Lead and manage effective workplace relationships
1. Manage ideas and information.
2. Establish systems to develop trust and confidence
3. Manage the development and maintenance of networks and relationships
4. Manage difficulties to achieve positive outcomes
Assessment Task 1: Plan and present workplace communication systems
Performance objective
For this task you will demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to plan communication systems.
Assessment description
Using the simulated business information provided, and in response to a scenario, you will prepare a portfolio of communications planning documentation that includes a communications strategy and grievance procedure.
You will also prepare and deliver a presentation to the senior management team on your plans for managing communications and consultation.
Procedure
Part A
1. Review the scenario in Appendix 1, particularly the background to the simulated organisation, current change issues, communication and consultation needs, and information about your role as Communications Consultant.
2. Review JKL Industries simulated business documentation, including strategic plans and operational plans. Note what the organisation does, how it does it, what its goals and objectives are, and who its stakeholders and customers are.
3. Develop a draft communications strategy for meeting organisational needs that includes:
a. two to three communications objectives
b. at least two different audiences, for example, senior management, work teams, or individual employees
c. at least two methods of communication or media
d. at least two provisions to facilitate bottom-up consultation (from employees to management); for example, consultation on employee health and safety, consultation on continuous improvement of work processes, consultation on employee conditions and pay, or consultation on job roles and performance expectations.
Note: Ensure you also provide for management feedback on consultation back to employees.
4. Develop a short (less than one page) grievance procedure.
5. Submit your portfolio in accordance with quality specifications outlined below.
Part B
Research, plan and deliver a 10-15 minute presentation to senior managers on your proposed communications planning.
1. Prepare a business presentation in response to the scenario described in the scenario. Determine and prepare to discuss:
a. Audience needs and relevant interpersonal skills you will need to deploy to win support for your ideas.
b. Organisational needs:
i. internal strategic needs, goals and objectives
ii. external regulatory or legal requirements, such as for WHS consultation, anti- discrimination or industrial relations
iii. business ethics requirements
c. Your proposed approach to communications and consultation to meet organisational and audience needs:
i. Prepare to explain your draft communications strategy, organisational policies and procedures, and how such communications systems and policies can support a coordinated approach to developing effective work relationships.
2. Arrange a time and location to deliver your presentation to the senior management team.
3. Deliver the presentation to the senior management team. Ensure you deliver your presentation in accordance with deliverables and quality specifications outlined below.
Specifications
You must:
- submit a communications planning portfolio that includes:
o a communications strategy
o a short grievance procedure
- deliver a 10-15-minute presentation on your proposed communications strategy
Your assessor will be looking for evidence of your ability to:
- provide leadership through your own behaviour including professional conduct that promotes trust with a business audience
- explain how communications systems, policies and procedures can support the development of effective work relationships
- explain how your communications strategy addresses legislative or regulatory requirements
- interact with others through:
o building professional trust
o demonstrating high level support and facilitation skills and your ability to engage and motivate others
- get the work done through:
o taking public responsibility for planning and sequencing complex tasks to achieve organisational goals
o developing processes and plans for complex communication activities with strategic importance
o analysing information to inform decisions about organisational communications strategy
o identifying opportunities for improvement in communications
- develop processes to manage ideas and information including:
o communicating information to support others to achieve work responsibilities
o facilitating employees' contributions to consultation on work issues
o providing feedback on the outcomes of consultations
o resolution of issues raised or referral to relevant personnel
- demonstrate writing skills through:
o researching and preparing plans and policies incorporating appropriate vocabulary, grammatical structure and conventions
Scenario - JKL Industries
JKL Industries overview
JKL Industries is an Australian-owned company, selling forklifts, small trucks and spare parts to industry. They also have a division that leases forklifts and small trucks.
The company's head office is in Sydney and has branches in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
After 12 years in business, focusing on forklifts and small trucks, JKL Industries has negotiated the sales rights to a range of medium and large trucks from an overseas supplier. This opportunity will provide JKL Industries with an advantage in range over its competitors.
Sales results over the past five years have indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales, which have averaged 10% sales growth per annum. The rental market has been in decline for the past three years due to the reduced costs of these vehicles and some taxation benefits to industries who purchase these vehicles.
Taking the sales rights opportunity will, however, entail some significant changes, including significant changes to the current organisational structure. The company will reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market, in which forces such as competition and consumer choice reduce potential profitability.
