Effective Employee & Customer Relations A Deer Oaks Presentation Presented By: Ken Adams, Psy.D. A resource you can trust.

Effective Employee & Customer Relations

A Deer Oaks PresentationPresented By:

Ken Adams, Psy.D.

A resource you can trust

As a supervisor, it is important to…

• Keep employees keen and motivated.• Manage interpersonal conflicts and deal

with workplace complaints respectfully.• Increase productivity and efficiency.• Recognize when you might be part of the

problem and what you can do about it. • Create and maintain positive workplace

environments since employees spend more of their waking time at work.

What can you do as a supervisor to change work conditions?

• Adopt and implement policies and values that promote employee respect and professionalism.

• Develop and promote an internal conflict resolution procedure.

• Take employee complaints seriously.

• Any other suggestions?

Motivation in the Workplace

• Motivation refers to the physical and mental energy that a person exerts to achieve a goal.

• An employee’s level of motivation will affect his/her performance and productivity.

• Performance is a combination of motivation + ability in a supportive context.

• Level of motivation manifested by your subordinates is directly related to your beliefs about them.

Theory X versus Theory Y Supervisors

• Theory X– Believe that employees dislike work and avoid

working at all costs– Employees must be directed and controlled.– Results in decreased employee motivation.

• Theory Y– View work as being as natural as play.– Assume employees are capable of self-control

and self-direction.– Leads to a more effective organization.

Understanding Employee Needs

• Level 1 needs:– Affect job satisfaction.– Include pay, benefits, job security, positive

workplace relationships, job conditions

• Level 2 needs:– Affect job motivation– Include opportunities for advancement,

responsibility, & recognition.

Both sets of needs are important

• Providing workers with better wages and improved work conditions may not increase their motivation to work but will keep them from being dissatisfied.

• Providing them with challenges and other opportunities for growth, recognition, and advancement results in increased motivation.

• Your role as a supervisor is to understand that both sets of needs are important.

Two techniques to increase Employee Motivation

• Job Enrichment:– Give employees higher level tasks and

challenges to complete.– Be careful not to overwhelm the employee

because this can reduce motivation.

• Job Enlargement:– Give bored employees more or different work

to do.– Be careful not to be perceived as unfair.

Other motivating suggestions…

• Contribute to workers experienced meaningfulness of the job (through skill variety & task significance).

• Provide opportunities for the experience of personal responsibility and accountability.

• Provide workers with knowledge about their performance (feedback, evaluations).

Organizational Commitment

• Two types of commitment:– Emotional Commitment

• Refers to the person’s own desire to stay out of a sense of loyalty and a concern for the company’s welfare.

– Continual Commitment• The person stays because s/he has nowhere else

to go or cannot afford to leave.

• As a supervisor, what kind of commitment do you think you inspire?

Why Commitment Matters

• Committed Employees:– Are more motivated and satisfied.– Take less time off of work.– Are less likely to leave.– Are more efficient and productive.– Are more willing to make sacrifices for the

company.

How to Increase Employee Commitment

• Offer employees more autonomy, job security, and give them more responsibility.

• Create more interesting work.• Treat employees with courtesy and respect.• Understand the negative impact of poor

management.• Refer dysfunctional supervisors for appropriate

training. • As a supervisor, have the courage to step down

if you cannot do the job.

Team Building - Avoid Group Think

• What is Group Think?– Excessive agreement between team

members/co-workers to the exclusion of individuality.

– A thinking mode in which consensus-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it overrides realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.

– More likely to occur under stressful conditions, and when the team is led by a member with strong personality.

Group Think Results in the Following:

• Illusion of invulnerability• Rationalization• Illusion of immortality• Stereotyping• Peer Pressure• Self-censorship• Illusion of unanimity• Mind guarding

Ways to Prevent Group Think

• Encourage disagreement.

• Assign critical evaluators.

• Keep people with vested interests out of decision making process.

• Bring in outside experts for fresh opinions.

• Play Devil’s advocate.

• Seek information from many and varied sources.

