Hr Conflict Resolution
Managing Conflict in the Work Environment
Randi Diamond
July 20, 2011
Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………….
Introduction………………………………………………………………..1
Managing conflict in the work environment……………………………….2
Examine Different Variations of Conflict in the Workplace Research Personality Clashes……………………………………………………………………………..2
Investigate differences in working styles………………………………………..4
Touch on Conflicts with Background and/or Gender………………………..5
Analyze the Correlation between Conflict and Job Interdependence………..7
Explore Different Avenues of Workplace Conflict Resolution Analyze Different Conflict Resolution Exercises……………………………………………………..8
Explore active listening as a means to addressing conflict…………..9
Understand the Role of Human Resources in Workplace Conflict Resolution……..12
Recognizing the Benefits of Workplace Conflict Resolution…………………………..13
Transcendental leadership: the progressive hospitality leaders silver bullet...............................................................................………………………………. 15
Employee satisfaction with schedule flexibility: Psychological antecedents and consequences within the workplace…………………………………………….. 16
The Effects of Employee Empowerment on employee job satisfaction: a study on hotels in turkey……………………17
Recommendations or Implications for Managers………………………………..18
Abstract
In today’s diverse and competitive workplace, it has become increasingly vital for managers to familiarize themselves with both the employees work style and the employees as human beings. Company leaders need to take in to account the motivating factors that facilitate the intrinsic rewards that enhance job satisfaction and create a healthy work environment. This paper focuses primarily on the traits of employees that may contribute to potential conflict in addition to how managers are using innovative ways to communicate with employees and mediate situations. The hospitality industry is unique and presents its’ own diverse set of issues which this work will also address. This paper will suggest recommendations and implications for managers so that they may be able to realize the long-term benefits of a more positively cultured work environment.
Introduction When an employee becomes disenchanted with their job, whether due to job stressors or interpersonal conflicts, it is easy to feel disengaged and even at times act carelessly. When these issues arise, one may lose sight of the purpose and goals of the position. When the intrinsic rewards diminish, an employee may lose motivation and interest causing issues with co-workers and employers. This is a prime opportunity for conflict to occur. It can be something as simple as differences of opinion or a sense of favoritism between colleagues or something as complicated as personality conflicts. Occasionally, the problems may develop in to major problems that ruin morale and detract from the organization’s mission and vision. When large conflicts occur, a resolution must be found to enable productivity. Conflict within the workplace is a serious problem for the work environment and everyone involved. Conflicts not only disrupt employees, but also management, causing a breakdown in operations. The hospitality industry works everyday of the year, under pressure and with constant customer demands. In most every industry, the goal is to increase sales, profits and customer loyalty but with employee conflict the potential for growth is inhibited. There are many factors that can affect employee’s behaviors leading to conflict. This paper will address different theories, ideas and solutions that promote a more positive, efficient and productive workplace while taking a close look at issues unique to the hospitality industry.
Managing Conflict in the Work Environment
It has been said that diversity is one of an organization’s most important untapped resource. The workplace has become increasingly different in terms of policies, procedures, hiring and recruiting; but most importantly, it has given way to a whole new set of potential conflicts. Personality clashes, communication style differences, ethnicity and gender issues are usually the foundation of most issues. A good manager must learn not only how to identify these differences, but they must match them to compatible counterparts and projects in order to turn conflict into a learning experience and attempt to alleviate stressful conflict. There are several new and innovative ways of working with conflicting employees such as transformative mediation and active listening that have proven to be quite successful. By analyzing their employees and using productive conflict resolution methods, an organization will be able to reap the potential benefits, un-tapping resources in the diverse workplace and remain competitive and innovative. Examine Different Variations of Conflict in the Workplace
In order to tackle the grandiose topic that is workplace conflict, it is imperative for a manager to understand that everyone is inherently different and they will be spending one- fifth of their time acting as a peacekeeper (Ramsey, R.D., 2003). Although this is quite a broad statement, some experts say that personalities, which are genetically determined, result in different sets of preferred behaviors and personality differences are said to be the source of most conflict. During such turbulent economic times as now, different stressors such as job security and a constantly changing market contribute to workplace conflict. According to Dr. Ramsey, personality clashes often distract from work routines, undermine morale, jeopardize teamwork, threaten productivity and can erupt into dangerous and violent confrontations. Since conflict can be contagious, it 's the supervisor 's job to see this doesn 't happen (Ramsey, R.D., 2003). A good manager will not only understand the following personality types, but they will identify and learn to work with them in order to make all of the potential and looming stressors as easily manageable as possible.
One of the most popular and effective way to determine an employee’s personality type is through the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test (MBTI). By administering this test, an organization can determine whether an employee is an extrovert versus an introvert, sensing type versus intuitive, thinking type versus feeling, or a judging type versus receiving.
After careful research, it has been determined that extroverts are comfortable being out in the public eye and are very energetic. They are willing to adjust or even change decisions in order to meet certain demands. They also tend to delegate well. Differently, introverts are more at ease working behind the scenes and may find it more difficult to change any decisions. Typically, introverts tend to not delegate as easily.
The next personality types determined by the MBTI are the sensing types and the intuitive types. Sensing types prefer to follow specific directions and enjoy achieving tangible goals. They also tend to be more satisfied with instant gratification in terms of immediately connecting a benefit to a current action. Conversely, the intuitive employee is primarily focused on achieving conceptual goals, they are more comfortable with following general guidelines and they are focused more future successes.
Other personalities are the thinking and feeling types. Thinking employees are primarily results oriented and can tend to appear tough when trying to achieve this goal. The thinkers will support the leader by supporting the leader’s process. Opposite to the thinkers are the feelers who are cooperation oriented versus goal oriented and tend to be more encouraging to those around them in order to keep everything going smoothly. The feelers will support the leader’s process by supporting the leader.
Last are the judging types versus the perceiving types. The judgers will stick to the devised plan of action and will typically follow through with the plan. They value time frames and identify milestones. Judgers prefer to have minimal interruptions when trying to achieve a goal. In contrast to the judgers are the perceivers who think more broadly and are comfortable with accepting optimal outcomes. Perceivers also anticipate changes to the devised plan and respond well to interruptions and adapt to them in the interest of a greater outcome (The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator explained, 2010).
Investigate differences in working styles
Similar to types of personality that may cause conflict in the workplace are employee’s communication styles. More recent researchers have concluded that there is a differentiation between type and style because their studies have shown that styles are more determined by our needs at a given moment than by our personalities, which tend to be constant (Edmondson, 2009). In essence, an employee’s style contributes to the way others perceive them and react to them. A good manager that understands this concept will not only be addressing these different styles in order to avoid the conflict that takes up almost eighteen percent of the work day (Ramsey, R.D., 2003), but they will also match up compatible employees in order to maintain a balanced and productive work atmosphere. Other good byproducts of recognizing and addressing personality styles are increasing productivity and improving teamwork. According to Jada Edmonson, researchers use four basic communication styles: expressive, systematic, sympathetic, and direct (Edmondson, 2009).
Expressives are employees with a high energy level that tend to speak quickly and focus on the big picture and pay very little attention to detail. They thrive off of conflict and heated debates. In a working environment, other employees and management may view them as cheerful, hyper arrogant, or unpredictable. Although they are considered to be productive, it is important for a good manager to control the pace of the interaction.
Systematics are the orderly employees that tend to focus on all the details, and not the big picture like the expressives. They are mostly not confrontational and they tend to not be comfortable with conflict. Other employees may perceive them as cold or nonchalant. A good manager will be patient with a systematic.
