this employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement or dismissal.”
In this case, the approach to the employee is crucial. If I, as the manager, confront the employee in the wrong manner, the conflict could escalate and end poorly. Of course, any conflict must be handled tactfully, but for employers it is even more crucial to maintain a professional demeanor when handling employee conflicts. I would approach the employee using the confrontation steps that are outlined by Cahn and Abigail (2007, p. 97-104). These steps are: identify the problem, tell the person “we need to talk,” talk about the problem, consider the other party’s point of view, resolve the problem, and reevaluate at a set date. The problem has been identified by the time I realize that the employee has a performance and behavior problem. I would set a meeting with the employee and tell him beforehand that the meeting was to evaluate his performance. During the meeting, I would discuss the problem issues with the employee. I would then explain that he has failed to meet the expectations set forth by the company guidelines. Most likely, I would put him on a probationary period and explain that, unless his performance and behavior improve within a set time frame, he will be dismissed. The next step I would take would be to talk to him about why he is having these performance issues. Because the employee has been with the company for two years and the problems are just emerging, I am led to believe that there is some outside factor influencing the issues that he is now having. I would try to be understanding if there are indeed outside forces causing this poor performance, and offer possible solutions to his personal problems. I would then evaluate him over the set time frame that was given during the initial meeting. At the end of the probationary period, I would meet with him again to discuss my evaluations on his most recent performance.
The employee’s response would depend on his personal conflict style. According to Cahn and Abigail (2007, p. 60-72), there are five possible communication options in conflict: nonassertive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive. Given that the employee has previously displayed hostile behavior, it is likely that he would be aggressive or passive-aggressive in his response to the performance evaluation and ultimatum that I have given him. The aggressive communicator attempts to force other people to bend to his will forcefully. The passive-aggressive communicator attempts to bend other people to his will using underhanded tactics. He will likely rant and rave and give reasons why he is a good employee and others are just out to get him.
The conflict resolution style that I would use would depend on the employee’s response to the ultimatum. Ideally, I would use a collaborative strategy. If the employee wants to resolve the issues, we could work to find a mutually satisfying solution. If the employee becomes confrontational, I would have to use an assertive form of communication to explain to the employee why his behavior is unacceptable.
Regardless of whether conflict occurs in the workplace or in our personal lives, it is always a good idea to know how to handle it. Handling conflict effectively leads to lower stress levels in our lives. In this case study, following the recommended steps for confrontation and anticipating the employee’s possible responses allows the manager to better prepare to handle the conflict. Now if only all conflicts could be solved using these simple steps…
References
Cahn, D.D., & Abigail, R.A. (2007). Managing Conflict Through Communication. (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
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