CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Under this policy, a conflict is defined as any event, condition, rule, or practice where
the employee believes she or he has experienced a violation of civil rights, has been
treated unfairly on the job. This covers a wide range of circumstances from the
work place, the environment, or policies or practices that interfere with or hinder
performance. A conflict may also deal with an attitude, a statement, or an opinion
held by a manager or a fellow employee.
A successful company and satisfied employees are synonymous. Employee conflicts
are of concern, regardless of whether the issues are large or small. To provide for
prompt and efficient evaluation of and response to conflicts or grievances,
Waséyabek Federal Services (WFS) has established a conflict resolution procedure for
all employees. It will be the Company's policy to give consideration to every
employee's opinion. There will be no recrimination or retaliation against anyone for
presenting unresolved problems between employees or between employees and their
supervisors.
OPEN DOOR POLICY
WFS promotes its employees' needs to discuss and resolve problems and concerns
as they occur. Part of this commitment is encouraging an "open door" policy in
which frank questions, problems, complaints, or suggestions can be answered
promptly and thoughtfully by Company supervisors and management.
Although WFS employees should be freely able to discuss concerns with any
management-level staff member, the following procedure introduces guidelines that
progressively involve those supervisory employees who are more closely associated
with the issue.
PROBLEMS BETWEEN CO-WORKERS
When an employee has a conflict or other problem with another co-worker, where
possible, the employee should discuss the problem with the co-worker first to
attempt to satisfy the issue quickly. If this is not practical or if, having discussed the
problem, the issue remains, the employee's immediate supervisor should be
consulted. If this does not settle the matter, employees may go to the department
manager or the Human Resources Department. Any issue in which an employee
believes she or he has experienced a violation of civil rights may contact the Human
Resources Department immediately.
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PROBLEMS WITH AN IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR
An employee who has a conflict with an immediate supervisor is, again, encouraged
to discuss the problem with that supervisor first. If this is not practical or if, having
discussed the problem, the issue remains, the employee may go to his or her
supervisor's supervisor. The employee should not feel intimidated by seeking
resolution at a higher level.
During this sequence, the employee may meet privately with each level of
management without fear of retribution by any supervisory personnel. However, if
the issue is not resolved satisfactorily at any one level then, whenever possible, a
conference between the employee, her or his immediate supervisor, and the next
ranking supervisor/manager should be encouraged.
RESOLVING OTHER ISSUES
Employees should first seek to resolve other concerns, whether they involve a
Company practice, a work-related problem, a problem with the physical work
environment, etc., at the most immediate supervisory level, whenever possible.
Otherwise, the same procedure as that mentioned above should be followed.
WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION
If, after having discussed the problem with the immediate supervisor, the resolution
is not satisfactory to the employee, he or she should document the conflict,
explaining the present conflict, the desired result, and the proposed
solution/suggestion. Times, dates, place, and, if applicable, witnesses should be
included. This should be submitted to the employee's file, to the immediate
supervisor, and to the next level of management. The employee should also include
a summary of the communications with his or her immediate supervisor.
RESOLUTION CONFERENCE
The supervisor's immediate manager will review the conflict/problem and schedule a
conference. This may, at his or her discretion, be with or without the presence of
the immediate supervisor. At this conference, the employee should feel free to
openly discuss the issue and substantiate the reasons for a resolution; the senior
management member will consider this input and render a decision. In most cases,
the matter will be resolved at this stage.
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The sole purpose of this conflict resolution procedure is to give each employee and
WFS a chance to clear up any problem, complaint, friction, or grievance and to
evaluate employee suggestions. In order for this policy to work, each employee and
each member of management must be willing to work collaboratively to resolve the
conflict.
HUMAN RESOURCES' INVOLVEMENT
Conflict resolution should be achieved within the employee's department whenever
possible. If, however, an employee does not feel that the issue has been satisfactorily
addressed at the department level, or is not comfortable addressing the problem
directly with the department manager, then that employee may discuss the conflict
with the Human Resources Department. The Human Resources Representative may
initially review the problem with the employee independently, or in conjunction with
the manager.
Finally, if the problem, complaint, or conflict is still not resolved to the employee's
satisfaction, he or she may ask the Human Resources Representative to take the
concern still further by presenting it to the CEO. However, this can only happen
after the issue has been fully discussed with the appropriate supervisors, including
the department manager. After reviewing the merits of the request, the CEO will
determine whether he or she will intervene with a final and binding decision.
The purpose of a conflict resolution procedure is to ensure that all employees are
heard and that a potentially disruptive work environment is not created. At the same
time, it must be recognized that there may be instances where regardless how much
effort is made to resolve a conflict, an employee may not be satisfied with the
outcome, or that there was no conflict found.
