Communication Issues: Handling Sensitive Communication In the Workplace
You are a high level professional, in charge of a large in-office team. You were recently assigned a new assistant, who is a recent college graduate with little professional experience. There are several major issues with his performance which must be addressed if he is to remain employed within the facility. First, he has a tendency to want to ignore what he perceives as
boring paper work, and dismiss clear directions, in order to jump into what he believes are more sensitive, or high level types of jobs. Not only that, but the assistant is inappropriately familiar in the workplace. He fails to respect your personal space, interrupts you, doesn’t let you finish your tasks, reads everything over your shoulder and discusses his private life with you and other colleges. Not only is that a problem, but the new assistant is also looking for love in all the wrong places, more concerning in the office, and you have noticed his behavior could often be interpreted as sexual towards both yourself and other office colleges. In all there are three issues that must be addressed: lack of compliance, lack of professionalism, and sexual harassment. These three issues all point to a lack of competence and experience, but are extremely hard to deal with. All of these issues, and the professional management of the office space as it relates to these issues, is extremely sensitive, but also they can potentially make you to look bad in front of your professional peers. Below we will discuss how to handle each situation, so that freshly baked graduate realizes how inappropriate his/her behavior is and stop it.
The simplest solution to the new assistant’s behavior problems is termination. However, there is a policy within the company that asserts that an individual must receive both a verbal and a written warning in advance of separation with the company, in order to protect against legal issues and potential unemployment suits. As such, it is essential that this situation be handled in an hands- on and proactive way that is aimed at retaining the young assistant, rather than disenfranchising him. It is also essential that it be handled in a way that protects the reputation and professionalism of everyone involved.
Bearing this in mind, the first issue that must be addressed, because it underlies all the other issues in question, is the young assistant’s lack of professionalism. There is a strong set of evidence to suggest that this assistant can be meaningfully retrained, and become a valuable member of the team. A study by Hochberg and peers, determined that when the issues are well communicated, and new competencies instructed, increased professionalism can be established (93). More simply put, professionalism can be taught when expectations are well communicated. Professionalism is really a set of refined boundaries (Malin 1). In reeducating the assistant, it is important to start with establishing a clear set off boundaries, this will address most, if not all of the issues that you, as the employer are currently experiencing (Malin 1). The assistant can then be help accountable to those boundaries through a checklist, and frequent performance reviews, designed to help him move toward the target behaviors (Hochcberg 87).
Generally, all of his issues will be managed according to the following protocol:
Develop a clear set of policies and protocols designed to address and manage the specific behaviors in question.
Ensure that the other staff members are aware, and prepared to report the behaviors should it continue to occur.
Create a standard for accountability, and create a clear set of consequences. This must include recording the businesses actions.
Provide training to reduce recidivism in the workplace.
Take further disciplinary action if necessary.
More specifically, in this case, it is important that the establishment of boundaries leave no ambiguity about what is, and what is not, acceptable (Malin 2). Bearing this best practice in mind, a clear set of boundaries, and expectations will be set regarding each of the issues identified regarding the assistant.
With regard to the issues of personal space, and inappropriate familiarity, it should be noted that personal space is largely cultural, and the amount of space you demand, and the way in which you expect it to be respected are thus culturally tied (Ingre & Basil 7). Bearing this in mind, when advising, or training the new assistant to respect boundaries of personal space, it is essential to “stick to the facts and try to be aware of cultural differences” (Ingre & Basil 7). The offending personnel will watch a training video regarding personal space in the workplace, and will then, the primary issues of space for comfort, space for privacy, and space for productivity will be defined (CCOHS 1). If the assistant fails to adhere to the boundaries provided, he will receive a verbal, and a written warning before termination.
Secondly, it will be established that compliance is necessary, and willingness to do any assigned tasks is essential to the assistant’s professional success. As an assistant, it should be clear that the individuals job is to do whatever must be done to support your success, as his superior. However, if there are tasks which he thinks are boring, or beneath him, and which he believes he can elect not to complete, it is likely because they were not included in his not description. In order to increase compliance (Purdue 1). As such, a job description will be created, and presented to the assistant in an effort o define their role more completely, and establish clear boundaries and expectations, once again. At the conclusion of the meeting, the assistant will sign off on the job description to indicate that he knows and understands the expectations for his performance. The job description will define the core functions of the position, allow the assistant to set clear objectives for his position each day, and allow for clearer analysis of his performance. This will also be used as a checklist against which his performance can be regularly assessed during the remainder of his probationary period (Purdue 1). This gives the company a defensible position against which to base any future employment decisions regarding the assistant.
Finally, the assistants desire to form a personal, romantic, relationship within the workplace, and the sexual impropriety that occurs as a result of that desire must be addressed. This is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a form of sexual harassment, and must be dealt with swiftly and decisively, for legal reasons. It is your responsibility, as an employer to manage and eliminate any and all cases of sexual harassment, as a matter of safety within the workplace. It must be pointed out to the assistant that his behavior is unacceptable, illegal, and creates a hostile work environment for others (Barreiro 1).
This means that the sexual harassment and non-fraternization policies already established by the company should be reviewed with the assistant. Then, he should be provided with retaining, including anti-harassment training and sensitivity training to prevent future incidences. After both reviewing the policies and receiving training, he will be expected to sign a form stating that he has been trained, that he is aware of the company’s policies, and that he understands the consequences should the behavior continue (England 1). This includes formal investigation of further complaints and problems, documentation, and taking firm action to terminate according to the companies sexual harassment policies (England 1).
It is your obligation, as a higher-up within the company to ensure that the members of your team act in a way that is consistent with the level of professionalism that you exude. The office as a whole may be judged by the actions of the weakest link. Further, it is your obligation, within your team, to ensure that everyone has access to a safe and productive work environment. The assistant, if not firmly dealt with can destroy the professional reputation, and the productivity of your office as a while. The issues at hand, while sensitive, are certainly manageable with retraining, and the assistance willingness to be compliant with the clear set of expectations which you will establish. However, should they elect not to take the warnings, and retaining, seriously, and should the lack of professionalism perpetuate, you, in cohesive action with the human resource department, will have no alternative but to terminate his employment at the end of his probationary period.
Works Cited :
CCOHS. “Space Requirements for Office Workers.” OSH Answer Fact Sheets. 2016. Web.
England, Deborah C. The Essential Guide to Handling Workplace Harassment & Discrimination. Berkeley, CA: Nolo, 2009. Print.
Hochberg, Mark S., Adina Kalet, Sondra Zabar, Elizabeth Kachur, Colleen Gillespie, and Russell S. Berman. "Can Professionalism Be Taught? Encouraging Evidence." The American Journal of Surgery 199.1 (2010): 86-93. Web.
Ingre, David. Engineering Communication: A Practical Guide to Workplace Communications for Engineers. Australia: Thomson, 2008. Print.
Malin, Nigel. Professionalism, Boundaries and the Workplace. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Osborne, Steve & Goodheand, Anne. Guidelines on Unprofessional Behaviour in the Workplace and its Management. Psychologists Board of New Zealand. 2010. Web.
Perdue University. “Well-written job descriptions are worth the effort.” Leading Edition. 2016. Web.
