HRM

TEAM PIONEER

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

This is a case which talks about the conflict between a supervisor and his sub-ordinate and how the works manager is in a disarray to solve this problem |

1. 2. 3.

Bharat steel structures ltd has 40,000 employees which follows a certain hierarchy Sharma joined the company as a fabricator and a repair mechanic Sharma was a sincere, well-behaved and dedicated employee who after sometime started losing interest in his job and picked up quarrels with his fellow workers

4.

Mahto, Sharma's supervisor reported against him to the deputy works manager for his regular gossiping and absenteeism from work

5.

The deputy works manager warned him and asked him to improve his performance otherwise action would be taken against him

6.

Once during their morning shift Mahto left the shop for some work informing the Deputy Works manager.

7.

Mahto was assaulted & manhandled on the road outside the main gate after which he was taken to the hospital.

8. 9.

Mahto lodged a complained blaming Sharma as the person behind the assault Sharma was charge sheet by the deputy works management for misconduct and was asked to reply within 7 days

10.

Sharma in his response blamed Mahto and denied all charges against him stating false reasons

11.

Sharma's reply was not satisfactory thus an enquiry committee consisting of the senior manager(Training) and senior personnel officer was set up

12. 13.

After the enquiry Sharma was found guilty of his misconduct The works manager was thinking about the action to be taken against Sharma and how to avoid such situations in future

COMMENTS

PROBLEMS
PROBLEMS VISIBLE IN THE CASE
Sharma, fabricator Grade 2 is now bored out of his job and has lost motivation since the job no more offers him avenues for career growth, personal development and satisfaction Boredom is occurring since he is unable to emotionally and intellectually experience personal meaning in what he is doing in the work process The top management has failed to understand and address to Mr. Sharmas needs Lack of interpersonal skills and communication between top management & subordinates. The employees are not open to discuss their problems, views and satisfaction level The organization has fragmented the culture i.e. low on sociability & low on solidarity. It is characterized by no identification with the organization, excessive critiquing of others and an absence of collegiality. Mr. Mahto criticized Mr.Sharma to the Deputy Works Manager, instead of trying to reason out with him and trying to solve the trouble Mutual trust, consideration and support among different levels of the organization are missing

Question 2: How do you see the act of Mr. Sharma? Critically evaluate with reference to his reply to the enquiry committee?

Solution to Problem no. 2 Mr. Sharma had been capable, skilled & one of the best workers. However, later on, he has become totally disinterested and lax with his work because he demanded a job which offered him a higher participation & avenues for selffulfilment. Repetitive complaints & nagging by supervisor and Deputy Works Manager further frustrated him and made him hostile towards organization and his seniors. Out of bitterness, he assaulted Mr. Mahto on his way to Administration Building. He had breached the code of conduct of the organization and also committed a criminal offence which is highly condemnable. No excuse or explanation can justify his wrongdoings. When questioned by Enquiry Committee, he claimed to be innocent & blamed Deputy Works Manager for cooking up a false story to victimize him. Mr. Sharma blamed Deputy Works Manager to conceal his own wrongdoings. To save his own skin he is playing a dirty Blame game. He is throwing mud at others to save himself. He has gone up to the extent of lying to the committee that he as well as Mr. Mahto were at the plant at 1:45 pm

COMMENTS

Question 3: How would you tackle the problem to avoid recurrence of such incidents, if you were the Works Manager? Solution to Problem no. 3 Disciplinary action against Mr. Sharma in the form of demotion, reprimand, transfer is essential so that it acts as a lesson for others too. While imposing punishment THE RED HOT STOVE RULE, whereby same punishment is given irrespective of status should be followed. In majority of the circumstances positive discipline instead of negative or enforced discipline should be emphasized. Self-discipline is the highest form of discipline and management efforts should be directed to encourage this. However, only disciplinary action is not sufficient. To attack the root cause of problem, following steps need to be taken. It is important to undertake job enlargement, job enrichment and job rotation to avoid boredom o Job Enlargement is increasing the number of tasks for a given job to reduce boredom o Job Enrichment is defined as increasing the degree of responsibility a worker has over a job leading to increased worker involvement o Job Rotation: Shifting workers in different departments to break the monotony The organization should be converted to a Learning Organization where employees continuously expand their capacities to create the results they truly desire and where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured. Top management should assume the role of change leaders / change facilitators

