Commercial Laundry: Edward Arzouian, Bates Troy Inc., Binghamton, N.Y.
Regarding “conflicts” between younger and older employees, I would begin by saying at our facility, we apparently are fortunate that we have not had “intergenerational” issues or conflicts.
This can probably be attributed to the fact that we employ many extended family units. We have numerous mothers and fathers working with sons and daughters. We have grandparents and grandchildren working together. So, there is a great deal of mutual respect.
Another factor working in our favor is that our plant is in a mixed-use, residential area. Many employees walk to work and live in the immediate neighborhood, so they know each other in and out of work. They’re neighbors.
That being said, our employee handbook, which is 60 pages long, provides guidelines and policies as to what is expected of our employees in terms of behavior and conduct and what is not acceptable. It also outlines disciplinary measures should conflicts or undesirable behavior occur.
Obviously, there are many different types of conflict, some far more serious than others. Occasionally we will have a “conflict” over the type of music being played on our plantwide speaker system or how loud it is being played. We solved that by locking the cabinet containing the equipment. Easy enough fix.
Any type of physical conflict between employees usually results in the immediate termination of employment of one or both employees. We have not found that type of conflict to occur between younger and older employees.
High on everyone’s concern is conflict in terms of harassment and sexual harassment. We have a zero-tolerance policy for any form of harassment or sexual harassment, and all employees are required to work in a manner that prevents harassment or sexual harassment in the workplace.
We conduct a prompt, thorough and confidential investigation that ensures due process for all parties, whenever management receives a complaint about sexual harassment.
Promptness is an important component of handling any type of conflict. Problems should not be allowed to linger and escalate. Ideally, issues and problems should be dealt with early. All employees are encouraged to report any harassment or behaviors that violate this policy.
We provide all employees with a complaint form to report harassment and file complaints. Managers and supervisors are required to report any complaint that they receive, or any harassment that they observe, to human resources.
As is often the case, New York state has created its own requirements with regard to mandated, authorized, annual and documented sexual harassment training, which in effect includes harassment and conflicts that could be seen as harassment.
To quote its official online page, “Every employer in New York state is required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training. An employer that does not use the model training developed by the Department of Labor and Division of Human Rights must ensure that the training that they use meets or exceeds the following minimum standards.” The site goes on to list those many standards.
To sum up, to avoid or handle conflicts, whether intergenerational or otherwise, have a robust and comprehensive code of conduct and policy and procedures in your employee handbook. Deal with complaints or observed undesirable behavior promptly, fairly, and in accordance with your written policy.
Consulting Services: Matthew Alexander, Pertl & Alexander LLC, Manlius, N.Y.
Conflicts between younger and older employees can be effectively addressed by training and applying best management practices. These include clearly defining responsibilities and expectations, measuring performance, recognizing seniority (length of service), enforcing policy and performance expectations, completing timely and thoughtful employee reviews, and facilitating feedback from employees.
While the cause of conflict or misunderstanding between younger and older employees may be different than conflict arising for other reasons, the same management practices can effectively resolve such friction and help create a more cohesive and collaborative workforce.
Training associates regarding clearly defined job responsibilities, procedures, performance expectations and best operating practices “levels the playing field” by ensuring associates and management are aligned on expectations, performance measurement and effective communications protocol. This process includes creating or updating job descriptions, publishing best operating and production practices, and conducting employee meetings and training sessions.
Empowering employee teams to address issues, such as safety, can produce recommendations for improvement, build teamwork, enhance communications and create employee buy-in.
Effective supervision should include identifying conflicts between employees and interviewing the parties to determine the cause and scope of the conflicts. In the event such conflict is the result of a misunderstanding of responsibilities or expectations, supervisors should refer to published job descriptions and operating policies and instruct employees to be in compliance with them.
Occasionally, notwithstanding robust documentations, an operations issue or conflict will develop that exposes discrepancy in documentation or an issue that requires better clarification or that isn’t addressed. In these cases, as part of the resolution process, existing documentation should be updated or amended accordingly.
Ensuring employees understand what is expected of them, are trained to accomplish the task, and are managed according to identical, transparent standards, creates an environment that is less likely to have conflicts between employees and a platform to resolve misunderstandings. If an employee’s failure to follow policies or meet expectations is the source of a conflict, timely review and corrective action include coaching the associate to meet expectations when necessary, and commencing verbal, written, and final warnings as necessary.
Transparency in the posting of work schedules and advancement opportunities ensures employees of a level playing field and helps reduce potential conflicts. Specifically, the most senior employees should have first choice of shift schedules they are qualified for and, providing employees are equally qualified, employees with greater seniority should receive first opportunity for promotion.
Enforcement of policies and managing performance expectations helps resolve potential conflicts by ensuring associates are treated equally, thereby reducing hostilities over favoritism.
Conflicts between younger and older employees could result from younger employees producing at a higher rate of productivity, creating tension with older associates. For example, if a younger associate is feeding over 1,000 pieces per hour and it’s creating friction with an older employee unable to achieve as much, if the production requirement is 900 items per hour, managing the younger associate to produce the specified requirement may be a solution.
Holding timely, periodic employee performance reviews and using such reviews to provide clear and specific guidance helps employees foster effective teamwork and improve communications, thereby dissipating conflicts.
Clearly communicating expectations, managing to those expectations and addressing deficiencies in outcomes in a timely, transparent and evenhanded way will facilitate harmony and cohesiveness of the workforce—young, old and otherwise.
Click HERE to read Part 1 with thoughts from linen supply, uniform/workwear manufacturing and equipment/supply distribution experts.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Matt Poe at [email protected].