In accordance with the organisation's values, JKL Industries intends (to the extent feasible) to recruit from within the company and up-skill or re-skill existing employees presently working in rentals who wish to remain with the company.
Given the company's previous history of employee grievances over pay and conditions and current plans to restructure, JKL Industries has identified poor communications and an organisational climate of conflict as a risk to business goals.
Moving forward, the organisation intends to build and maintain a positive organisational culture, reduce risk and achieve organisational goals through:
- developing an effective policy framework for managing internal communications and consultation, in accordance with organisational objectives, business ethics, and compliance requirements
- communicating and building support for organisational initiatives and objectives
- managing information flow to:
o provide managers and employees with at-hand information to perform their work responsibilities
o communicate ideas for improvement (top-down and bottom-up)
o facilitate feedback both to and from employees and management on relevant work performance and outcomes of consultation
Communication and consultation issues
An internal management review of the organisation has uncovered the following issues:
- A lack of an overarching approach to information management that helps to promote common understanding of team goals and organisational values and to build strategic relationships.
- Slow responses to internal and external customer needs.
- Slow and ineffective communication of and implementation of ideas for improved processes.
- Ineffective or no use of modern communication technologies and social platforms.
- Inadequate consultation, resulting in risks to compliance (particularly WHS consultation requirements) and too little bottom-up information flow from employees to management. This latter results in poor organisational take-up of improvement ideas identified by teams and individuals at lower levels of the organisation and by customer-facing managers and employees.
- Inconsistent application by managers of grievance procedures posing a risk to employee relations.
- Poor sense of employee engagement, empowerment and accountability for work performance.
- Poor general awareness of (and therefore poor support of) organisational goals, ethics, values.
Your role
You are a communications consultant. You have been engaged by JKL Industries to revise and update strategies and processes to manage communications and information flow within the organisation.
Note that the senior management team may be resistant to changes to communication strategies, policies and procedures. In particular, they are concerned that a new approach to communications may result in a less cohesive organisation.
You will need to ensure your communications strategy and processes address organisational issues, while using your highly developed interpersonal skills to engage and motivate the senior management team to embrace your proposed changes.
Task 2: Respond to scenario-based questions
Performance objective
For this task, you will demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to establish systems to develop trust and confidence and manage the development and maintenance of networks and relationships.
Assessment description
In response to a simulated business scenario, you will read and respond by answering a set of written questions.
Procedure
1. Read the scenario below. Pay particular attention to diversity and networking issues and information about your role as Brisbane Branch Manager.
2. Review the JKL Industries simulated business documentation, including policies and procedures.
3. Read the questions in Section 2 related to the scenario.
4. Create a document with written answers to the questions.
5. Submit a print or electronic version of your document containing answers to the questions in accordance with the specifications set out below.
Specifications
You must submit:
- Submit a print or electronic document containing answers to the case-study-based questions
Your assessor will be looking for evidence of your ability to:
- apply policies to ensure that the organisation's cultural diversity and ethical values are adhered to
- provide leadership through your own behaviour, including:
? professional conduct that promotes trust with internal and external contacts
? adjusting your own interpersonal communication style to meet the organisation's cultural diversity and ethical environment
- plan for and manage the use of networks to support identifiable outcomes for the team and the
organisation
- explain how systems, policies and procedures can support the development of effective work relationships, focusing on interpersonal styles, cultural and social sensitivity and networking
- explain the relevance of legislation for managing effective workplace relationships
- interact with others through adapting your personal communication style to build trust and positive working relationships, and to support others' adjustments in practice and culture
- get the work done through:
? taking personal responsibility for planning networking activities for yourself and others, taking into account capabilities, efficiencies and effectiveness
? developing plans for networking activities with strategic importance
Scenario - JKL Industries
JKL Industries overview
JKL Industries is an Australian-owned company, selling forklifts, small trucks and spare parts to industry. They also have a division that leases forklifts and small trucks.
The company's head office is in Sydney and has branches in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
Change
After 12 years in business, focusing on forklifts and small trucks, JKL Industries has negotiated the sales rights to a range of medium and large trucks from an overseas supplier. This opportunity will provide JKL Industries with an advantage in range over its competitors.
Sales results over the past five years have indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales, which have averaged 10% sales growth per annum. The rental market has been in decline for the past three years due to the reduced costs of these vehicles and some taxation benefits to industries who purchase these vehicles.
