Group Dynamics
When discussing conflict in the
workplace, the best example that I can think of that I have been involved with
is that of my work as a lifeguard. I started lifeguarding at the age of 15 for
a neighborhood pool that was ran by a head manager who was very laid back. The job
was as easy as can be, it was kind of a show up whenever and get paid deal. Everything
was very lax about it, everyone loved working there and we were all really good
friends, it was kind of a madhouse too so we all had fun. Then of course the
head manager got fired after that summer because the pool that the neighborhood
was paying for was deteriorating quickly. So then they hired a new manager for
the next summer who was very much the opposite of the first manager. He was
very intense and very strict about work. That did not go over well with the
returning staff. A lot of people ended up quitting working there or started
working at other pools. I know this may seem very dramatic, but let me remind
you that the staff was made up of 15-17-year-old kids, so this seemed pretty
normal for everybody.
Anyway I stayed working at the pool for that
summer, and the head manager had made the two 18 year olds who worked at the
pool “shift managers.” This was the first time this position had ever been
created, and a lot of people got upset by it. This conflict was caused because the
two kids who got promoted were friends with the other workers before, and now they
were in charge of them. They made the staff do a bunch of stuff that they never
wanted to do, or had to do the year before (i.e. cleaning certain places we didn’t
want to clean, showing up early etc.). It was tough for the rest of staff to
get on board with this because they were against this new load of work at
first, and now that their friends were making them do it kind of upset some
people. It was tough for the returning staff to accept the new management, and it
was hard for the two guys who got promoted to manager to stay friends with the
rest of the staff while doing their job. It really put everyone working in a
really awkward position because we were a lot of young kids and were facing a
lot of stuff at work that we never thought we were going to have to deal with after
the previous years of working there.
Even though looking back on it, it
was pretty ridiculous for us to be upset with them, we were just kids and we didn’t
want to do work that we hadn’t had to do before. By the end of that first
summer everyone had realized that this was the way it was going to be, and
there was nothing we could do about it. Everyone started to complain less,
accept management, and do better work. I think that it just took time for
everything to resolve itself. We were kids who believed that we lucked out with
the best job in the world, and then felt that we had our carefree lifestyle ripped
from our hands. I stayed working at the pool for not only those two years, but
a third. For pretty much all of high school I worked there and it was a really
good experience. Everyone has their first job, and I’m glad that mine was at
that pool.
"it was kind of a madhouse too so we all had fun." This line needs further explanation and some of the rest of your story needs explanation as well. The first summer, when you said you were having a good time on the job, was the madhouse related to the pool deteriorating? You need to remember that as a reader, I wasn't there. You wrote, of course the manager got fired. Maybe it was obvious to you this would happen. If you want it to be obvious to the reader, you need to provide enough prior information to reach that conclusion.
ReplyDeleteThe other part of the story that is hard to understand is whether the head manager was actually doing things right, or if he went overboard, an excessive reaction to what had happened the year before. Reading this, I couldn't tell which it was.
I have a general sense that summer work like this for kids in their late teens should be partly fun and partly obligation. (I was a camp counselor after my first year in college, so I base what I say on that experience.) If the balance is off, that can impact the job negatively.
Now your story might be that to correct a poor situation and move to one that is better balanced, then some people might get upset because their expectations need to change but they don't want to make the adjustment. In that case, the hard feelings are inevitable, but if the new situation is reasonable people get over it. Was that the story in your case?
In my summer high school jobs, I have one instance very similar to this in which a change in administration brought out very poor work habits. Nearly half of the staff of the ice cream store I worked at quit once a new ownership was put in place. I feel as though the reason for the employees' unwillingness to work was partially because of management making stricter rules as well as overall laziness.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to what you described in your post, the employees enjoyed talking with each other, messing around and having a good time while working only when necessary. This behavior most likely lead to a change in management as a new owner came in and changed the rules that employees were supposed to operate by. We had to be focused on the job at all hours of our shifts and there was a checklist of daily jobs that had to be completed by each shift. Ultimately, many of the employees did not want to change their current manner of lackluster work and subsequently quit.
I believe both of our situations speak to the divide that often occurs between administrators and employees. As administrators hope to reach corporate goals, employees (in the case of summer high school jobs) only want to receive a decent pay check every two weeks.
I can also relate to your issue. When I was in high school I worked at a minor league baseball stadium as a concessions stand worker. We originally worked for Center Plate, a concession group, but then another group came in, though I cannot recall the companies name now. They took over the staff and we went under essentially. Within two months we were losing profit, people were quitting, hours were being cut, some were laid off, and the entire concession system fell apart.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it was not entirely managements fault. We as employees were all friends from high school and joked around a lot and it probably resulted in diminishing marginal returns for the concession companies. I believe the new company were not strict enough on their employees and turned too much of a blind eye. I believe administrators need to monitor and work with employees in order to achieve success. There cannot be a disconnect, if there is, productivity will diminish and conflict will result.