Sympathetics are the socializing employees that focus on human beings and relationships. They tend to be good listeners and are genuinely concerned for everyone’s well being. Like systematic, they do not like conflict but it is more because they value balance. When distracted, they may appear to be procrastinators and other employees may perceive them as overly emotional or too helpful. A good manager will share their concern, but they will also encourage them to stay on task.
Directs are the employees who are short and to the point. They have a lot going on so they keep people at a distance because they are just too busy. Directs are very goal oriented and are therefore more concerned with the final results than what they consider to be menial tasks. Other employees may see them as intimidating or opinionated. A good manager will be up front with a direct.
Touch on Conflicts with Background and/or Gender
Although Americans have come quite a long way in adhering to and adapting to a more diverse workplace, it is fair to say that there are still stereotypes that are very prevalent that contribute to potential conflict. Managers consciously and subconsciously continue to use preconceived notions pertaining to race and sex during the recruitment process and hiring process which in turn carries over into the actual working field. For example, conscious actions become evident in a situation where management must decide which employees to use in marketing tools such as pictures in publications or which employees to send out to recruit potential clients. Subconscious actions can determine which work groups employees are placed in, how their work is organized and their particular starting place on the job hierarchy. When such decisions as mentioned previously are made by the management for all employees to see, inevitably it will lead to devaluation and will therefore not only create unjust competition, jealousy and fear amongst colleagues, but it will also serve to perpetuate the stereotypical behavior that was meant to be avoided in the first place. These are examples of how stereotypes are perpetuated and continue to contribute to workplace inequality which in turn fuels the conflict that management must address. Unfortunately, even in this era, anti-discrimination advocates have overlooked the risks involved in considering race and sex in organizing work. This has resulted in ambiguity when dealing with race and sex-based decisions made for business reasons including but not limited to understanding the employment discrimination statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Also, these preconceived notions are destructive due to the fact that these employees are untapped resources of experience and information that may be financially beneficial for the organization (Emory University School of Law, 2010).
Analyze the Correlation between Conflict and Job Interdependence
Since organizational groups have grown in popularity, it is important for good managers to assist in creating workplaces where employees feel positively about the groups in which they work. If a group has dissatisfied members, it can destroy itself as a result of unresolved conflicts and negative interactions. This kind of behavior contributes to such long term consequences as high turnover rates and absenteeism (Van Der Vegt, 2000).
Another major contributor to workplace conflict is interdependence between members and group norms in relation to effectiveness (Schweiger, 1997). In terms of workplace conflict, interdependence increases the negative impact of affective conflict. Affective conflict is conflict aimed at people, emotions or values (Phillips, 2010). At the same time however, interdependence also decreases the negative impact of cognitive conflict which is conflict aimed at issues, ideas, principles or process (Phillips, 2010). Some research indicates that this might be due to the fact that group members must work together and come together on ideas involving content so they can complete the task at hand, which would therefore reduce the risk of being negatively influenced by the actual task (Schweiger, 1997). There are different types of interdependence, but task interdependence is the major contributor. Task interdependence basically defines the extent to which group members depend on one another to complete their jobs. The higher the amount of dependence and interaction between the group members, the more room there is for conflict (Schweiger, 1997). When a group has a low level of task interdependence, they will most likely have a lower level of conflict considering that they are not depending on each other’s results as much as it’s opposite, high level of interdependence (Schweiger, 1997). A group possessing a high level of interdependence may have an increased amount of potential conflict due to the fact that the individual members of the group are not only in close proximity, but they are in constant contact and highly dependent on one another’s results (Schweiger, 1997).
Explore Different Avenues of Workplace Conflict Resolution
Although some employees still opt for the old fashioned filing of a grievance, employees now prefer new processes of settling conflict. One of the newer conflict resolution process described below is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which basically means it takes a different road--which has been said to be a more productive path than the grievance process.
One of the most popular ways of workplace conflict resolution is mediation. With the advancement of technology and the increase of work groups in recent times however, it is no surprise that a practice as popular as mediation gets its own make-over. Mediation focuses on primarily on facilitative, directive, and transformative with the first two components mainly involving resolution. Transformative mediation focuses mostly on empowering the employee and relies on the fact that the foundation of conflict is a breakdown of interaction. According to mediation experts, Robert A. Baruch and Joseph P. Folger, the transformative method advances the concept that disagreeing parties can resolve their dispute better than a third individual issuing a decision can, it addresses the underlying causes of disagreement, and it can heal damage to relationships. Transformative mediation requires not only an attention to details, but also a lot of patience considering that the mediator is attempting to accomplish empowerment of the employees. The mediators need to understand that in doing so, they must not be offering solutions and although this process is not difficult, it involves getting below the surface of an issue and will take time to accomplish successfully. A good manager who accepts the responsibility of being a transformative mediator will do their best to make sure they do not use words, tone, or body language in a judging way, and they will also refrain from appearing to take sides on any matter. This process will always be kept confidential unless there is a violation of policy, in which case human resources will be contacted. The process by which a manager would initiate a transformative mediation session is by assuring that the parties involved realize that this is a voluntary process and either of the parties may exit at any time. The manager will also understand that their role is simply to facilitate and maintain the peace between parties because the parties involved can actually work the issue out successfully by themselves (Hanley, 2010).
Explore Active Listening as a Means to Addressing Conflict
One major problem that contributes to workplace conflict is that employees and management have a difficult time communicating because of ineffective listening. A tool that human resources managers as well as managers are incorporating into the workplace is active listening. It has been said too often that most people confuse hearing which is simply an ear sensing vibrations, to listening which is actually trying to understand and process what is heard.
One type of listening is passive and in this case, you may get the message that the speaker is trying to communicate. One example of passive listening according to Robbins and Decenzo is that you are basically acting as a tape recorder and you may absorb the information if the speaker makes their delivery interesting enough to keep your attention (Decenzo, R 2004).
The opposite of passive listening is active listening. Active listening requires concentration and effort to be able to understand what is being communicated from the speaker’s perspective. Robins and Decenzo say that, students who use active listening techniques for an entire fifty-minute lecture are as tired as their instructor when the lecture is over because they’ve put as much energy into listening as the instructor puts into speaking (Decenzo, D., 2004).In active listening, intensity, empathy, acceptance, and willingness to take responsibility for completeness are vital components. When actively listening, all thoughts external from the conversation at hand are eliminated and the listener concentrates intently on what is being communicated by the speaker. When the speaker is not speaking, the listener compartmentalizes and integrates what they have heard and actually puts all the thoughts together chronologically. The empathy component requires the listener to stop their own thinking in order to be able to adjust to the speaker’s world and comprehend what the speaker is saying versus what the listener wants to hear. Empathy requires flexibility in addition to knowledge of the speaker. Active listening also requires no judgment and objectivity whether or not the listener agrees with the speaker. The active listener will be accepting and is not distracted by content and will wait patiently for the speaker to finish speaking before discussing their opinion. Finally, by asking questions and listening for feelings, the speaker is taking responsibility for completeness. In this stage, the listener wants to make sure that they have received the full message that the speaker was trying to convey.
In order to be an effective active listener, one must demonstrate eight specific abilities. They must make eye contact, exhibit affirmative nods and facial expressions, avoid distracting actions, ask questions, paraphrase, avoid interrupting, do not over talk, and make smooth transitions from the role of the listener tot the role of the speaker. When someone is speaking, they not only want to be heard, but they are also looking for signs that the listener is listening. One way they look for this is through eye contact. By not using effective eye contact, it increases the listener’s chances of being distracted by something else, and it also makes them appear to be aloof. Next, exhibiting affirming nods and appropriate facial expressions, (which like making eye contact, is non-verbal) shows the speaker that the listener is actually interested in the discussion and paying attention. Another way to demonstrate good listener behavior is to avoid distracting actions or gestures that would make the speaker think that the listener is bored with the conversation. By engaging in such distracting actions like looking at their watch, the listener might also miss a very important message that the speaker is trying to get across. As mentioned previously, the speaker should ask questions in order to ensure understanding of the speaker’s message. This also shows the speaker that the listener is genuinely paying attention. By paraphrasing what the speaker has said, it not only shows the speaker that the listener is paying attention, but it also allows the listener to gauge whether they understand what they are hearing as well. Basically, it is a verification of accuracy on both the speaker and the listener. Next, the listener wants to make sure that they avoid interrupting the speaker and let them finish what they are saying. There is a good chance that the speaker will clarify something that may have been misinterpreted. Although it may be more entertaining to speak and silence can sometimes be uncomfortable, a good active listener recognizes that they should be listening in certain situations and not speaking for the sake of being able to speak.
