Relationship in a Work Place

Having a social environment in a workplace is very essential not only for the employees but also to the success of the work. Anand et al (2010) point out that most of the full-time employees spend most of their time with the co-workers than they do with their families and spouses. As a result, allowing a good quality relationship to build between the employees themselves as well as their employer is very vital. Having a bad relationship in a work place does not only discourage the workers but it also breaks the trust between them and the employers consequently resulting in poor performance of the organization. This paper presents what can be done by an organization manager to develop a good relationship between workers with a poor relationship between themselves and the manager so as to increase the productivity, sense of teamwork, and boost morale. It focuses on the necessity of a good working relationship in relation to several factors that can lead to the achievement of the employee’s responsibilities in the workplace.

Necessity of an Effective Relationship in a Workplace

A team conflict can destroy value or add it. A conflict within a workplace can at times leads to respectful debate that yields agreed-upon mutual solutions that are much better than the first one. However, the conflict can also lead to a bad relationship between the members of the workplace thus killing the stifling innovation and productivity (Vidyarthi et al., 2010). Many types of research demonstrate that the perception of employees on equitable treatment, fairness, and good relationship is the engagement, performance, and retention driver to the success of a workplace (Colbert, Bono, & Purvanova, 2016). According to Anand et al. (2010), bad relationships and unfairness is corrosive and causes devastating impacts on the employees’ performance of an organization. In their research, Wang and Sung (2016) point out that bad relationship in an organization leads to different negative impacts on the employers and the management, employees, and the organization. These include;

• Creating a climate of distrust and hostility
• Eroding the employee’s performance and commitment to the organizational duties
• Leading to the reduction of the willingness of workers to give assistance to each other
• Increases the activity of unionization
• Leading to counterproductive working behavior that is detrimental to the success of the workplace.

Organizations in an engaged workforce also need to take a keen interest in fair reward allocation to outperform their competitors on a different matrix of management and performance.  As this is done, the employees will have reduced work stress that will eventually save money for the organization. It leads to improved physical health and psychological instability that means better focus and fewer absentees (Kim, Neill, & Cho, 2016). It will also reduce turnover intentions, and hefty cost of a worker replacement can be avoided through better payment of the employees. However, there are many positive results that can be achieved in a workplace when good relationship is fostered between employees.

In their study, Baillien et al. (2016) recommends that good relationship in a workplace leads to higher rates of employee retention. When the works feel connected with the organization whether in sharing same vision with the management or feeling to be a family with the coworkers, they will are less likely to seek employment in other areas. quality friendship takes time to build and the prospect of starting all over again at times convince employees to stay at their workplaces and feel part of the family outside home. All together, it adds up to a common result of increased productivity as happy employees are more productive. Fernet and Austin (2013) also supports the idea as they note that by feeling a strong connection with the workplace co-workers, the employees will naturally try harder in keeping the workplace going and growing to higher heights.

Good relationship also leads to improved teamwork since they know and understand each other well. For example, it is a common thing that new members in a workplace tend to be isolated from the members of the workplace get to know them really. Additionally, several employees who barely speak will take a longer time to effectively bond and participate as a team in their duties until they open up and positively get along with each other. Conversely, co-workers who already respect, know, and like each other tend to be willing to collaborate for the positive results of their responsibilities. In such conditions of good relationship, Vidyarthi et al. (2010), even the welfare of the employees are taken care of as they tend to be concerned in case of a need among their fellow co-workers.

Action of Improving Good Relationships in a Workplace

In the aim of preventing or finding solutions to bad relationships in a workplace, it is necessary that an organization designs concise and clear mission strategies, rules, and responsibilities within the organization. When this is done, a manager needs to ensure that all the employees have a copy of the statements so as to help them know what is required of them while in the organization. Such a step will prevent possible conflicts between the management and the employees and prevent possible bad relationships that can occur according to Tai, Narayanan, and McAllister, (2012). Discussing how the responsibilities and mission of the organization fits the personal values of the employees is important and is the sole responsibility of the management. The manager should ensure regular staff meetings are held so as to highlight regular company activities and how they are expected to work towards upholding the mission. In this manner, the employees will be motivated to work towards a common goal with openness and commitment as Toegel and Brasseux (2016) report in their study on effective working relationship.

Disparate and destructive opinions are not the only major cause of conflicts and bad relationships. Wang and Sung (2016) points out that most destructive relationship in a workplace stems from factors such as personality, race, gender, age, and responsibilities among other factors. The conventional approach of a leader to work through such issues before they result in clashes or conflicts is to respond to such matters together with the team at lower levels when they can still be handled. When they are not addressed in time, Baillien et al. (2016) denote that they can allow frustrations making it very difficult to restore trust and reset negative impressions. Finding resolutions to issues between the workers hence requires keen investigations as well as quick response depending on the condition of the conflicts that creates bad relationships between the co-workers (Colbert, Bono, & Purvanova, 2016).

For instance, in the case of a disagreement between colleagues, a leader needs to set aside time and call the individuals involved for a talk to understand the source of the conflict between them and advice on the most appropriate way possible. The leader only needs to learn effective conflict-prevention skills to be able to facilitate discussions in forums such as staff meetings etc. Such conferences that bring together the team helps in strengthening the relationship between them as it gives the employees a platform to share their ideas and ask clarifying and non-judgmental questions. It thus improves the interpersonal communication skills and is essential for winning confidence and trust between them and the management as pointed out by Deluliis and Flinko (2016). Their study shows that the employees can be hesitant to open up, and it is the responsibility of a leader to ease everyone by being the first person to share voluntarily. With time, the participants will proceed to very superficial disclosures and into deeper discussions as they offer their responses as they listen to others. Shin et al. (2014) support that this will promote self-awareness promotes better cultural diversity understanding, as well as networking among their leaders and colleagues.

According to Kalshoven and Boon (2012) a good relationship in a workplace thrives when individuals feel comfortable as part of the team in every responsibility. Such relationships can be achieved through both informal and formal team building activities, company oriented outings, and team-based charitable activities. In the process, trust and respect amongst supervisors, co-workers, and staff-leads promote innovation, collaboration, and efficiency in the workplace. In their study, Zapf and Gross (2012) also recommends that regularly communicating group expectations, setting achievable standards, as well as emphasizing on the roles of each employee and their importance leads to successful relationships. For example, maintaining the relationship between managers and staff requires the emphasis on a precious and clear two-way communication. It makes them feel as crucial contributors who are respected in the process of achieving the final product or service of the company, hence promoting the ethical responsibilities of the management in the workplace (Fernet, & Austin, 2013).

Conclusions

To sum up, a good relationship in a work environment is vital both to the employees and the management of a workplace as they are the primary driving forces of every responsibility and goal to be achieved in the workplace. A good relationship promotes openness, positive attitude to one another, trust, and understanding so that all the members can work together in harmony. However, bad relationships support the lack of commitment to the goals of duties, mistrust, and poor performance among other negative impacts. As a leader in a workplace, it is necessary to ensure that there is a good working relationship between the employees and well as the management.

References

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