Taking the sales rights opportunity will, however, entail some significant changes, including significant changes to the current organisational structure. The company will reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market, in which forces such as competition and consumer choice reduce potential profitability.
In accordance with the organisation's values, JKL Industries intends (to the extent feasible) to recruit from within the company and up-skill or re-skill existing employees presently working in rentals who wish to remain with the company.
Given the company's previous history of employee grievances over pay and conditions and current plans to restructure, JKL Industries has identified poor communications and an organisational climate of conflict as a risk to business goals.
Moving forward, the organisation intends to build and maintain a positive organisational culture, reduce risk and achieve organisational goals through:
- developing an effective policy framework for managing internal communications and consultation, in accordance with organisational objectives, business ethics, and compliance requirements
- communicating and building support for organisational initiatives and objectives
- managing information flow to:
? provide managers and employees with at-hand information to perform their work responsibilities
? communicate ideas for improvement (top-down and bottom-up)
? facilitate feedback both to and from employees and management on relevant work performance and outcomes of consultation
Diversity issues
An internal management review of the organisation has uncovered the following issues:
- Poor leadership on the part of managers and low accountability and sense of personal responsibility for results on the part of both managers and employees.
- A lack of interpersonal skills, cultural sensitivity and emotional intelligence among managers and employees.
- A lack of trust.
- A lack of awareness of relevant policy and legislative requirements for diversity and business ethics.
- A culture of chronic conflict, characterised by:
? resistance to change
? hostility
? passive aggression
? avoidance of conflict, while leaving issues unresolved
? issues that are apparently resolved and agreed flaring up repeatedly
Networking issues
As a manager, you have noted:
- A lack of awareness of internal and external networking opportunities.
- A lack of understanding of the purpose/s of networking and its relation to individual, team and organisation-wide goals.
- A lack of understanding of how to take advantage of networking opportunities through use of interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.
- No internal communities or social platforms through which functional or cross-functional teams can discuss professional issues, and share insights and perspectives.
- Brisbane Branch Manager
You are the new manager of the Brisbane branch. Over the last two weeks you have familiarised yourself with the organisational environment and the characteristics and needs of your team.
You have read the consultant's report on proposed communication and consultation strategies and are 100 per cent behind the approach. The strategy will need to be applied to supporting diversity and facilitating better networking.
The JKL Industries Brisbane Branch Manager reports to the Operations General Manager.
Section 2: Questions
For the following scenario-based questions, put yourself in the position of the new Brisbane Branch Manager and answer the questions accordingly.
Question 1:
An employee has complained to you that some members of your team have not made any effort to accommodate non-Christians in this year's Christmas celebrations. The employee feels excluded and disappointed that an opportunity to bring the team together has instead divided the team along religious lines.
How would you address the employee's complaint?
In your written response to the above question:
- Describe at least two pieces of JKL Industries' policy or procedure that conflict with the team's behaviour towards the employee.
- Identify the relevance of one piece of relevant legislation.
- Describe how policies and processes can help to promote cultural diversity, ethical values and relationship-building.
- Describe any changes or additions you would make to JKL Industries' policies, processes or communications to further promote cultural diversity and ethical values.
- Describe how you would approach the team and any suggestion you would make to resolve the issue fairly and consistent with organisational policy.
Question 1:
To respond to the issue described in question one, you have decided to meet with the team to directly address the behaviour.
How would you prepare for and approach this meeting?
In your written response to the above question:
- Describe what potential problems you anticipate from the team.
- Describe how you would confront the team with their unacceptable behaviour, while maintaining trust and avoiding the impression of taking sides.
- Describe your standard or default communication style. What communication style would you consider adopting for this scenario?
- Describe a previous situation in which you adapted your communication style to meet the needs of others in the workplace or achieve a work goal.
Question 3:
As a manager new to the Brisbane area, you feel that you need to develop contacts with people internal to the organisation, such as managers, and external people, such as suppliers, business networks, managers' networks and mentors. How would you approach networking to achieve goals?
In your written response to the above question:
- Describe how networking with internal and external people could help you build positive relationships to achieve organisational and professional goals. What networking or networks would you suggest?
- Describe a situation in which you joined a network to achieve an organisational or professional development goal. Describe the network. How did you build stronger relationships within the network? What was the result of the networking for you and your organisation?
Question 4:
Your sales team is relatively new and inexperienced. You feel that they would benefit from networking. Sam and Alex need to build relationships with customers, suppliers and fellow salespeople to achieve personal development and organisational goals.