Finally, a good active listener makes a smooth transition between the roles of speaker and listener. In employee and colleague situations, a person is constantly making this transition and it is important to not focus so much on practicing what you will say when you get the chance as you pay on just listening to what the speaker is saying (Decenzo, D., 2004).
Understand the Role of Human Resources in Workplace Conflict Resolution
Most issues can be solved without involving the human resources department. It is important to remember however, that human resources provide a very good service, helping assist employees, co-workers and management with solutions to conflict. They are able to do this effectively because they are trained in company policy and resolution options, they are able insure that everyone is heard and that the correct policies are followed, and they are able to do this in a timely manner. Not only is human resources skilled at conflict resolution, but when employees opt to use them in the resolution process, they maintain confidentiality consistent with state and federal regulations. Although there are times when circumstances require investigation, they will only share information when absolutely necessary.
In addition to facilitating meetings between disgruntled and conflicting employees, and offering mediation, human resources offers training development courses and seminars that have proven to be very successful and popular (Guttman, 2009).
Recognizing the Benefits of Workplace Conflict Resolution
To recognize the benefits of a more open-minded workplace, one must seek out the positives in increased group participation and collective goals, and determine the positivity of enabling employees to seek out more productive paths for themselves and the organization.
No longer is this a world where strict authoritative managers are the norm. Managing conflict effectively produces an environment where open communication is paramount. This open communication gives management the opportunity to learn more about their employee’s skills and it also gives the employees the opportunity to strive for success. More and more directors and managers are realizing the benefits of a more open-minded and creative workplace. One benefit is that open communication is giving employees the opportunity to see how their job is making an impact which in turn encourages them to continue working towards their goals and strive to do better as an employee and as a human being.
Another important benefit is the increase in innovation. A more open-minded workplace allows employees to constantly talk about their ideas with one another and with management which increases productivity and collaboration. In the end, the increase in innovation will keep the organization competitive and up-to-date which will result in the organization being as prepared for the future as possible. Healthy conflict management encourages team building and project completion. Teams are the way of the future and virtually every business is looking for ways to make the team building experience more profitable. A more open-minded workplace allows room for stronger teams who are openly engaged in dialogue, brainstorming, and working together to develop the best ideas and solutions for a given task or project. This in turn will inevitably yield more productive results which then further profitable benefits for the organization. In reality, the goal of any business is to be profitable. In order for an organization to become and remain profitable, the management must recognize these current aforementioned benefits in addition to the fact that they must stay up-to-date on any further benefits in order to maintain their competitive edge (Larson, 2010).
The Significance of Leadership in the Hospitality Industry
With the downfall of the economy in 2007 the hospitality industry took a very big hit, especially in the morale of hospitality workers. With so many bankruptcies and layoffs, in both hotels and restaurants, job security was at a premium and workers were on edge. Job satisfaction is directly linked to work atmosphere and the culture within. The work environment is, in turn, primary shaped by leadership (Alexakis, 2011). If either an an employee or manager’s job satisfaction is at a low point, it will lead to lack of motivation and drive to succeed. This ultimately will result in loss of profits, possible clients and overall well being of the company or organization. Leadership within the hospitality industry is of utmost importance, it means a commitment is made to encourage the success of the people surrounding the leader. Leadership’s attitudes greatly affect potential conflicts within the workplace. If there is an argument or issue within the organization, the leader should be one to help diffuse the situation. Sometimes when a resolution is not found, it can lead to employee resignations or terminations, which would further hurt company morale and productivity. When it comes to resignations, employees quit their bosses and not their companies (Alexakis, 2011). When this is the case, it is possible that it may create a huge turnover which can be very costly to the company. There are certain theories brought up with the case of leaders, Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is a pessimistic view of employee’s propensities. Theory Y is an optimistic view of employee’s propensities (Alexakis, 2011). These two theories have definite affects on employee’s behavior and motivation when working for their company.
Work-Life Balance and Conflict in the Hospitality Industry
A huge proponent of a happy hospitality worker is schedule flexibility. When a company is able to accommodate their employees schedule to allow them the time off needed for their personal life, it goes a long way with their employee satisfaction. A major strain on the hospitality sector is lack of work-life balance. This time conflict can greatly increase the employment turnover in the industry, especially when a negative aspect to working in the industry is the 24/7 nature of the business, including weekends and holidays. Since the hospitality industry never sleeps, working on holidays and weekends are seen as major negatives to being employed in the industry. Such time based conflict has been known to result in many negative job-related outcomes such as lateness and absenteeism (Kim, B. 2010). When this happens, conflict may arise leading to possible termination. A workers Emotional Intelligence (EI) is key to balancing the fulfillment of a hospitality workers needs. It was proven that emotional intelligence satisfaction correlates to schedule flexibility. In high stress work environments such as these, it is extremely important to have a balance between personal time and work time. When there is an imbalance, dissatisfaction occurs with employees, and it eventually leads to conflict and possible employee turnover. Work-life balance is imperative in the hospitality industry due to the fast paced environment, high stress levels, and long hours. Employee turnover is costly for hospitality firms (Kim, B. 2010). It is reported that both job satisfaction and life satisfaction are salient predictors of turnover among food-service managers (Kim, B. 2010). It is also true that then when that life and work are balanced, it is less likely for an employee to leave the organization.
Generational Differences and Conflict in the Hospitality Industry
It has been stated in more than one research journal that leadership, power, and a balance between life and work are what help keep the employee focused, content, and satisfied with their job in the hospitality industry. The fact that employee empowerment is closely related to management techniques and instruments such as motivation, job enrichment, communication, trust, participative management, delegation, training, and feedback, makes the concept and its managerial dimension necessary to be examined from different perspectives (Pelit, 2011). When looking at the relationship between the two, it is clear to see the correlation of how simple and important these two factors are. With hospitality and tourism being one of the world’s largest employers, despite the global financial crisis, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle of the fast paced environment. Human resource management plays a vital role in personal management and strategic focusing of the hospitality organization. Strategic human resource management focuses on integrating all the entrepreneurial functions of the organization with human resource management, with the emphasis on its strategic role of setting and achieving the business goals (Barry, S.D. 2010). As different generations of employees work in the hospitality field, there are different attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics presented. Baby boomers have respect for their elders, they are professional in respect, and they resist change, they believe in hierarchical leadership, go through training only if there is a problem, and take promotions when deserved. Generation X is polite, believe that performance is what gains professional respect, they accept change, and believe that leadership should be cooperative, training is seen as desirable, and promotions are given if they deserve merit. Generations Y and Z believe that respect for elders is given only if earned, professional respect is based on qualifications, change is always wanted, believe that leadership is collaborative, training is necessary and expected, and a promotion is seen as a right (Barry, S.D. 2010). Due to the diversity of the hospitality workforce, these characteristics play a large role in the attitudes within the industry. With all these different generations intertwining in the workplace, there is potential for a clash of personalities and thus conflict. It is said that the hospitality industry has two extremes of workers, those with extreme “love”, and those with extreme hate for their “job”. This rather unbalanced portrayal of hospitality work has seemed to suggest that hospitality employees and managers never enjoy their work and are trying to escape its drudgery (Mkono, 2009). Most important, such a diverse population breeds differences in attitudes, expectations and communication styles potentially creating dissention between colleagues in all levels of the industry.
