Introduction
In the proposed scenario, the role of the organization in the prevention and minimization of workplace stress and conflict was minimal. The organization did not have appropriate strategies to prevent miscommunication in one of its core departments – recruitment – and that is why the company needs to address this issue through certain changes. First, the fact that the management did not see the issue could be due to the organization having too many departments or hierarchal layers. To prevent miscommunication and workplace stress in the future, the company must establish a system of workplace climate supervision where the head of each department would be responsible for the communication within the department. The chosen employees should be equipped with thorough training on building a positive environment and supporting employee relations to minimize stress levels. Also, the management needs to establish weekly individual meetings with the heads of the departments to check on their progress, since communication with the management is one of the most important pillars for communication within the company (Harter & Atkins, 2015, para. 5).
Identifying and solving problems in a team
On the other hand, my abilities in the proposed scenario enabled making certain modifications to the current schemes, thus allowing me to tackle the issues such as lack of tracking of the candidates’ process and poor communication within the department. This can be explained by the fact that it is easier for a regular worker in the department to see certain smaller issues and propose solutions. For instance, a tracking system for the candidates allows the employees in the department to see at what stage the applications are at the moment and answer any questions the candidates may have based on their progress. However, I failed to examine the specific types of mistakes committed by the team, which could help to find a better solution to the issues. Because the recruiters rarely work in groups, however, the lack of cohesiveness within the HR team has to be addressed by the management as it might require organizational changes to solve it.
Given that the suggested solutions are implemented on a team-level, they might not be sufficient in addressing such a major issue as work stress and employee conflict. For instance, the tracking system will not be extended to other departments due to the lack of need. A buddy system, on the other hand, is quite a complex solution that does not quite fit the department. For instance, the nature of work in the HR department requires more individual work than cooperation, and the introduction of the buddy system will most likely disrupt the usual workflow. On the other hand, there is the potential to use this system in other areas of the organization, for instance, to ease the induction of new employees in all departments of the organization. Finally, the introduction of weekly team meetings does not quite serve the purpose of the improvement process either. Individual weekly meetings are more efficient for receiving updates on the department’s and employees’ progress than team meetings. However, given that the change aimed to promote employee involvement, the department could introduce monthly group meetings that would involve team building activities and socialization within the department.
Conclusion
Overall, the proposed solution has some effective ideas. For example, the use of a tracking system is relevant to the aims of the department and would be efficient in reducing miscommunication. However, because the lack of cohesiveness in one department may pose a threat to the functioning of the entire company (Hutton, 2014, para. 6), a more general approach is required to improve organizational climate and cooperation.
References
Harter, J. & Adkins, A. (2015). What great managers do to engage employees.Harvard Business Review, Web.
Hutton, L. (2014). 6 reasons why effective communication should be a focus in your business.Australian Institute of Business. Web.