- Sam: Has issues with internal and external suppliers who consistently miss delivery dates and won't cooperate in keeping costs down for customers. Consequently, he has issues with his own customers; he feels suppliers don't understand his needs as a client. Sam finds conflict really hard and avoids getting angry, hoping the problem will resolve itself. Sam feels he would benefit from hearing how others negotiate terms with suppliers. Right now, however, he has very little respect for them as they've let him down.
- Alex: Has issues with customers who obviously don't understand a good deal when they see it. He's also tired of chasing ‘deadbeats' for settling accounts on credit. Alex would like to know how others deal with such ‘fools' and still maintain a sense of self-respect.
How would you lead Sam and Alex to realise their professional goals and related organisational goals over the next three months?
Using the template provided below:
1. Prepare a plan to develop and maintain internal and external relationships, including a schedule for the next three months.
2. Include at least two activities for each salesperson.
3. Provide a rationale for each activity.
Assessment Task 3: Role Play - Dispute resolution guidance session
Performance objective
For this task, you will demonstrate the skills and knowledge required to manage difficulties and conflicts in order to achieve positive work outcomes
Assessment description
Using the simulated business information provided, and in response to a scenario, you will plan and conduct a role-play in which you provide a colleague with guidance regarding a dispute between the colleague and a member of their team. You will then develop an action plan in consultation with the colleague.
Procedure
1. Read the scenario and role-play information below.
2. Review and familiarise yourself with the JKL Industries simulated business documentation, including strategic plans and operational plans. Note what the organisation does, how it does it, what its goals and objectives are, and who its stakeholders and customers are.
3. Plan to lead a role-played guidance session for a peer manager in response to the scenario.
4. Complete the first activity in the action plan template provided in Section 2.
5. Plan how you will:
a. Build trust with your colleague through assuming a calm, professional and emotionally receptive attitude and demeanor.
b. Adjust your personal communication style appropriately to meet the needs (both emotional and technical) of your colleague.
c. Discuss relevant grievance policies and procedures for resolving conflict in accordance with organisational and legislative requirements.
d. Discuss strategies for identifying root causes of conflict and for resolving the conflict.
e. Collaborate with your colleague to develop an action plan (completing the one from Section 2 you have already begun to implement by leading this session), including at least three actions your colleague to take to resolve the issue with their employee.
6. Arrange a time and place with your assessor to participate in the role-play.
7. Perform your role-play in accordance with the specifications set out below.
Specifications
You must:
- participate in a guidance session role-play
- submit an action plan
Your assessor will be looking for evidence of your ability to:
- provide leadership through your own behaviour, including:
? professional conduct that promotes trust with internal and external contacts
? adjusting own interpersonal communication style to meet the organisation's cultural diversity and ethical environment
- develop and/or implement processes and systems to manage difficulties, including:
? identifying and resolving conflicts and other difficulties according to organisational policies and procedures
? planning how to address difficulties
? providing guidance, counselling and support to assist co-workers in resolving their work difficulties
- explain and discuss procedures for conflict resolution
- discuss relevant legislation
- interact with others through:
? adapting your personal communication style to model behaviour and build trust and positive working relationships
? playing a lead role in situations requiring effective collaboration
- get the work done through:
? taking responsibility for planning in collaboration with others
? developing action plans
- demonstrate writing skills through preparing action plans that incorporate appropriate vocabulary, grammatical structure and conventions
Scenario - JKL Industries
JKL Industries overview
JKL Industries is an Australian-owned company, selling forklifts, small trucks and spare parts to industry. They also have a division that leases forklifts and small trucks.
The company's head office is in Sydney and has branches in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra.
Change
After 12 years in business, focusing on forklifts and small trucks, JKL Industries has negotiated the sales rights to a range of medium and large trucks from an overseas supplier. This opportunity will provide JKL Industries with an advantage in range over its competitors.
Sales results over the past five years have indicated strong growth in forklift and truck sales, which have averaged 10% sales growth per annum. The rental market has been in decline for the past three years due to the reduced costs of these vehicles and some taxation benefits to industries who purchase these vehicles.
Taking the sales rights opportunity will, however, entail some significant changes, including significant changes to the current organisational structure. The company will reposition itself to focus solely on retail sales and service and exit the rentals market, in which forces such as competition and consumer choice reduce potential profitability.
