Manage Difficult Conversations De-escalate the Conflict

Question:-

Describe the communication practices, implicit or explicit.
how communication practices might be changed to de-escalate the conflict. Provide specific examples to support your assessment.

Answer:-

The main motto of the company is offering the best customer service. He had worked for eight months after which he was terminated by call center manager Thomas on the excuse of poor performance and unusual breaks. He took the breaks for praying five times a day as required by his religion. His prayer movements and washing rituals of his hands, face and feet were observed by Michael who reported this to Kareem’s supervisor, Janet and the concern was escalated to Thomas the manger. He observed Kareem’s behavior and performance and saw that Kareem’s numbers were dropping. Thomas did not bother to ask or consult Kareem on the matter before terminating him. The key stakeholders in this case was Thomas, Janet, Michael, Kathy, Kareem, the management, the government and the media. None of the stakeholders of the company, directly involved in the case, clarified the matter with Kareem and his performance was could not be the ground of his termination as he had been performing well. His co-worker Kathy knew about his situation but did not inform Thomas because he was

Stakeholder’s self-perception damages organizational culture (Martín, 2015). The case points out that none of the stakeholders preferred to have a conversation with Kareem to detect or understand the problem regarding Kareem’s frequent breaks from his workstation. Michael was the first one to observe Kareem’s behavior. From his interview with the ER Rep it is clear that he had some idea that Kareem was praying but he said that he did not care about him and reported him because he thought his behavior was not acceptable. Janet also had no idea about Kareem’s reasons and she states that in the high-productivity environment there is no time for conversation and Kareem’s behavior was intolerable. Thomas only understood productivity and therefore relied entirely on Janet’s report and perceived that Kareem does not want to perform. Kathy pointed out the inhumane work environment and the ruthless behavior of the leaders that she had observed. She had warned Kareem that his religious practices would not be accepted in good light. These examples point out that everyone had their own perception about Kareem but none of which was cross-checked through communication and the result was

The communication practices at ABC Corporations is clearly implicit. Employee’s behavior is used to judge performance instead of looking at actual performance metrics. It can be said to be both intentional and unintentional in the context because implicit communication was the habitual practice of the employees which everyone was aware about but nothing was done to change it. The impact of this assumption-based communication culture is that it exhibits lack of coherence (Hoogervorst, Flier, & Koopman, 2004). It results in structural conflicts and inconsistency resulting in loss of human capital as exhibited in this case. The entire organization including the management, has been affected due to this practice. This kind of rash decision-making resulting from implicit communication practices especially on part of the manager, Thomas, would result in the serious damage in goodwill of the company and due to the tainted reputation, no talent management companies would be willing to partner with the company and a company without effective human capital cannot function successfully.

Clearly, the communication practices need to be changed but the change would be gradual by inculcating new organizational culture and habitual change. The first change would be the practice of asking questions. The issue is similar for both leaders and subordinates. Therefore, both should practice asking questions when they do not understand something instead of making assumptions. Also, the habit of listening should be implemented (Postmes, et al., 2013). Listening and subsequent questioning should be ardently practiced. Exhibition of compassion and respect is also necessary. Acknowledge employee needs and respecting their personal and religious space is lacking in the company, which should be immediately addressed as well. Facing the conflict and getting clarity should be encouraged instead of directly exhibiting harsh responses like that of the case.