Workplace Conflict Case
A Team Member approaches you because she needs to take her terminally ill mother to Laos one last time to see her parents in 4 weeks for a period of 2 weeks.
She is scheduled to work 7 days but only has 36hrs of PTO. What do you do/say?
What is....
First off have conversation with employee regarding the amount of hours needed to take off compared to what is accrued. She is needing an additional 4 days of PTO.
Advise you will talk to leadership about what can be done and follow-up but ensure that no promises are made.
Is my PTO approved?
What is, "Ask you Supervisor"
HR doesnt approve PTO, why you asking me bro....
My Supervisor told me to clean up the pre-forms off of the ground but he didn't specify when he needed it done and I have to get the labeler back up and running.
What is, "Task-based Conflict"
A Team Member approached you because she was given feedback that she could never be in maintenance because she is a female.
What do you do?
What is....
Acknowledgment and empathize with the Team Member and advised that we are going straight to HR with this concern.
(Harassment/Discrimination should always be raised up to HR immediately)
How many points do I have?
What is "Ask your Supervisor"
Supervisor has full access to view a Team Member's points via Kronos. A paystub is never an accurate depiction due to when its pulled.
My co-worker is too energetic and happy at 5:30 in the morning. It ruins my day.
What is, "Personality conflict"
A new Team Member working on the wetside decided to go shred bottles instead of fixing a jam at the filler.
The Line lead went over to scold the new employee as he was trained already.
The new TM came over to talk to you about how the Line lead approached him. What do you do?
What is...
Talk to Team Member off the floor and get their side of the story. From there advise that you will follow-up with the Lead as those behaviors are not condoned at Niagara. Along with that, please advise the TM about the priority tasks that need to be completed first.
From there go follow-up with the Lead to get their side and ensure they speak with Team Members with respect. You can speak to them correctly while coaching.
A Team Member touched my shoulder
What is, "HR Resolves"
Due to the nature, this is escalated to HR to handle to ensure a full investigation is conducted even though it may be harmless.
My co-worker is very quiet. I have to initiate all conversation with him and don't really know him. The only time I hear from him is when he has a work related question or needs help. I wish he opened up more.
What is, "Work-Style conflict"
Your manager approaches one of your direct reports as they walked away from their normal work area.
Your manager spoke down to your direct report in front of other operators. Your manager did not listen to the reason and ordered them to get back to their area of work.
Later on in the shift, the TM pulls you aside to tell you what happened and the reason why they were over there. The TM advised that as the Inj Lead, the Line claimed to be receiving bad preforms. He checked everything on his end and couldn't see any issues so he went to the Line to talk to the mechanics to see if there was anything else that it could be.
How will you resolve?
What is....
After you listened to your TM and took notes!
Follow-up with your Manager, 1 on 1 privately to discuss what happened. Discuss the approach was wrong and the reason behind why the TM was there. We can't say to our TMs that they are empowered or Lead Like Owners when leadership behaves in that manner. You would appreciate that those concerns be brought to myself seeing that it is my direct report handle moving forward.
My co-worker called me lazy
What is, "Go resolve yourself"
Not everything needs to be raised to a leader. We forget in the workplace that we are all adults and expect to treat each other with respect.
We are able to confront another Team Member respectfully and avise when something is said/done that doesn't jive with you. Like being called lazy.
My Supervisor hates me. The only time I hear from them is when I did something wrong. This place is too negative of a work environment to continue working in.
What is, "Leadership conflict"
My supervisor spoke to me with attitude
What is, "Supervisor handles"
As a leader you need to be self-aware and humble enough to receive criticism from your direct reports and acknowledge and commit to changing the way you speak and approach.
No wonder we can never hit our production numbers. Maintenance is paid a lot more than we are and they can never fix the machines in a timely manner. When they aren't working, they are just on their phones. I should really get into maintenance.
What is, "Interdependence conflict"