In accordance with the organisation's values, JKL Industries intends (to the extent feasible) to recruit from within the company and up-skill or re-skill existing employees presently working in rentals who wish to remain with the company.
Given the company's previous history of employee grievances over pay and conditions and current plans to restructure, JKL Industries has identified poor communications and an organisational climate of conflict as a risk to business goals.
Moving forward, the organisation intends to build and maintain a positive organisational culture, reduce risk and achieve organisational goals through:
- developing an effective policy framework for managing internal communications and consultation, in accordance with organisational objectives, business ethics, and compliance requirements
- communicating and building support for organisational initiatives and objectives
- managing information flow to:
? provide managers and employees with at-hand information to perform their work responsibilities
? communicate ideas for improvement (top-down and bottom-up)
? facilitate feedback both to and from employees and management on relevant work performance and outcomes of consultation
Role-play information: HR Business Partner
You are an HR Business Partner working in the JKL Industries Brisbane branch. You report directly to the HR Manager in the Sydney Head Office. As an employee of the Brisbane branch, you also report to the Brisbane Branch Manager. You work to provide information to employees, team leaders and managers at the branch, facilitate service delivery through HR centres of excellence, such as compliance and training and development, and partner with managers to assist them in strategising, workforce planning and development, and in meeting the needs of their customers, employees and the business as a whole.
A peer manager (from Rentals) has made an appointment to come to you about an employee grievance.
Employee grievance
A rental employee of the Brisbane branch is concerned about plans to restructure the business. The employee is extremely angry and feels that they:
- will definitely lose their job as a result of the restructure
- will not be given the opportunity to retrain
They would like to formally complain that their manager has not provided rental employees with opportunities to retrain.
In addition, the employee feels they must be underpaid because they know people in the same job in the same industry who are making much more. They don't understand the basis of their pay or conditions.
Finally, the employee is currently organising other rental and sales employees for a possible strike. They intend to pressure their union into supporting and publicising the strike.
You know that the Rentals Manager is very concerned about the impact of the grievance on team cohesion and, potentially, the goals and objectives of the organisation. You also suspect that the manager will be hurt or angry themselves, as they have indicated their sincere desire to improve employee relations within their team through better communication and relationship-building.
The trouble is that while the manager may have the best intentions, they are relatively inexperienced and may not be approaching the conflict with the most productive mindset. And they may not have all the conflict resolution tools, tactics and strategies that you are equipped with as a more experienced HR specialist.
In addition, you are aware of the following facts:
- JKL Industries' firm policy and intention is to retrain rental employees to retain talent (retraining is in JKL's interest).
- So far the employee has adhered to the grievance policy as intended by the organisation. The grievance procedure sets out a process whereby disputes are kept at the lowest level. Employees should take their grievance first to their immediate supervisor, which the employee has done. This gives managers the first opportunity to respond appropriately, which is only fair. The Rentals Manager now has an opportunity to resolve the dispute early.
- The employee is paid to the terms of the relevant modern award (MA000089 Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Services and Retail Award 2010), but that all employees will soon be able to negotiate possibly much better pay and conditions in upcoming enterprise bargaining.
In your meeting with the Rentals Manager to provide guidance, lead the meeting through the following stages:
1. greeting the manager
2. listening to their side
3. responding to the manager appropriately
4. working with the manager to come up with viable solutions
5. documenting activities in an action plan
You will also, as appropriate:
- listen to the manager: understand the facts as they see them and understand their feelings
- adopt an appropriate leadership/communication style
- be reflective, regulate your emotions, and refrain from reacting
- explain the facts as you understand them, including providing an explanation of the grievance policy, its benefit to the organisation, and the relevance of at least one piece of legislation
- help the manager to understand reasons for the grievance
? Note: Given the climate of fear and suspicion that has existed within JKL Industries, such a grievance may not be very unlikely. It is also possible that plain communications of facts and organisational intentions may have failed because of the underlying emotional work context. As such, the complaint should not necessarily be a cause of offense.
- using your knowledge of dispute resolution, collaborate with the manager to determine a series of at least three activities to resolve the conflict with the employee and complete an action plan (use the template provided in Appendix 2)
- offer to mediate in the dispute, if required, or help to provide assistance if it requires further escalation
Given the company's industrial relations history and restructure plans, and history of conflict and mistrust, contributing to positive employee relationship-building through assisting managers will constitute a key measure of your value to the organisation.