person in a way that keeps them happy or at least interested in working at the rink.”
Flynn: “It is important to take the time
to get to know your employees and what makes them tick. Develop trust in the workplace with your employees and among your employees. I believe a manager has to be firm, but fair, and adapt their style based on the interaction. Everyone thinks differently, and a manager that can navigate the personality differences stands to have a team that works well together.”
HOW DO YOU HANDLE DIFFICULT EMPLOYEES AND MANAGE CONFLICT AMONG EMPLOYEES?
Dobbs: “Difficult employees take more work but will usually have a passion about something and excel at what they are passionate about. I compliment them on their strengths and point out what a positive impact they have on the facility. Once I break down the barriers, I try to relate to their challenges, and we discuss different ways to address the problem. Tese types of personalities want to be heard and want to solve their own problems. I may bring up something that bothers them and share how that same thing bothers me. I will then ask them how they think I should address the situation, and they will give me their advice. In the long run, we both talk about issues that bother us without pointing out one’s flaws.”
Fitzgerald: “Te first step is to develop
an effective interview process to maximize the chances that you are getting the right people ‘on the bus.’ Te next, is ensuring that we are setting clear expectations for performance and behavior through the onboarding process. We require every staff member to attend an orientation before they start their job training. We emphasize the importance of teamwork from the very beginning. When issues arise, we focus on the behaviors, how these behaviors fail to meet the expectations we have set, and what it looks like when someone is exhibiting the correct behaviors at work. By de-personalizing and minimizing emotional content in the counseling process, we can set clear expectations and milestones for what needs to happen moving forward for someone to continue to earn their hours.”
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Grate: “I feel face-to-face conversation is always best when dealing with conflict. Messages via email, text, and even over the phone can be misinterpreted. Staying calm and neutral is also important. You need to make sure you are hearing both sides of the story before making judgment. Get all the facts and discuss why you are making the decision you are, based on facts not emotion. If there is a specific conflict between employees, get them together and discuss how to overcome the situation to move forward. I always feel that clearing the air, no matter how hard it may be, is better than bottling your feelings up. Stay positive and always try to look on the bright side of a situation. Once a situation has been resolved, stay firm on your decision. Keep the group motivated to move forward and do not dwell in the past.”
Harton: “I tend to handle things straight on, but I may adjust the approach if a certain personality would respond better. Addressing conflict quickly and fairly is important. Hear staff out and, if possible, help them work it out, but ultimately there is an expectation to come to work ready to help. Unnecessary drama doesn’t help anyone to do their job, so resolve the problem or move on.”
Shaffer: “Tis all depends on the situation, but I tend to sit an employee down and discuss the specific situation and all of the potential consequences, good and bad, that result from the behavior. I find that adjusting bad behavior can be achieved without discipline, in most cases, simply by having the offending employee talk through the rational of why they are acting the way they are. In that same meeting, I make it clear that if something similar happens in the future, discipline will follow.
“I also refuse to traffic in rumors and hearsay. When rumors surface about an employee, I go to that person before the rumor gets out of control. Once the truth is out in the open, it is typically not hard to come to a compromise between employees.”
Vaughan: “We remind staff that we all have our responsibilities and they connect to other employees’ duties. A respectful workplace helps minimize the conflict. Most employees just want to be heard and then be educated as to how we came to a specific plan as part of operations or policy.”
Carlson: “I have little tolerance for difficult employees. If a person is not happy with their job description or another staff person, it might be time to find another job. I will certainly meet and listen to see if a solution can be created. It doesn’t take long to identify the problem. Once that happens, I fix it or someone has to go.”
Flynn: “I am lucky that, overall, I have not had to deal with too much conflict in the workplace. However, in those rare instances, I typically sit down with the employees individually to identify the issues, then come together with the group to determine a course of action and have them participate in coming up with a solution.”
HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE TO YOUR STAFF?
Dobbs: “I believe you need to have a
gimmick. One person may want a fist bump, another a handshake or smile, and some just want you to acknowledge them. I tend to joke with some employees to make them feel comfortable around me.”
Fitzgerald: “First and foremost, we try to
communicate as much as we can whenever we can! Communication can be anything, from saying ‘hello’ to talking about work
-related matters. On a more formal level, we have all-employee meetings four times a year, weekly managers’ meetings, monthly supervisors’ meetings, and departmental/positional meetings as appropriate. Our scheduling system, ABI, provides an electronic mechanism for communicating individually or in groups with our staff members. We have an electronic company newsletter to share global information and opportunities. We post pertinent weekly information (such as ice schedules, special events, etc.) on the bulletin board in our employee clock-in area as well as the supervisors’ office. And our supervisors provide us with a shift report that is disseminated to the other supervisors and our management team via email at the end of each shift.”
Grate: “Communication is usually based on my staff’s specific needs and the situation. Typically, email is how most messages are given, but I prefer face-to- face if possible for communicating more important information. “
Harton: “We are a really busy facility with multiple stake holders in-house, so there
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