Conclusion Two things that have been made evident by research is the way one is perceived can make or break the situation and that good communication is paramount. As a manager, one must be in tune with the different types of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and know how to address and work with both. In essence, one recommendation would be to pay close attention to detail. When an employee is communicating, notice how they are speaking and if they are speaking quickly and getting flustered, attempt to control the pace of the conversation by listening intently and responding softly and slowly. Conversely, when communicating with someone who has a lack of enthusiasm, respond to them with enthusiasm and smile. Research has shown that it is the small details that when noticed, go along way when hiring and retaining employees. Also, with the use of work teams increasing significantly in the recent years, in addition to a more diverse workplace, this makes room for great opportunities. Not only is this an opportunity for innovation and increased creativity which translates into higher profits, but it also helps with decreasing stereotypes when giving different sexes and ethnicities the ability to work together in teams. Another recommendation for management would be to recognize the untapped resources that exist in a diverse workplace and consciously compose teams of many different types of people. The hospitality industry suffers from its’ own unique set of issues which can create conflict. From the diversity of the workforce to the stressful hours and work conditions, conflict can erupt at any moment. The importance of teamwork, recognizing differences in personalities and employing managers with good human resource management skills can go a long way to enhance a pleasant and enjoyable work environment. Decreasing turnover is important for managers and assuring that employees have work-life balance should be a priority. The 24/7 nature of the hospitality industry makes work-life balance high at the priority list for industry workers. Although it has been determined that conflict itself is not necessarily a bad thing, and that there are many valuable things to be learned from it, it is still important to understand that people come from different places and perceive things differently. A good manager will not only address these differences, ranging from personality types, to working styles, to gender and ethnic differences, but they will adapt to them and match them up with other compatible partners and/or groups. In a constantly changing market, it is vital to explore every resource and leave no stone unturned when trying to remain not only competitive, but to excel above the competition.
References
Alexakis, G. (2011). Transcendental Leadership: The progressive hospitality leader 's silver bullet. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 1-2.
Barry, S. D. (2010). Hospitality HRM: past, present, and the future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 501-504.
Edmondson, J. (2009). Let 's Be Clear: How to Manage Communication Styles. T+D, 63(9) , 30-1. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Emory University School of Law. (2010). Race and Sex in Organizing Work: "Diversity," Discrimination, and Integration. Emory Law J 59 no3 2010 , 585-647 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Guttman, H. (2009). Conflict Management as a Core Competency for HR Professionals. People and Strategy 32 (1) , 32-39 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Hanley, J. (2010). Transformative Mediation. HRMagazine, 55(4) , 64-5 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Kim, B. (. (2010). Employee Satisfaction with the schedule flexibility: Psychological antecedents and consequences within the workplace. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 1-3.
Larson, D. L. (2010). Benefits of Improved Workplace Communications. Women Unlimited. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dana_L_Larson
Mkono, M. (2009). In Defense of hospitality careers: perspectives of Zimbabwean hotel managers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 1.
Pelit, E. ,. (2010) (In Press). The Effects of Employee Empowerment on Employee Job Satisfaction: A Study on Hotels In Turkey. 2. Retrieved from http://www.EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited.com
Phillips, C. (2010). Managing Team Conflict. The Center for Human Systems. Retrieved from http://www.chumans.com/human-systems-resources/managing-team-conflict.html
Ramsey,R.D. (2003). Peacekeeping in the Workplace: How to Handle Personality Clashes among Employees. Supervision 64(5) , 14-17. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Robbins, S.& Decenzo, D. (2004). Personal Development:Developing Actrive Listening Skills. Exploring HR Management. Retrieved from http://www.explorehr.org/articles/Personal_Development/Developing_Active_Listening_Skills.hml
Schweiger, A. C. (1997). Affective and Cognitive Conflict in Work Groups. Using Conflict in Organizations. 94-95. California: Sage Publications Ltd.
Sunoo, B. (2001). Hot disputes cool down in online mediation. Workforce. 80(1), 48-52. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Explained. (2010). DVM. 41(4), 24. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Van Der Vegt, G., Emans, B., & Van De Vliert, E. (2000). Team Members ' Affective Responses to Patterns of Intragroup Interdependence and Job Complexity. Journal of Management 26(4), 633- 655. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
References: Alexakis, G. (2011). Transcendental Leadership: The progressive hospitality leader 's silver bullet. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 1-2. Barry, S. D. (2010). Hospitality HRM: past, present, and the future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 501-504. Edmondson, J. (2009). Let 's Be Clear: How to Manage Communication Styles. T+D, 63(9) , 30-1. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Emory University School of Law. (2010). Race and Sex in Organizing Work: "Diversity," Discrimination, and Integration. Emory Law J 59 no3 2010 , 585-647 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Guttman, H. (2009). Conflict Management as a Core Competency for HR Professionals. People and Strategy 32 (1) , 32-39 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Hanley, J. (2010). Transformative Mediation. HRMagazine, 55(4) , 64-5 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Kim, B Larson, D. L. (2010). Benefits of Improved Workplace Communications. Women Unlimited. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dana_L_Larson Mkono, M Pelit, E. ,. (2010) (In Press). The Effects of Employee Empowerment on Employee Job Satisfaction: A Study on Hotels In Turkey. 2. Retrieved from http://www.EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited.com Phillips, C Ramsey,R.D. (2003). Peacekeeping in the Workplace: How to Handle Personality Clashes among Employees. Supervision 64(5) , 14-17. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Robbins, S.& Decenzo, D. (2004). Personal Development:Developing Actrive Listening Skills. Exploring HR Management. Retrieved from http://www.explorehr.org/articles/Personal_Development/Developing_Active_Listening_Skills.hml Schweiger, A Sunoo, B. (2001). Hot disputes cool down in online mediation. Workforce. 80(1), 48-52. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Explained. (2010). DVM. 41(4), 24. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Van Der Vegt, G., Emans, B., & Van De Vliert, E. (2000). Team Members ' Affective Responses to Patterns of Intragroup Interdependence and Job Complexity. Journal of Management 26(4), 633- 655. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Randi Diamond
July 20, 2011
Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………….
Introduction………………………………………………………………..1
Managing conflict in the work environment……………………………….2
Examine Different Variations of Conflict in the Workplace Research Personality Clashes……………………………………………………………………………..2
Investigate differences in working styles………………………………………..4
Touch on Conflicts with Background and/or Gender………………………..5
Analyze the Correlation between Conflict and Job Interdependence………..7
Explore Different Avenues of Workplace Conflict Resolution Analyze Different Conflict Resolution Exercises……………………………………………………..8
Explore active listening as a means to addressing conflict…………..9
Understand the Role of Human Resources in Workplace Conflict Resolution……..12
Recognizing the Benefits of Workplace Conflict Resolution…………………………..13
Transcendental leadership: the progressive hospitality leaders silver bullet...............................................................................………………………………. 15
Employee satisfaction with schedule flexibility: Psychological antecedents and consequences within the workplace…………………………………………….. 16
The Effects of Employee Empowerment on employee job satisfaction: a study on hotels in turkey……………………17
Recommendations or Implications for Managers………………………………..18
Abstract
In today’s diverse and competitive workplace, it has become increasingly vital for managers to familiarize themselves with both the employees work style and the employees as human beings. Company leaders need to take in to account the motivating factors that facilitate the intrinsic rewards that enhance job satisfaction and create a healthy work environment. This paper focuses primarily on the traits of employees that may contribute to potential conflict in addition to how managers are using innovative ways to communicate with employees and mediate situations. The hospitality industry is unique and presents its’ own diverse set of issues which this work will also address. This paper will suggest recommendations and implications for managers so that they may be able to realize the long-term benefits of a more positively cultured work environment.