Ways to Prevent Group Think

• Never assume silence means consensus.

• Be open to change & new ideas.

• Don’t ignore warning signs that a decision may be bad for the organization.

• Provide enough time for discussion, review, reflection, & evaluation.

Handling Interpersonal Conflict

• Your role as a supervisor:– Intervene judiciously to prevent minor

misunderstandings from escalating into unresolved conflict and tension.

– Educate and empower subordinates to resolve their own interpersonal conflicts so that you do not have to intervene.

– Help to create a culture in which conflict management is valued and appreciated.

– Create a positive workplace climate of respect.

Why resolve conflict?

• Conflict can cause:– Lost time– Wasted resources– Decline in efficiency

• When resolved, conflict can lead to:– New ideas– Better decision-making– Improved performance

Dealing with ConflictTip # 1 - Don’t Avoid It

• The biggest mistake one can make is to avoid dealing with conflict and hoping that it will just go away.

• Even if conflict seems to be put to rest, under conditions of stress, it will re-emerge.

• If a situation is not getting better, chances are they are getting worse.

• Intervene early and effectively.

Tip # 2 – Involve All Parties

• Sometimes employees approach a supervisor one-to-one to discuss a problematic situation.– What is the inherent problem with this

approach?

• Supervisors who include all parties involved in a conflict will not be perceived as taking sides.

Supervisor’s Steps in Mediation and Conflict Resolution

• Meet with the people involved in the conflict.• Let each person briefly summarize their point of

view, without comment or interruption by the other party.

• Ask each participant to describe specific actions they would like to see the other party take that would resolve differences.

• Ask the participants to make a commitment to making changes.

Steps in Mediation and Conflict Resolution

• Ask each participant to notice and validate each other’s efforts at making changes.

• Assure both sides of your confidence in their ability to resolve their differences.

• Provide follow-up and referrals (e.g. to the company’s EAP) as needed.

Tip # 3 – Maintain Holistic Perspective

• Never make the mistake of believing the only ones affected by a conflict are the participants themselves.

• Conflict affects everyone with whom these individuals interact.

• When others start feeling as if they have to walk on eggshells around the combatants, the situation is already out of control.

• This can result in a divided, splintered organization.

Managing Your Own Defensiveness

• Become Aware of your physical changes/thoughts/emotions

• Relax

• Shift Your Focus– Focus on what the other person is saying

• Use Active Listening Techniques

• Legitimize his/her feelings

• Do not utilize offensive language

Preventing a co-worker from becoming defensive

• Describe rather than evaluate behavior

• Use “I” statements

• Avoid the words “Always” and “Never”

• Watch your non-verbal cues

• Focus on the future not the past– What can be done differently this time?

Respect

• Mutual respect can be defined as a state in which two or more individuals respect themselves and each other in spite of their differences, faults, and imperfections.

• In the context of mutual respect, each employee’s feelings of self-respect and sense of self-worth are enhanced.

• What actions/words from a co-worker make you feel respected?

• What makes you feel disrespected?

Disrespect

• Examples of disrespectful behavior:– Mental and emotional abuse.– Inappropriate anger outbursts.– Sexual harassment.– Unprofessional behavior.– Discourtesy.

Effects of Workplace Disrespect

• A culture of animosity and hostility.• A blaming culture characterized by finger

pointing.• Increase in small clique or grapevine

communication.• Undermining of large-group cohesiveness.• Increase in use of passive-aggressive

coping strategies.• Increase in litigious activity.

Effects of Workplace Disrespect

• Decline in productivity.

• Poor quality of output: rushed jobs.

• Increase in use of Sick Leave and PTO’s.

• Learned helplessness among those less empowered.

• Abuses of power, rank, and position.

• Decreased employee morale and increased number of accidents.

Why is a Culture of Respect in the Workplace Important?

• Improved communication• Improved team-work• Decline in negative and conflict incidents• Improved productivity and quality of output• Improved self-esteem and sense of self-

worth of employees• A more fulfilling work environment for all• Improved morale

Thank You for Participating

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