Building Common Ground and Trust Using Evidence

Building Common Ground and Trust Using Evidence

The main issue in the case is about how ABC and its employee, Kareem, can build common trust with the objective of attaining performance standards. While Kareem’s manager is entitled to ensure performance standards are met, he needs to be mindful of Kareem’s religious obligations. Once the two parties establish a common ground, trust will be established, and this will go a long way to bolster Kareem’s performance and help the call center meet its targets.

Compilation of Facts Relevant to the Case

The call center manager, Thomas, is highly productive and values customer satisfaction. However, he fails to listen to his juniors’ needs.

Janet and Michael are all dedicated to the success of the company. They frown upon underperformance by colleagues.

Kareem has all it takes to satisfy customers, but his religious practices require him to move around since he prays five times daily.

Communication among team members is limited as they struggle to communicate openly. The manager also has poor communication skills.

Thomas terminates Kareem due to performance deficiencies resulting from his excessive movements.

A Compilation of Judgement Comments Used to Defend Actions

Kareem’s manager and colleagues are concerned about the negative impacts his constant breaks from his desk may have on collective team productivity. Thomas, the manager, focuses on performance only, ignoring Kareem’s religious needs. He judges him for failing to reach targets despite immense evidence showing he is one of the best-performing employees. Kareem’s colleagues are also concerned that his constant breaks will lower overall team productivity.

• Kareem feels like Thomas is constantly observing him at his workstation.
• All Thomas cares about is employee productivity and customer satisfaction, and anyone who fails to meet this standard has to leave.
• Kareem performed better than other team members in terms of call numbers, but no one gave him positive feedback.
• Thomas focuses on the number of calls made rather than the quality of client conversations.
• Thomas rarely speaks with employees and has a timid personality. He only cares about productivity.
• Kareem was informed that his numbers did not meet the company’s standards and had to leave.

Recommendations for ABC to Meet Kareem’s Expectations while Maintaining Performance Standards

Kareem’s manager should practice inclusive scheduling to cater to Kareem’s religious needs. Muslims pray five times a day, and prayer time may likely fall within working hours. The company should provide a prayer room and a private restroom to perform ‘wudu’ before prayers. Muslims take prayers seriously; hence, providing this space will motivate them to improve their performance. In addition, according to Ghumman et al. (2015), organizations with diverse employees should invest in understanding (p. 451). Kareem’s colleagues judge him because they lack an understanding of Islamic practices. For instance, his bathroom practices bother some of his colleagues because they lack knowledge. To alleviate this issue, a meeting that informs Kareem’s colleagues about his religious demands will go a long way to ensure Kareem is not unfairly judged.

Further, the manager should hold a meeting with Kareem to allow him to communicate his needs. Turaga (2013) avers that open communication will go a long way to building trust (p. 20). As a leader, Thomas should create formal communication channels for Kareem to freely communicate with him as a manager without the fear of judgment. Also, keeping the information flow transparent and inculcating a sense of purpose will facilitate the trust process (Turaga, 2013, p. 21). This will allow Kareem to communicate freely about his religious needs without the fear of judgment.

Thomas should also express compassion for Kareem’s religious affiliation. One of the reasons Kareem left the organization quickly is because he felt a sense of discrimination and betrayal. Religious-based compassion is activated when disputes and entitlements that cause conflict arise within a team (Héliot et al., 2019, p. 166). In the same breath, religious teachings may affect an employee’s approach to ethics (Van Buren, 2020). To that end, Thomas should provide a guideline focusing on Islamic practices to help other team members work harmoniously with Kareem.

Further, Thomas and Kareem’s members need to adopt an evidence-based feedback approach when dealing with performance issues. Evidence-based conversations encourage accountability since employees can own up to their mistakes and make positive changes (Green, 2013). There was a silent conflict among the communication center team members since they mostly gave feedback based on emotions and feelings, as shown by the judgment comments listed above. Once an evidence-based feedback system is adopted, team members will avoid judging Kareem simply because he stuck to his religious practices. This will make Kareem feel understood and subsequently exploit his potential in his functions.

References

Ghumman, S., Ryan, A. M., & Park, J. S. (2015). Religious harassment in the workplace: An examination of observer intervention. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 37(2), 279–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2044

Green, M. E. (2013). Painless performance conversations: A practical approach to critical day-to-day workplace discussions. John Wiley & Sons.

Héliot, Y., Gleibs, I. H., Coyle, A., Rousseau, D. M., & Rojon, C. (2019). Religious identity in the workplace: A systematic review, research agenda, and practical implications. Human Resource Management, 59(2), 153–173. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21983

Turaga, R. (2013). Building trust in teams: A leader’s role. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 7(2).

Van Buren III, H. J., Syed, J., & Mir, R. (2020). Religion as a macro social force affecting business: Concepts, questions, and future research. Business & Society, 59(5), 799-822.

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PROMPT: One of the ways management can manage difficult situations, collect relevant information, and build common ground and trust with employees is by establishing communication-based on evidence rather than judgment.

Using the final project transcripts provided, create a list of the relevant facts that are pertinent to the case. This is information that you would use to determine the outcome of the case—or evidence. Additionally, create a list of judgment comments you find in the transcripts. Judgments are information that cannot be used to defend the actions in the case because they are feelings, emotions, or opinions—not facts.

Your paper should include these critical elements:

• A compilation of relevant facts pertinent to the case
• A compilation of judgment comments used to defend actions in the case
• Recommendation of strategies for ABC Corporation to meet Kareem’s needs while still maintaining performance expectations