Introduction When an employee becomes disenchanted with their job, whether due to job stressors or interpersonal conflicts, it is easy to feel disengaged and even at times act carelessly. When these issues arise, one may lose sight of the purpose and goals of the position. When the intrinsic rewards diminish, an employee may lose motivation and interest causing issues with co-workers and employers. This is a prime opportunity for conflict to occur. It can be something as simple as differences of opinion or a sense of favoritism between colleagues or something as complicated as personality conflicts. Occasionally, the problems may develop in to major problems that ruin morale and detract from the organization’s mission and vision. When large conflicts occur, a resolution must be found to enable productivity. Conflict within the workplace is a serious problem for the work environment and everyone involved. Conflicts not only disrupt employees, but also management, causing a breakdown in operations. The hospitality industry works everyday of the year, under pressure and with constant customer demands. In most every industry, the goal is to increase sales, profits and customer loyalty but with employee conflict the potential for growth is inhibited. There are many factors that can affect employee’s behaviors leading to conflict. This paper will address different theories, ideas and solutions that promote a more positive, efficient and productive workplace while taking a close look at issues unique to the hospitality industry.
Managing Conflict in the Work Environment
It has been said that diversity is one of an organization’s most important untapped resource. The workplace has become increasingly different in terms of policies, procedures, hiring and recruiting; but most importantly, it has given way to a whole new set of potential conflicts. Personality clashes, communication style differences, ethnicity and gender issues are usually the foundation of most issues. A good manager must learn not only how to identify these differences, but they must match them to compatible counterparts and projects in order to turn conflict into a learning experience and attempt to alleviate stressful conflict. There are several new and innovative ways of working with conflicting employees such as transformative mediation and active listening that have proven to be quite successful. By analyzing their employees and using productive conflict resolution methods, an organization will be able to reap the potential benefits, un-tapping resources in the diverse workplace and remain competitive and innovative. Examine Different Variations of Conflict in the Workplace
In order to tackle the grandiose topic that is workplace conflict, it is imperative for a manager to understand that everyone is inherently different and they will be spending one- fifth of their time acting as a peacekeeper (Ramsey, R.D., 2003). Although this is quite a broad statement, some experts say that personalities, which are genetically determined, result in different sets of preferred behaviors and personality differences are said to be the source of most conflict. During such turbulent economic times as now, different stressors such as job security and a constantly changing market contribute to workplace conflict. According to Dr. Ramsey, personality clashes often distract from work routines, undermine morale, jeopardize teamwork, threaten productivity and can erupt into dangerous and violent confrontations. Since conflict can be contagious, it 's the supervisor 's job to see this doesn 't happen (Ramsey, R.D., 2003). A good manager will not only understand the following personality types, but they will identify and learn to work with them in order to make all of the potential and looming stressors as easily manageable as possible.
One of the most popular and effective way to determine an employee’s personality type is through the use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test (MBTI). By administering this test, an organization can determine whether an employee is an extrovert versus an introvert, sensing type versus intuitive, thinking type versus feeling, or a judging type versus receiving.
After careful research, it has been determined that extroverts are comfortable being out in the public eye and are very energetic. They are willing to adjust or even change decisions in order to meet certain demands. They also tend to delegate well. Differently, introverts are more at ease working behind the scenes and may find it more difficult to change any decisions. Typically, introverts tend to not delegate as easily.
The next personality types determined by the MBTI are the sensing types and the intuitive types. Sensing types prefer to follow specific directions and enjoy achieving tangible goals. They also tend to be more satisfied with instant gratification in terms of immediately connecting a benefit to a current action. Conversely, the intuitive employee is primarily focused on achieving conceptual goals, they are more comfortable with following general guidelines and they are focused more future successes.
Other personalities are the thinking and feeling types. Thinking employees are primarily results oriented and can tend to appear tough when trying to achieve this goal. The thinkers will support the leader by supporting the leader’s process. Opposite to the thinkers are the feelers who are cooperation oriented versus goal oriented and tend to be more encouraging to those around them in order to keep everything going smoothly. The feelers will support the leader’s process by supporting the leader.
Last are the judging types versus the perceiving types. The judgers will stick to the devised plan of action and will typically follow through with the plan. They value time frames and identify milestones. Judgers prefer to have minimal interruptions when trying to achieve a goal. In contrast to the judgers are the perceivers who think more broadly and are comfortable with accepting optimal outcomes. Perceivers also anticipate changes to the devised plan and respond well to interruptions and adapt to them in the interest of a greater outcome (The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator explained, 2010).
Investigate differences in working styles
Similar to types of personality that may cause conflict in the workplace are employee’s communication styles. More recent researchers have concluded that there is a differentiation between type and style because their studies have shown that styles are more determined by our needs at a given moment than by our personalities, which tend to be constant (Edmondson, 2009). In essence, an employee’s style contributes to the way others perceive them and react to them. A good manager that understands this concept will not only be addressing these different styles in order to avoid the conflict that takes up almost eighteen percent of the work day (Ramsey, R.D., 2003), but they will also match up compatible employees in order to maintain a balanced and productive work atmosphere. Other good byproducts of recognizing and addressing personality styles are increasing productivity and improving teamwork. According to Jada Edmonson, researchers use four basic communication styles: expressive, systematic, sympathetic, and direct (Edmondson, 2009).
Expressives are employees with a high energy level that tend to speak quickly and focus on the big picture and pay very little attention to detail. They thrive off of conflict and heated debates. In a working environment, other employees and management may view them as cheerful, hyper arrogant, or unpredictable. Although they are considered to be productive, it is important for a good manager to control the pace of the interaction.
Systematics are the orderly employees that tend to focus on all the details, and not the big picture like the expressives. They are mostly not confrontational and they tend to not be comfortable with conflict. Other employees may perceive them as cold or nonchalant. A good manager will be patient with a systematic.
Sympathetics are the socializing employees that focus on human beings and relationships. They tend to be good listeners and are genuinely concerned for everyone’s well being. Like systematic, they do not like conflict but it is more because they value balance. When distracted, they may appear to be procrastinators and other employees may perceive them as overly emotional or too helpful. A good manager will share their concern, but they will also encourage them to stay on task.
Directs are the employees who are short and to the point. They have a lot going on so they keep people at a distance because they are just too busy. Directs are very goal oriented and are therefore more concerned with the final results than what they consider to be menial tasks. Other employees may see them as intimidating or opinionated. A good manager will be up front with a direct.
Touch on Conflicts with Background and/or Gender
Although Americans have come quite a long way in adhering to and adapting to a more diverse workplace, it is fair to say that there are still stereotypes that are very prevalent that contribute to potential conflict. Managers consciously and subconsciously continue to use preconceived notions pertaining to race and sex during the recruitment process and hiring process which in turn carries over into the actual working field. For example, conscious actions become evident in a situation where management must decide which employees to use in marketing tools such as pictures in publications or which employees to send out to recruit potential clients. Subconscious actions can determine which work groups employees are placed in, how their work is organized and their particular starting place on the job hierarchy. When such decisions as mentioned previously are made by the management for all employees to see, inevitably it will lead to devaluation and will therefore not only create unjust competition, jealousy and fear amongst colleagues, but it will also serve to perpetuate the stereotypical behavior that was meant to be avoided in the first place. These are examples of how stereotypes are perpetuated and continue to contribute to workplace inequality which in turn fuels the conflict that management must address. Unfortunately, even in this era, anti-discrimination advocates have overlooked the risks involved in considering race and sex in organizing work. This has resulted in ambiguity when dealing with race and sex-based decisions made for business reasons including but not limited to understanding the employment discrimination statute, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Also, these preconceived notions are destructive due to the fact that these employees are untapped resources of experience and information that may be financially beneficial for the organization (Emory University School of Law, 2010).
