ABSTRACT
Personality conflicts are most often responsible for unrest in a workplace. The manager must promote better relationships among employees to avoid conflicts. There are four ways in which someone can view a relationship. Eric L. Berne, a psychiatrist and author of the bestselling book Games People Play (1964), developed a method to analyze relationships in social situations. This method is called “Transactional Analysis” and, to illustrate, let's suppose:
A worker comes in late every day and, when confronted by his supervisor, comments that the supervisor is also late for work daily. In this case, both worker and supervisor have a negative view of each other.
A worker cannot complete an assignment without continuous guidance. This worker has a negative view of his own abilities, but places a positive faith in his supervisor to guide him. This person lacks self-esteem and needs continuous guidance, reassurance, and supervision. His supervisor should help him to become more independent.
A worker is given an assignment and questions his supervisor about its purpose. The supervisor responds with, “Because I said so.” The supervisor's attitude toward his subordinate is like that of a parent toward an immature child. The worker may resent this supervisor's attitude and lose enthusiasm for the projects at hand. This scenario shows that the supervisor thinks positively of himself, but has a negative view of his workers. A manager, however, must strive to instill a sense of pride and accomplishment in his or her workers. It is a costly error to treat staff as if they are children who can't understand the company's goals.
Finally, a supervisor might say to a worker, “You've requested the next holiday off but I need to explain why I can't give it to you at this time.” The employee might respond, “I understand and I'll work that day, but I'm disappointed since I expected that day off.” They both might then agree to a compromise, such as the employee receiving the next two holidays off. In this type of relationship, both the employee and employer have a positive attitude toward each other.
