Luis Rocks

a. This goes back to you as the supervisor and leader, your must set the bar, the example of what is acceptable in the working environment. You must delineate expectations and guidelines very clearly and have a very open and working relationship with your HR department so that you are always on the same page. The HR department is typically the one who deals with issues that are requiring paper work to be filed and or reported and if the employee has concerns about their rights being violated so when any issues like this come up you should keep the HR representative abreast of what is going on even if you are not ready to formalize the concern. This ensures that you are inline with company policy and also with the plan the company has for you as a supervisor. You must create an environment that is pleasant but balanced out by the rules that inappropriate, harrassive, rude and illegal behavior is not tolerated and will be dealt with disciplinary action, which may include up to termination. There are many tools you have at your disposition such as suspending employees, cutting hours, citing a report in their records, counseling, coaching and even bringing in outside help for the entire staff to teach them to work together better and enhance work place communication and minimize issues within the staff.

b. Jargon lovers; each person has a manner in which they like to speak. They find it more comfortable; however if the manner in which they speak is crude and/or lewd you must be proactive once again and bring it to their attention before another employee is made upset or insulted by it—these situations can escalate into legal matters or you as a company can be liable for not having provided a workplace free of threats or harassment. Employees expect to come to an environment that is free of negative things such as those previously mentioned. If a person is using language that is too technical and tends to confuse others around them creating a disruption or to where it affects productivity then you should speak to those people on their own and let them know that they may want to reevaluate the words they use because they are creating confusion or are causing a problem in productivity. The job at hand is not only supervising staff but to ensure that your staff is productive and company goals are being met. It is important that you keep your communication at a level that the average employee you bring can understand. Remember you are the one who hires people and you set qualifications—you know where your employees stand and should not create an environment that is not within the standards you requested.

The key to functioning in a supervisory role is to maintain a proactive role in that capacity; you must be aware of the staff you are over seeing, numbers, performance, evaluations and you must also provide clear expectations for the staff you are managing. As a leader in the work place you must act as a model or patent for your employees to emulate – if you have provided clear expectations and outlined behavior that is frowned on and/or not tolerated explicitly employees are less likely to act outside of your expectations nor are they to be confused about what it is that you are expecting from them. When a grievance is filed or brought up that in nature is personal you should first of all stay objective listen to the grievance and refer to your HR guidelines and also explain to the employee that those guidelines are there to protect them and create a positive working environment; however you should ask direct and specific question regarding the issue they have raised so as to allow them a chance to reflect on the grievance and identify if the nature is valid or just on a personal level. If it is a personal issue you may ask if they feel a resolution between them and the other party is foresee able and if they would like the opportunity to speak them on their own and come to an agreement or if they would like to have your or an HR representative mediate the meeting to further understand the issue. It is in my experience that often times these issues arises from miscommunications and misunderstandings that are easily resolved by having open and direct communication. Having an open door policy and creating an atmosphere of trust and respect enables employees to raise concerns but also be more willing to address them within themselves and not find issue elsewhere.

Complaints and grievances can’t be avoided, but as a supervisor, how do you handle conflicts between individuals when they are personal and not work related?a.The key to functioning in a supervisory role is to maintain a proactive role in that capacity; you must be aware of the staff you are over seeing, numbers, performance, evaluations and you must also provide clear expectations for the staff you are managing. As a leader in the work place you must act as a model or patent for your employees to emulate – if you have provided clear expectations and outlined behavior that is frowned on and/or not tolerated explicitly employees are less likely to act outside of your expectations nor are they to be confused about what it is that you are expecting from them. When a grievance is filed or brought up that in nature is personal you should first of all stay objective listen to the grievance and refer to your HR guidelines and also explain to the employee that those guidelines are there to protect them and create a positive working environment; however you should ask direct and specific question regarding the issue they have raised so as to allow them a chance to reflect on the grievance and identify if the nature is valid or just on a personal level. If it is a personal issue you may ask if they feel a resolution between them and the other party is foresee able and if they would like the opportunity to speak them on their own and come to an agreement or if they would like to have your or an HR representative mediate the meeting to further understand the issue. It is in my experience that often times these issues arises from miscommunications and misunderstandings that are easily resolved by having open and direct communication. Having an open door policy and creating an atmosphere of trust and respect enables employees to raise concerns but also be more willing to address them within themselves and not find issue elsewhere.