Conflict in the Workplace

Consider the following scenario:

“You are a department manager in a mid-sized company that provides technology support services. You have ten employees who are required to maintain a high level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One of your employees, who has been with the company for two years, is performing at a substandard level and you have received numerous complaints from customers and coworkers. In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. You must now meet with this employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement or dismissal.”

What can a manager do when faced with an under-performing employee? In many cases, the problem can be solved with a simple face-to-face meeting in which the manager outlines the realities of the employee’s performance, shows what the accepted standards are, and requests that the employee work to meet them. In an ideal world, the employee would then agree to work on adjusting his or her work habits to better reflect the standards promoted by the organization.

Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world. Many times, the manager in question is constrained by the employee’s behavior, or by the realities of the workplace. The manager is responsible for meeting the needs of the customers and the business simultaneously, though, so it is vital to maintain a sense of control when faced with this sort of situation. There are several ways to bring this situation under control.

First and foremost, a spirit of honesty must be maintained. It is not fair, to either them employee in question, the company, or the customers to prevaricate and withhold information. The employee must be made aware of the fact that he or she is performing at a substandard level. Regular performance appraisals for all employees are one procedure that can provide a stable work environment.

In this case, though, we are discussing and employee who has shown a pattern of substandard performance. Complaints from customers and from coworkers indicate that earlier steps, if any, have not been effective. When the time comes to address the situation outside of the normal evaluation processes, the manager must ensure that the business is protected while providing honest results to the employee.

If I were the manager in question, the first thing I would do is schedule a personal meeting with the employee. I should note, though, that “personal” is not the same as “one-on-one”. When dealing with an employee with a history of confrontational behavior, I would request either another manager or a representative of the HR department be a part of the meeting. Having a second manager or other company representative would give a sense of control, and it would also provide a witness to the employee’s behavior and a sense of support. Based on past behavior, I think that a one-on-one meeting would not be ideal. Taking a recording of the meeting in order to document the events would also be a good idea.

During the meeting, I feel that a direct approach to the issue would be best. Using a calm and reasonable tone of voice, I would notify the employee of the complaints that had been received, and of his or her failure to meet company standards. Without dragging the meeting out, or using any weasel words, I would try to inform him or her of the reality of the situation. Granted, past behavior might indicate that this would not be received well. In that case, having the other manager present would be effective in either preventing the employee from overreacting, or at least provide me with a second opinion and witness to any negative behavior.

In terms of conflict resolution, I think that this is a situation that is faced by managers more often than we care to imagine. As I said, we do not live in an ideal world, and people do not always react in the ways we would like. In the event of conflict, the most important thing I could do would be to prevent escalation. If the employee became threatening or belligerent, I would stop the conversation and request that it not happen again. While conflict can be used in a positive way, allowing it to escalate out of control will never lead to a satisfactory outcome. Following that, I would repeat my request for the employee to listen, and inform him or her that further outbursts could lead to disciplinary steps.

Hopefully, presenting a firm and unshakeable front to the employee him or her that management was serious, and that any further actions like this would lead to an extremely negative outcome.