Analyze the Correlation between Conflict and Job Interdependence
Since organizational groups have grown in popularity, it is important for good managers to assist in creating workplaces where employees feel positively about the groups in which they work. If a group has dissatisfied members, it can destroy itself as a result of unresolved conflicts and negative interactions. This kind of behavior contributes to such long term consequences as high turnover rates and absenteeism (Van Der Vegt, 2000).
Another major contributor to workplace conflict is interdependence between members and group norms in relation to effectiveness (Schweiger, 1997). In terms of workplace conflict, interdependence increases the negative impact of affective conflict. Affective conflict is conflict aimed at people, emotions or values (Phillips, 2010). At the same time however, interdependence also decreases the negative impact of cognitive conflict which is conflict aimed at issues, ideas, principles or process (Phillips, 2010). Some research indicates that this might be due to the fact that group members must work together and come together on ideas involving content so they can complete the task at hand, which would therefore reduce the risk of being negatively influenced by the actual task (Schweiger, 1997). There are different types of interdependence, but task interdependence is the major contributor. Task interdependence basically defines the extent to which group members depend on one another to complete their jobs. The higher the amount of dependence and interaction between the group members, the more room there is for conflict (Schweiger, 1997). When a group has a low level of task interdependence, they will most likely have a lower level of conflict considering that they are not depending on each other’s results as much as it’s opposite, high level of interdependence (Schweiger, 1997). A group possessing a high level of interdependence may have an increased amount of potential conflict due to the fact that the individual members of the group are not only in close proximity, but they are in constant contact and highly dependent on one another’s results (Schweiger, 1997).
Explore Different Avenues of Workplace Conflict Resolution
Although some employees still opt for the old fashioned filing of a grievance, employees now prefer new processes of settling conflict. One of the newer conflict resolution process described below is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which basically means it takes a different road--which has been said to be a more productive path than the grievance process.
One of the most popular ways of workplace conflict resolution is mediation. With the advancement of technology and the increase of work groups in recent times however, it is no surprise that a practice as popular as mediation gets its own make-over. Mediation focuses on primarily on facilitative, directive, and transformative with the first two components mainly involving resolution. Transformative mediation focuses mostly on empowering the employee and relies on the fact that the foundation of conflict is a breakdown of interaction. According to mediation experts, Robert A. Baruch and Joseph P. Folger, the transformative method advances the concept that disagreeing parties can resolve their dispute better than a third individual issuing a decision can, it addresses the underlying causes of disagreement, and it can heal damage to relationships. Transformative mediation requires not only an attention to details, but also a lot of patience considering that the mediator is attempting to accomplish empowerment of the employees. The mediators need to understand that in doing so, they must not be offering solutions and although this process is not difficult, it involves getting below the surface of an issue and will take time to accomplish successfully. A good manager who accepts the responsibility of being a transformative mediator will do their best to make sure they do not use words, tone, or body language in a judging way, and they will also refrain from appearing to take sides on any matter. This process will always be kept confidential unless there is a violation of policy, in which case human resources will be contacted. The process by which a manager would initiate a transformative mediation session is by assuring that the parties involved realize that this is a voluntary process and either of the parties may exit at any time. The manager will also understand that their role is simply to facilitate and maintain the peace between parties because the parties involved can actually work the issue out successfully by themselves (Hanley, 2010).
Explore Active Listening as a Means to Addressing Conflict
One major problem that contributes to workplace conflict is that employees and management have a difficult time communicating because of ineffective listening. A tool that human resources managers as well as managers are incorporating into the workplace is active listening. It has been said too often that most people confuse hearing which is simply an ear sensing vibrations, to listening which is actually trying to understand and process what is heard.
One type of listening is passive and in this case, you may get the message that the speaker is trying to communicate. One example of passive listening according to Robbins and Decenzo is that you are basically acting as a tape recorder and you may absorb the information if the speaker makes their delivery interesting enough to keep your attention (Decenzo, R 2004).
The opposite of passive listening is active listening. Active listening requires concentration and effort to be able to understand what is being communicated from the speaker’s perspective. Robins and Decenzo say that, students who use active listening techniques for an entire fifty-minute lecture are as tired as their instructor when the lecture is over because they’ve put as much energy into listening as the instructor puts into speaking (Decenzo, D., 2004).In active listening, intensity, empathy, acceptance, and willingness to take responsibility for completeness are vital components. When actively listening, all thoughts external from the conversation at hand are eliminated and the listener concentrates intently on what is being communicated by the speaker. When the speaker is not speaking, the listener compartmentalizes and integrates what they have heard and actually puts all the thoughts together chronologically. The empathy component requires the listener to stop their own thinking in order to be able to adjust to the speaker’s world and comprehend what the speaker is saying versus what the listener wants to hear. Empathy requires flexibility in addition to knowledge of the speaker. Active listening also requires no judgment and objectivity whether or not the listener agrees with the speaker. The active listener will be accepting and is not distracted by content and will wait patiently for the speaker to finish speaking before discussing their opinion. Finally, by asking questions and listening for feelings, the speaker is taking responsibility for completeness. In this stage, the listener wants to make sure that they have received the full message that the speaker was trying to convey.
In order to be an effective active listener, one must demonstrate eight specific abilities. They must make eye contact, exhibit affirmative nods and facial expressions, avoid distracting actions, ask questions, paraphrase, avoid interrupting, do not over talk, and make smooth transitions from the role of the listener tot the role of the speaker. When someone is speaking, they not only want to be heard, but they are also looking for signs that the listener is listening. One way they look for this is through eye contact. By not using effective eye contact, it increases the listener’s chances of being distracted by something else, and it also makes them appear to be aloof. Next, exhibiting affirming nods and appropriate facial expressions, (which like making eye contact, is non-verbal) shows the speaker that the listener is actually interested in the discussion and paying attention. Another way to demonstrate good listener behavior is to avoid distracting actions or gestures that would make the speaker think that the listener is bored with the conversation. By engaging in such distracting actions like looking at their watch, the listener might also miss a very important message that the speaker is trying to get across. As mentioned previously, the speaker should ask questions in order to ensure understanding of the speaker’s message. This also shows the speaker that the listener is genuinely paying attention. By paraphrasing what the speaker has said, it not only shows the speaker that the listener is paying attention, but it also allows the listener to gauge whether they understand what they are hearing as well. Basically, it is a verification of accuracy on both the speaker and the listener. Next, the listener wants to make sure that they avoid interrupting the speaker and let them finish what they are saying. There is a good chance that the speaker will clarify something that may have been misinterpreted. Although it may be more entertaining to speak and silence can sometimes be uncomfortable, a good active listener recognizes that they should be listening in certain situations and not speaking for the sake of being able to speak.
Finally, a good active listener makes a smooth transition between the roles of speaker and listener. In employee and colleague situations, a person is constantly making this transition and it is important to not focus so much on practicing what you will say when you get the chance as you pay on just listening to what the speaker is saying (Decenzo, D., 2004).
Understand the Role of Human Resources in Workplace Conflict Resolution
Most issues can be solved without involving the human resources department. It is important to remember however, that human resources provide a very good service, helping assist employees, co-workers and management with solutions to conflict. They are able to do this effectively because they are trained in company policy and resolution options, they are able insure that everyone is heard and that the correct policies are followed, and they are able to do this in a timely manner. Not only is human resources skilled at conflict resolution, but when employees opt to use them in the resolution process, they maintain confidentiality consistent with state and federal regulations. Although there are times when circumstances require investigation, they will only share information when absolutely necessary.