 Workers should be empowered and more control should be given on how they perform their jobs. They should be allowed to monitor the quality of their work, rather than being monitored by supervisors every time, a concept known as Total Quality Management Fragmented culture should be replaced by Communal culture (high on sociability; high on solidarity). Mutual trust, consideration and support among different levels of the organization is the need of the hour Open communication channel between different levels of organization is mandatory, whereby subordinates convey their job expectations to seniors. Supervisors also instead of criticizing workers in front of Deputy Works manager should directly reason out with the workers the reasons for non performance Adequate financial and non financial compensation, appreciation, praise and motivation should be given to the workers

The Thomas-Kilmann Model - Conflict Resolution

A S S E R T I V N E S S

COMPETING

COLLABORATING

COMPROMISING

AVOIDING

ACCOMADATING

COOPERATION

Question 4: Do you see any role of organizational climate as a factor? Solution to Problem no. 4
Organizational climate is defined as the prevailing atmosphere surrounding the organization, to the level of morale, and to the strength of feelings or belonging, care and goodwill among members. Whereas Organizational culture describes what the organization is about, organizational climate is an indication of the employees feelings and beliefs of what the organization is about. Climate is based on the perceptions of members towards the organization. Organizational climate is characterized, by the nature of the people-organization relationship and the superior-subordinate relationship. The above case illustrates an example of Fragmented and Hostile Organizational Climate in which sociability and solidarity are minimal. Employees are judged solely on their productivity and the quality of their work. The major negatives in these cultures are excessive critiquing of others and an absence of collegiality. Frequent complaints of Mr. Sharma to Deputy Works Manager and repetitively being criticized by supervisor have led to bitterness and frustration in Mr. Sharmas mind, ultimately leading him to criminal act. Management has a responsibility for creating a climate in which people are motivated to work willingly and effectively. All efforts should be made to convert fragmented organizational culture to communal culture encompassing high solidarity and sociability. This final category values both friendship and performance. People have a feeling of belonging but there is still a focus on goal achievement. Leaders of these cultures tend to be inspirational and charismatic.

COMMENTS

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

The committee took the right decision and found Sharma guilty of his act

WEAKNESS

Absence of motivation in the form of rewards and appraisal Instead of warning him to improve his performance, Mehto should have asked him the reason for his behavior Communication was not appropriate between the employees

OPPORTUNITIES

The communication should be made strong between the employees The performance appraisal should be provided

THREATS

Job dissatisfaction Conflicts will arise De-motivation Degradation of organizational environment

COMMENTS

KEY LEARNINGS:
Sharma who is very suitable candidate, Very sincere, well behaved and dedicated towards his work is awarded best worker of the shop. But gradually loses interest in the job as he starts finding job very monotonous & repetition in the work was there and he was not getting any new challenges Ombudsperson boxes should be kept so that people can drop in their complains without disclosing their identity A Check in the entry and exit time of each and every employee should be maintained Job rotation within groups or organization should be done so that members starting knowing and interacting with each other Adequate motivation should be given to the employees to remain in the same place & work effectively & efficiently maintaining healthy relations with its peers As conflicts are rising between the senior managers & the lower staff so appropriate authority should be made responsible for handling the dispute between them and indepth study of the problem should be done and measures should be taken accordingly Inter personal behaviour should be improved in the organization so that they are capable to work in their best state of mind & soul Regulars meetings & informal get-together should be done to discuss about ideas and resolve problems A feeling of cohesiveness should be inculcated in the employees so that physical proximity exists between them Developing a climate of trust is recognized as the crucial element for facilitating all elements of the organization Communications should flow freely between members of the organization A feeling of cooperation & coordination should be made available to superior & subordinate Mutual trust, consideration and support among different levels of the organization should be made Managerial behaviour and styles of leadership appropriate to the particular work situations should be made available

Names & Contribution

Name Roll No. Responsibilities Remarks

Kartik Bisht

FB11079

Himanshu Aggarwal

FB110

Paridhi Aggarwal

FB110

Natasha Dudeja

FB110

Priyanka Juneja

FB110

Rohit Sethi

FB110

Jay Gajjar

FB11077

Neha Mittal

FB110