Managing Difficult Conversations

Kevin Claven

Milestone One Overview And Conflict Analysis

WCM-620-10073-M01

Professor Victoria Frye

August 17, 2024

Overview

The case is based on a dispute between Kareem, a former employee of the ABC Corporation, and a set of managers of the organization, including the call center manager Thomas and direct supervisor Janet. Kareem was fired from the employment position of customer service representative having been accused of poor performance and taking too many breaks; Kareem is a practicing Muslim. The conflict arose from Kareems’ request for prayer times that he did not properly communicate with the management. This made him be labeled as a poor performer and later dismissed from his job. As for the conflict parties, main actors can be distinguished: Kareem, the protagonist; Thomas who works together with Kareem; Janet, another employee of the shop; Michael – one more coworker; Kathy – a friend of Kareem, also employed at the shop. Conflict Analysis

Kareem saw himself as a hardworking and capable employee while other employees including the management had a different opinion about his working capability. Kareem thought he was delivering good results saying that he received commendations from the customers and once in a while Janet complimented his work. However, his religious practices that demanded that he take several breaks brought down his call handling numbers, which he never knew since he felt he was performing well enough. That is why the lack of correspondence between Kareem and the management’s perception of him presented one of the main factors for the worsening of the conflict.

Thomas and Janet failed to understand Kareem’s truancies as anything other than negligence of duty in a bid to enhance productivity. Thomas, innovative, never attempted to inquire about the details of Kareem’s reality, opting for the Call Centre narrative that Kareem was not performing well enough. In fact, Janet failed to discuss with Kareem to figure out whether he had any difficulties or not, although she realized that he had not been present in many classes. Lack of communication was the major cause of this outcome which saw Kareem dismissed from the company.

They were basic working-for communication practices, performance-oriented, and little of discussion on personal or religious aspects. Thomas had been described as an intense leader whose major interest was on the numerical goals that were set for the employees; and in such a culture, employees rarely raised personal issues or concerns, including matters arising from family issues for fear of being fired from their jobs or being categorized as ‘Lazy’. Kareem, knowing this, decided that he was not going to practice his religion for he knew that this would land him in trouble or be closely monitored. This self-constructed wall of silence, coupled with the unwillingness for Janet and Thomas to start talking about the issue, have resulted in misunderstanding of Kareem’s conduct and thus the strife.

To reduce tension in this conflict some of the adjustments in the communication can be; On the first note, if there had been encouragement of employers to express their abilities, challenges and difficulties, Kareem could have expressed his religious ways of life. Thomas and Janet could have then redefined the goals or offered some considerations according to the firm’s policy and the laws of the land. Particular examples include establishing a comprehensive procedure that would enable employees to apply for and justify the need to take religious/personal legal absences without risking employment discrimination or penalties. Moreover, general performance appraisals that would involve consideration of problems and requirements that may be expected may have easily handled Kareem’s case. Rather than talking solely in terms of numbers about the productivity of the employees, these discussions could have given a clue as to why an employee’s efficiency may be up or down and the appropriate measures could have been proffered or implemented as the case may be.

Moreover, a diversity, equity, and inclusion training for a management on matters of religious diversity could have in a way armed Thomas and Janet with the means to handle such incidences more adequately. It would also train them on the need to have an open door policy, and the fact that just because one is on the organizational payroll, he or she deserves respect as a human being would enable them to balance on production while observing employees’ diversity. If these changes had been carried out then, then most probably the conflict that led to Kareem’s dismissal and further action was taken would have been averted (Zhao, Z. J., et al 2020).

References

Zhao, Z. J., Chen, H. H., & Li, K. W. (2020). Management of interpersonal conflict in negotiation with Chinese: a perceived face threat perspective.  Group Decision and Negotiation,  29, 75-102. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10726-019-09645-2