In addition to facilitating meetings between disgruntled and conflicting employees, and offering mediation, human resources offers training development courses and seminars that have proven to be very successful and popular (Guttman, 2009).
Recognizing the Benefits of Workplace Conflict Resolution
To recognize the benefits of a more open-minded workplace, one must seek out the positives in increased group participation and collective goals, and determine the positivity of enabling employees to seek out more productive paths for themselves and the organization.
No longer is this a world where strict authoritative managers are the norm. Managing conflict effectively produces an environment where open communication is paramount. This open communication gives management the opportunity to learn more about their employee’s skills and it also gives the employees the opportunity to strive for success. More and more directors and managers are realizing the benefits of a more open-minded and creative workplace. One benefit is that open communication is giving employees the opportunity to see how their job is making an impact which in turn encourages them to continue working towards their goals and strive to do better as an employee and as a human being.
Another important benefit is the increase in innovation. A more open-minded workplace allows employees to constantly talk about their ideas with one another and with management which increases productivity and collaboration. In the end, the increase in innovation will keep the organization competitive and up-to-date which will result in the organization being as prepared for the future as possible. Healthy conflict management encourages team building and project completion. Teams are the way of the future and virtually every business is looking for ways to make the team building experience more profitable. A more open-minded workplace allows room for stronger teams who are openly engaged in dialogue, brainstorming, and working together to develop the best ideas and solutions for a given task or project. This in turn will inevitably yield more productive results which then further profitable benefits for the organization. In reality, the goal of any business is to be profitable. In order for an organization to become and remain profitable, the management must recognize these current aforementioned benefits in addition to the fact that they must stay up-to-date on any further benefits in order to maintain their competitive edge (Larson, 2010).
The Significance of Leadership in the Hospitality Industry
With the downfall of the economy in 2007 the hospitality industry took a very big hit, especially in the morale of hospitality workers. With so many bankruptcies and layoffs, in both hotels and restaurants, job security was at a premium and workers were on edge. Job satisfaction is directly linked to work atmosphere and the culture within. The work environment is, in turn, primary shaped by leadership (Alexakis, 2011). If either an an employee or manager’s job satisfaction is at a low point, it will lead to lack of motivation and drive to succeed. This ultimately will result in loss of profits, possible clients and overall well being of the company or organization. Leadership within the hospitality industry is of utmost importance, it means a commitment is made to encourage the success of the people surrounding the leader. Leadership’s attitudes greatly affect potential conflicts within the workplace. If there is an argument or issue within the organization, the leader should be one to help diffuse the situation. Sometimes when a resolution is not found, it can lead to employee resignations or terminations, which would further hurt company morale and productivity. When it comes to resignations, employees quit their bosses and not their companies (Alexakis, 2011). When this is the case, it is possible that it may create a huge turnover which can be very costly to the company. There are certain theories brought up with the case of leaders, Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is a pessimistic view of employee’s propensities. Theory Y is an optimistic view of employee’s propensities (Alexakis, 2011). These two theories have definite affects on employee’s behavior and motivation when working for their company.
Work-Life Balance and Conflict in the Hospitality Industry
A huge proponent of a happy hospitality worker is schedule flexibility. When a company is able to accommodate their employees schedule to allow them the time off needed for their personal life, it goes a long way with their employee satisfaction. A major strain on the hospitality sector is lack of work-life balance. This time conflict can greatly increase the employment turnover in the industry, especially when a negative aspect to working in the industry is the 24/7 nature of the business, including weekends and holidays. Since the hospitality industry never sleeps, working on holidays and weekends are seen as major negatives to being employed in the industry. Such time based conflict has been known to result in many negative job-related outcomes such as lateness and absenteeism (Kim, B. 2010). When this happens, conflict may arise leading to possible termination. A workers Emotional Intelligence (EI) is key to balancing the fulfillment of a hospitality workers needs. It was proven that emotional intelligence satisfaction correlates to schedule flexibility. In high stress work environments such as these, it is extremely important to have a balance between personal time and work time. When there is an imbalance, dissatisfaction occurs with employees, and it eventually leads to conflict and possible employee turnover. Work-life balance is imperative in the hospitality industry due to the fast paced environment, high stress levels, and long hours. Employee turnover is costly for hospitality firms (Kim, B. 2010). It is reported that both job satisfaction and life satisfaction are salient predictors of turnover among food-service managers (Kim, B. 2010). It is also true that then when that life and work are balanced, it is less likely for an employee to leave the organization.
Generational Differences and Conflict in the Hospitality Industry
It has been stated in more than one research journal that leadership, power, and a balance between life and work are what help keep the employee focused, content, and satisfied with their job in the hospitality industry. The fact that employee empowerment is closely related to management techniques and instruments such as motivation, job enrichment, communication, trust, participative management, delegation, training, and feedback, makes the concept and its managerial dimension necessary to be examined from different perspectives (Pelit, 2011). When looking at the relationship between the two, it is clear to see the correlation of how simple and important these two factors are. With hospitality and tourism being one of the world’s largest employers, despite the global financial crisis, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle of the fast paced environment. Human resource management plays a vital role in personal management and strategic focusing of the hospitality organization. Strategic human resource management focuses on integrating all the entrepreneurial functions of the organization with human resource management, with the emphasis on its strategic role of setting and achieving the business goals (Barry, S.D. 2010). As different generations of employees work in the hospitality field, there are different attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics presented. Baby boomers have respect for their elders, they are professional in respect, and they resist change, they believe in hierarchical leadership, go through training only if there is a problem, and take promotions when deserved. Generation X is polite, believe that performance is what gains professional respect, they accept change, and believe that leadership should be cooperative, training is seen as desirable, and promotions are given if they deserve merit. Generations Y and Z believe that respect for elders is given only if earned, professional respect is based on qualifications, change is always wanted, believe that leadership is collaborative, training is necessary and expected, and a promotion is seen as a right (Barry, S.D. 2010). Due to the diversity of the hospitality workforce, these characteristics play a large role in the attitudes within the industry. With all these different generations intertwining in the workplace, there is potential for a clash of personalities and thus conflict. It is said that the hospitality industry has two extremes of workers, those with extreme “love”, and those with extreme hate for their “job”. This rather unbalanced portrayal of hospitality work has seemed to suggest that hospitality employees and managers never enjoy their work and are trying to escape its drudgery (Mkono, 2009). Most important, such a diverse population breeds differences in attitudes, expectations and communication styles potentially creating dissention between colleagues in all levels of the industry.
Conclusion Two things that have been made evident by research is the way one is perceived can make or break the situation and that good communication is paramount. As a manager, one must be in tune with the different types of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, and know how to address and work with both. In essence, one recommendation would be to pay close attention to detail. When an employee is communicating, notice how they are speaking and if they are speaking quickly and getting flustered, attempt to control the pace of the conversation by listening intently and responding softly and slowly. Conversely, when communicating with someone who has a lack of enthusiasm, respond to them with enthusiasm and smile. Research has shown that it is the small details that when noticed, go along way when hiring and retaining employees. Also, with the use of work teams increasing significantly in the recent years, in addition to a more diverse workplace, this makes room for great opportunities. Not only is this an opportunity for innovation and increased creativity which translates into higher profits, but it also helps with decreasing stereotypes when giving different sexes and ethnicities the ability to work together in teams. Another recommendation for management would be to recognize the untapped resources that exist in a diverse workplace and consciously compose teams of many different types of people. The hospitality industry suffers from its’ own unique set of issues which can create conflict. From the diversity of the workforce to the stressful hours and work conditions, conflict can erupt at any moment. The importance of teamwork, recognizing differences in personalities and employing managers with good human resource management skills can go a long way to enhance a pleasant and enjoyable work environment. Decreasing turnover is important for managers and assuring that employees have work-life balance should be a priority. The 24/7 nature of the hospitality industry makes work-life balance high at the priority list for industry workers. Although it has been determined that conflict itself is not necessarily a bad thing, and that there are many valuable things to be learned from it, it is still important to understand that people come from different places and perceive things differently. A good manager will not only address these differences, ranging from personality types, to working styles, to gender and ethnic differences, but they will adapt to them and match them up with other compatible partners and/or groups. In a constantly changing market, it is vital to explore every resource and leave no stone unturned when trying to remain not only competitive, but to excel above the competition.
