Power & Politics Conflict Resolution
As a general foreman of the process department, Ralph Langley motived his employees to get satisfaction on the job. Most of the managers considered the company as the center of everything, they used their employees to satisfy their sense of power and prestige. When the employees thought they were used by the company, they would resent it. Therefore, Langley worked hard to make the employees believe that their works are important and represent a great source of satisfaction. In the unclear tube assembly room, most of the employees expressed their passion and interest in the jobs directly. It also turned out that if employees were motivated, their productivity greatly exceeded their potential.
Langley developed a close relationship with employees by building mutual trust. When he took over the department, he told his employees to forget the standers. He tried to make the correct direction to the room by convincing everyone to work for American Radiatronics but not for management. He conveyed the expectation to the employees was to make a better tube and continuously learn to make it better and better. He motivated employees to do their best to arrange their jobs according to their knowledge. He defined his job was to help to solved problems if they need help but not to tell them what they should do. They didn’t trust him until they understood what Langley’s meaning. He tried his best to treat every employee fair in the room by being careful and insistent that they’re given credit for everything they do. Because they built trust with each other, the employees were honest to admit their mistakes and eager to learn how to do it better.
At the nuclear tube assembly room, the women could talk about anything that no matter they related to work or not. However, politics was a topic they were reluctant to talk about because it caused a few scrapes in the past. Furthermore, they always avoided talking about things that could affect the mood in the working environment. They cared about each other’s feelings and did not want to hurt anyone. If there is something that made one of them very upset, the other would avoid talking about it at that moment and laughed over it later. Being friendly and cooperate, they contributed a good working atmosphere in the room and high efficiency in their jobs.
To Langley, work standards could be seen as a measurement that served as a guidepost on the working process but had no inherent validity of its own. He said, “Work is a way of life, and we’ve got to be getting something out of it as people. ” He suggested them to use the standards as a guide, and the energy, drive, and interest should determine how people work. He believed that motivation should be gotten from the employees. He didn’t use his budget to control employees, instead, he allowed employees to cut their operating expenses by themselves. When they knew something would be charged against their budget, they won’t allow it. They got the satisfaction from working on a successful, profitable activity. Langley
Employees were not forbidden to make personal differences, but everyone must adapt to the team and become part of the team. The production schedule in departments is very important to the business, and it would not be tolerated. Therefore, people from this department should get along with one another. Langley would try to help people whose relationship was bad in the team, but if the situation had not been improved, he would fire them without choice. When working as a team, cohesion was a very powerful force. Gilen said, “In the last part of the month, everyone works a little harder, everyone tries to get her part of the work out of the way a little faster and on to the next girl. This is what makes this department work together so well. ” In the unclear tube assembly room, everyone was willing to cooperate and felt the same about the production schedule.
Before Langley led the department, it was considered to be a problem department because its production was low, costs were too high and always delayed deliveries. Top managers and supervisors lack adequate knowledge to understand and solve the basic technical problems, and employees have a few variable operations even though they were older than average tending to seek satisfaction from an ordering operation. Langley identified the situation, and he led the department in his way. He involved in the operations of the department but did not over interfere with them. He came to the rooms of the department every day and had a short conversation with each one and participated in various technical discussions. He set a specific desk to welcome employees to ask questions. When he interacted with his subordinates, he was serious and grave, although he would break into smiles often. Langley usually solved problems with friendliness and confident personal interests.
Langley fairly treated his employees that earned a good reputation. When the nuclear tube assembly room has improved its performance, it required a large number of layoffs. The worker numbers needed to reduce from fourteen to eight. Langley decided to retain employees based on qualifications and considering the diversity of work at the same time. Employees praised him and affirm his leadership. They said he was helping to solve problems, fair to treat each employee, and friendly to all of them. They felt happy about his promotion but could not bear to leave him. Mac Donald said, “I know I'm not very bright and it doesn't take much for
anyone to make me feel really stupid, but Ralph has never done that. He's always
made me feel that I've got ideas that are useful. ” In the nuclear tube assembly room, everyone has different personalities, and Langley made all of them feel that they were important here.
