You work as a staff counsellor at a large company. The business specializes in finding both commercial and residential tenants for landlords, as well as matching landlords with tenants.
All staff work an eight-hour day from 9 am to 5.30 pm, with 30 minutes for lunch.
The Operations Manager has described the following situation to you:
Beryl is the Team Leader of the telemarketing group, responsible for:
- supervision and mentoring of a telemarketing team of eight
- outbound sales calls to real estate agents, property managers and landlords
- appointment setting for field sales teams
- inbound query resolution and customer service
- maintenance of all customer contacts in the Customer Relationship management system
Beryl, aged 62, has been with the company for 3 years. She was born in Australia. She has worked in sales most of her life. Beryl was hoping to retire at 60 but personal circumstances have meant she is continuing to work. Beryl is a very hard worker and achieves above the required results for signing up tenants and landlords.
One of the telemarketers that Beryl is responsible for is Yuko. Yuko is Japanese, aged 40 and has been in Australia for 2 years. She speaks good English and gets on with her team members, although she is generally quiet. She has always been very reliable with her attendance at work.
As the Operations Manager of the company and the overall manager of the team, you have noticed recently that there is tension between Beryl and Yuko.
You have noticed that Beryl often ignores Yuko or addresses her though another member of the team. You have also noticed Beryl whispering to other workers and you sense that this is in relation to Yuko.
Yuko’s work performance is suffering, and she is not making the required amount of daily calls to sign up new tenants and landlords. Yuko has also become more withdrawn recently and tends not to sit in the staff room anymore or attend staff social functions.
This situation is stressful. The team’s performance targets are not being met and the conflict within the team seems to be having an effect on other staff members, with sides being taken.
You have heard through another member of staff that Yuko feels that Beryl is racist, and that Beryl complains that she can’t understand Yuko’s accent and that she feels Yuko is never very enthusiastic about her work.
You would like to resolve this situation by getting Beryl and Yuko to understand each other’s perspectives and to manage their emotions at work. At this stage there are no options for moving either member of staff to another team.
Prepare and submit a report to your assessor by answering the following questions in Staff Emotional Intelligence Report Template.
Each of your answers should be approximately 1 paragraph in length.
- Based on a review of the case study, what do you think could be possible range of emotions that Yuko could be feeling? List at least five possibilities.
- Based on a review of the case study, what are the possible ranges of emotions that Beryl could be feeling? List at least five possibilities.
- Based on a review of the case study, what do you think could be the effect of the workplace situation on the manager and possible emotions they could be feeling? List at least five possibilities.
- Would you expect any cultural differences in emotions? Research differences between Australian and Japanese expressions of emotions and describe differences you identify. List at least two.
- During a meeting, what techniques would you use to ensure that Beryl and Yuko have the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings? List at least two.
- During a meeting, what techniques would you use to ensure that Beryl and Yuko have the opportunity to reflect on the effect of their behaviour and emotions? List at least two.
- What advice could you give to Beryl and Yuko to assist them in self-managing their emotions? List at least five tips.
- Document a step-by-step approach for resolving the workplace situation. As a guide, you should list between 6 to 8 steps.
- Prepare questions (at least five) to ask Beryl and Yuko at the meeting.
The questions should help you to find out more about the situation and their thoughts and feelings.
Ensure that your questions are open questions to encourage discussion.
Your questions should ensure that you:
- Identify information about the workplace situation
- Provide opportunities for Yuko and Beryl to express their thoughts and feelings?
- Meet with staff.
You are required to meet with both of the staff members (roleplayed by your assessor).
Prior to the meetings, you should also consider appropriate strategies for addressing the issue, bearing in mind that you will be provided with additional information that you will need to consider at the meeting.
You will be assessed using the checklist starting on the following page, so ensure that you are familiar with the requirements before beginning the meeting.
You must also demonstrate throughout each meeting:
- Empathy and acknowledgement of others’ perspectives
- Active listening
- Remaining calm and unbiased
- Your ability to respond to varying levels of cultural expression
- Showing flexibility and adaptability e.g. being open to different ideas about actions to address the workplace situation
- Providing encouragement to staff to assist them to develop their emotional intelligence, including self-management of emotions
Use the information provided through the meetings to consider appropriate actions to be taken to ensure that the workplace outcome of resolving this issue is achieved.
At each meeting you will need to complete all of the following:
- Briefly explain the purpose of meeting
- Find out more about each staff member’s side of the story by asking the questions you have prepared.
- Respond appropriately to each staff member’s emotional state and provide opportunities for Beryl/Yuko to express their thoughts and feelings through the questions you prepared and use of active listening techniques.
- Demonstrate non-verbal communication skills including nodding and smiling as appropriate.
- Acknowledge each staff member’s perspective.
- Explore the impact of each staff member’s behaviour and emotions on the other staff member and the rest of the team.
- Discuss each staff member’s strengths and their contribution to the workplace.
- Through discussion, identify appropriate emotional intelligence techniques, including self-management of emotions, for managing behaviour and for building effective workplace relationships.
- Through discussion with each staff member, decide on actions for addressing the issue, taking into account both staff members’ needs and emotions, as well as identified strengths. In discussing actions, you should show that you have taken into account the additional information provided at the meeting and can demonstrate flexibility and adaptability in considering a solution.
