Problem
You are an HR Manager for a medium sized business in Sudbury, Ontario. You are the sole HR practitioner at your workplace and provide support to managers throughout the organization.
You have been made aware by the Accounting Manager, Michael, of tension that has developed between two members of the accounting team. The manager provided their perspective on the situation, stating that Carlos and Angela have always seemed to work together fine but it changed recently. Both individuals hold the same role of Accounting Clerk, although Angela has been with the company for longer and has been instrumental in the rollout of new accounting software. After the rollout, the department has seen several missed deadlines and Carlos has been increasingly rude to Angela. Michael says that Carlos complained about software access and about the short deadlines, but Michael felt this was just about not being used to the software so thought it was best to give some time to get used to it. Detailed and comprehensive training was provided so you think there may be another reason for the issues that you hope to discover. You schedule one-on-one interviews with Carlos and Angela.
In your meeting with Angela, she complains about Carlos' constant complaints and personal attacks. She feels like he is hurting the department, and something needs to be done about him. Regarding her own contributions, she believes everything is fine, she was involved in the rollout of the software so has full access to its functions and likes its efficiency tools. You get the feeling that she is trying to impress you with her understanding and use of the software. She informs you that maybe Carlos and others are missing their deadlines, but all her work is completed on time. She states that other than Carlos attacking her she has had no problems.
When you meet with Carlos he seems very frustrated with the current state of the department. He informs you that he can't meet his deadlines because Angela does not provide him with access to certain aspects of the software. Carlos believes he has a good understanding on the new software. He says that he is often unable to complete his work on time because he is waiting for a key report from Angela and is unable to access the information directly. He said that he brought this up to Angela but it did not help. She seemed disinterested and did nothing to address his concerns. He admits that he has made some negative comments to Angela and blames it on his frustration with the situation.
What advice would you suggest for Michael to address this conflict?
Task
I. Determine what type of conflict is displayed in the scenario. If you believe that multiple kinds of conflict may be present, state all that you believe are included. Make sure to explicitly state why you believe the conflict represents at least one of the five styles: relationship, data, interest, structural or value.
II. Once you have identified the type of conflict(s) present you are to determine an appropriate resolution strategy to address the conflict. You may utilize the recommended approaches outlined in the theory for the course, but you must make sure to incorporate those ideas to the specific situation. Your conflict resolution strategies should be explicit and clearly connect to the situation presented.