References
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Barry, S. D. (2010). Hospitality HRM: past, present, and the future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 501-504.
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Guttman, H. (2009). Conflict Management as a Core Competency for HR Professionals. People and Strategy 32 (1) , 32-39 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
Hanley, J. (2010). Transformative Mediation. HRMagazine, 55(4) , 64-5 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
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Larson, D. L. (2010). Benefits of Improved Workplace Communications. Women Unlimited. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dana_L_Larson
Mkono, M. (2009). In Defense of hospitality careers: perspectives of Zimbabwean hotel managers. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 1.
Pelit, E. ,. (2010) (In Press). The Effects of Employee Empowerment on Employee Job Satisfaction: A Study on Hotels In Turkey. 2. Retrieved from http://www.EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited.com
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References: Alexakis, G. (2011). Transcendental Leadership: The progressive hospitality leader 's silver bullet. International Journal of Hospitality Management , 1-2. Barry, S. D. (2010). Hospitality HRM: past, present, and the future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , 501-504. Edmondson, J. (2009). Let 's Be Clear: How to Manage Communication Styles. T+D, 63(9) , 30-1. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Emory University School of Law. (2010). Race and Sex in Organizing Work: "Diversity," Discrimination, and Integration. Emory Law J 59 no3 2010 , 585-647 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Guttman, H. (2009). Conflict Management as a Core Competency for HR Professionals. People and Strategy 32 (1) , 32-39 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Hanley, J. (2010). Transformative Mediation. HRMagazine, 55(4) , 64-5 Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Kim, B Larson, D. L. (2010). Benefits of Improved Workplace Communications. Women Unlimited. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Dana_L_Larson Mkono, M Pelit, E. ,. (2010) (In Press). The Effects of Employee Empowerment on Employee Job Satisfaction: A Study on Hotels In Turkey. 2. Retrieved from http://www.EmeraldGroupPublishingLimited.com Phillips, C Ramsey,R.D. (2003). Peacekeeping in the Workplace: How to Handle Personality Clashes among Employees. Supervision 64(5) , 14-17. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Robbins, S.& Decenzo, D. (2004). Personal Development:Developing Actrive Listening Skills. Exploring HR Management. Retrieved from http://www.explorehr.org/articles/Personal_Development/Developing_Active_Listening_Skills.hml Schweiger, A Sunoo, B. (2001). Hot disputes cool down in online mediation. Workforce. 80(1), 48-52. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Explained. (2010). DVM. 41(4), 24. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database. Van Der Vegt, G., Emans, B., & Van De Vliert, E. (2000). Team Members ' Affective Responses to Patterns of Intragroup Interdependence and Job Complexity. Journal of Management 26(4), 633- 655. Retrieved from OmniFile Full Text Mega database.
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Honold, L. (1997). A review of the literature on employee empowerment. Empowerment in Organizations, 5-4, p. 202.…
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Hocutt, M. A. (1998) The impact of employee empowerment on the quality of a service…
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“Conflict is an integral part of the life of teams. It is inevitable because teams are made up of people and no two people are alike. When people come together, they bring with them different ways of seeing things. When these differences show up, people can feel threatened, and conflict emerges.” CITATION Fla08 \l 1033 (Flanagan, 2008). Conflict management is part of every day management practice in an organization and is required to survive in the competitive environment. Conflict may arise among employees, team members, between the employer and employee and occur if the sides do not agree. However, conflicts can be minimized or predicted if the early indicators are recognized.…
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© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. Fiona L. Robson Note to Hr faculty and instructors: SHRM cases and modules are intended for use in HR classrooms at universities. Teaching notes are included with each. While our current intent is to make the materials available without charge, we reserve the right to impose charges should we deem it necessary to support the program. However, currently, these resources are available free of charge to all. Please duplicate only the number of copies needed, one for each student in the class. For more information, please contact: SHRM Academic Initiatives 1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA Phone: (800) 283-7476 Fax: (703) 535-6432 Web: www.shrm.org/hreducation…
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I consider employee empowerment to not only be important, but vital to an organization’s level of morale and human potential. Empowerment has many benefits to include: increased motivation to reduce mistakes and have individuals take more responsibility for their own actions, increased opportunity for creativity and innovation, the continuous improvement of processes, products, and services, improved customer satisfaction by having the employee closest to the customer to…
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Empowerment is the process of enabling an individual to think, behave, react, and undertake decision making capabilities in an autonomous manner. Research supports the fact that empowered employees are more productive, satisfied and innovative (Argyris, 1998; Clark, 1999; Whetten and Cameron, 2002). These skills, thereby, create an environment that is conducive to higher employee satisfaction which can be correlated to increased productivity.…
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Van Slyke, E, J. (1997). Facilitating productive conflict. HR Focus, 74(4). Retrieved August 27, 2003, from the ProQuest database.…
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The fundamental purpose of this research paper is to explore how conflict is managed in the workplace. This discussion will begin with a definition of workplace conflict, which will constitute the foundation of the ensuing analysis. Next, the typologies of workplace conflict will be described. This aspect of the discussion was formulated with the aim of providing clarity about the various demonstrations of conflict in the organizational setting. Following the examination of workplace conflict typologies, this research paper will put the spotlight on the costs of conflict. This research paper will conclude with an in depth description of ways to resolve conflict in the work environment. The underlying purpose of this research paper is to explore workings of , and provide solutions for the resolution of conflict in the employment arena. Such an exploration is critical and necessary because…
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9. Shweta, & Jha, S. (2010). Antecedents of Interpersonal Conflicts at Work-place. Journal Of Management & Public Policy, 1(2), 73-79.…
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Conflict can be defined as “a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or it is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about”,(Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007). Huczynski and Buchanan (2007) also perceive conflict as a mental state which has to be acknowledged by the two parties involved to comply with its definition. In an organizational environment, conflict is strongly connected to managerial skills. There are different situations where conflict can occur but it is often a consequence of lack of communication, misunderstandings, disagreements which mean basic human interaction. According to French et al (2008) “managers must be skilled participants in the dynamics of interpersonal conflict”, moreover when they are directly involved.…
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Case Study Workplace Conflict and Resolutions PSY 302 Industrial/Organizational Psychology September 23, 2013 Case Study Workplace Conflict and Resolutions…
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In this process of empowerment there could some kind of inconsistency, related to employee performance, if so than managers should train the employees about empowerment, as stated by respondents of Unilever. On the other hand P& G states that this inconsistency is seen in the work of the employees, that is there would be inconsistency in his work and performance, so it is necessary to check this problem by consistency it is necessary to consult the employees and to evaluate their outcomes.…
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Managing human resources in the hospitality industry presents special challenges, including highly diverse employee backgrounds and roles, an ever-present focus on guest services, and organizational structures that often diverge from generic corporate models.…
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THE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE NIGERIAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS (A STUDY OF SOME SELECTED HOTELS IN JOS, PLATEAU STATE)…
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