Read the following article from Unit II’s Required Reading (located in the Unit II Study Guide):

Lytle, T. (2015). Confronting conflict. HR Magazine, 60(6), 26-31. Retrieved from https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=103708484&site=ehost-live&scope=site

After reading the article, analyze the scenarios provided below, and choose one to discuss in your case study paper. In your case study, be sure to address the following items:

• Begin the discussion by identifying which of the scenarios you chose.
• Include a brief statement that identifies your style of conflict management.
• Use the information provided in this unit to develop a process to resolve the conflict.
• Describe how you would handle the workplace investigation for the chosen scenario.

As a result of a merger, the organization decided to decentralize its human resource management (HRM) functions and create area human resource (HR) generalists across the United States. One of their responsibilities is to handle all employee relations issues. You report directly to the senior vice president of HRM in the corporate headquarters in New York, and there is a dotted line reporting relationship to the vice president of field operations in your area, which is located in the Midwest. You just arrived at your new location for this position about six days ago.

Armed with the information you have learned in Units I and II and aided by your own experience and ability to research, please read the scenarios below, and select one for this assignment. Please answer the questions, and follow the guidelines presented.

Scenario #1:

It is Sunday evening, and you receive a phone call from an employee, Ellen, who lives several states away. However, she lives and works in your area of responsibility. Ellen is emotional and states that she can no longer tolerate her young coworker being sexually abused by the manager in their three-person office. She gives you the coworker’s name and phone number, and she tells you that the young woman wants you to call her later that evening when her husband will be asleep. As requested, you call the coworker, Tammy, and she states that she is afraid of losing her job. Tammy is emotionally upset and says that she fears that if her husband knows about what the manager is doing, he will confront him at the office, and there may be violence. Tammy informs you that the manager has a violent temperament and is prone to explosive outbursts.

Based on your knowledge of employment law, conflict management, and investigation procedures, what would be the best way to handle this situation? For example, what laws are involved? Where do you start? Who do you notify? When do you start? What do you tell the coworker (Ellen) and the employee (Tammy) who made the complaint?

In this situation, you are the employee relations representative for the organization. What is your role in the investigative process? Describe the steps you will take to investigate this employee complaint.

Scenario #2:

While conducting HR audits in the offices throughout your area, the newly promoted area director catches up with you to see how his offices are doing, and he invites you to lunch. While at lunch, he confides in you that he feels very uncomfortable with a certain highly regarded branch manager because she is always touching him inappropriately, and she does this in private as well as in front of her staff and vendors. He has politely asked her in private to stop this flirtatious behavior, explaining that it was unprofessional and that it makes him uncomfortable. Her response was to laugh it off, and she told him he was just too uptight.

She is a top performer, and he does not want to lose her or fire her; however, he asks you to talk with her to reinforce his request to stop the behavior.

What is your response to the area director? Based on your knowledge of employment law, conflict management, and investigation procedures, what would be the best way to handle this situation? For example, what laws are involved? Where do you start?

In this situation, you are the employee relations representative for the organization. What is your role in the investigative process? Describe the steps you will take to investigate this employee complaint, and explain how you will resolve the conflict.

Scenario #3:

Your senior vice president (SVP) of HRM has received a complaint from two branch managers in your geographic area. They are separate but similar complaints concerning Robert, the SVP of Area Operations. Both managers say Robert touches them and other women in the office inappropriately by rubbing their shoulders; the managers also report that Robert makes remarks about their alluring attire and comments that he is in love with them for the great job they are doing. Knowing you are housed in the same area office with this SVP, your boss asks you if you can objectively investigate this complaint. You talk it over with your boss and know he will support your efforts, and you agree to do the investigation.

Almost as soon as you give your answer to your boss, you receive a phone call from the area SVP’s wife, who somehow already knows you will be interviewing her husband for a harassment complaint. She is irate and states that the charges are ridiculous. She becomes belligerent and begins to degrade the female managers.

Based on your knowledge of employment law, conflict management, and investigation procedures, what would be the best way to handle this situation? For example, what laws are involved? Where do you start? Who do you notify? When do you start? What do you tell the area SVP’s wife?

In this situation, you are the employee relations representative for the organization. What is your role in the investigative process? Describe the steps you take to investigate this employee complaint.

In your response to the scenario you have chosen, follow the guidelines below:

• Be sure to include academic sources to support your positions/conclusions. You are required to use at least two outside sources beyond the required reading for this unit.
• Be sure that your analysis is highly relevant, thorough, and remains on topic.
• Accuracy should be strong, with close attention to detail in all parts of the assignment.
• Writing should be clear and concise with solid sentence structure and should be free of grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.
• Your paper should be at least three pages in length.

All sources used must be referenced; paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying citations in APA format.

Article: https://calgarysun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/report-flames-ready-to-part-ways-with-peters

In his article posted in the Calgary Sun, Wes Gilbertson discusses the allegations made by professional hockey player Akim Aliu in regard to his playing experience under former Calgary Flames Head Coach Bill Peters. Akim Aliu spoke out against Bill Peters on twitter, claiming that he had directed racial slurs towards him when he was playing under him with the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League. These accusations made by Aliu would be classified under Intentional Discrimination, which falls under chapter two of our course. In chapter two slides, intentional discrimination is described as “Differential or unequal treatment in terms and conditions of employment based on any of the prohibited grounds”. In terms of this article, the prohibited grounds would be Akim Aliu’s race. Not only would Peters’ actions be considered discrimination, but they could also be classified as harassment. Harassment is “Unwelcome behaviour that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person and that a reasonable person should have known would be unwelcome”. According to the article, Bill Peters had used racial slurs against Aliu in the team locker room as he spoke negatively about Aliu’s choice in music in front of the rest of the team, most likely embarrassing Akim. Another subject that was mentioned in the article was the fact that the Flames General Manager Brad Trelving did not interview any other prospective coaches in the process of hiring Bill Peters. Unfortunately, Trelving may have hired the wrong candidate for the job, which is a mistake the managers do not want to make, as mentioned in chapter one.

Specific requirements of the WRITTEN project

1. Submit a final paper (5 – 6 pages long and double-spaced). If you required more pages, please ask.
2. The style, grammar, format and logic of the paper will be evaluated.
3. All sources must be cited using APA style.
4. The paper must be submitted in a Word format (doc) and uploaded to the submission folder on Nexus.
5. Three academic (peer-reviewed) articles must be used in the preparation of your paper. Please ask for help either from the professor or from the librarians if you need it.
6. The project is worth 20% of the final grade. In a group project, each team member’s grade will be adjusted according to their contribution to the project, assessed by the professor and by confidential peer review.
7. The project must be free of plagiarism.  Plagiarism may result in a mark of zero on the project and the academic misconduct procedures will be followed.
8. The goal of the written assignment is to present research and insights on a topic in HRM. Remember that the news story you have chosen is your starting point for your research. You do not need to discuss the story that much in your research paper. You should focus on the issues raised by the story and what the experts, etc. say about those issues.

You are the hiring manager within your organization, and you are tasked with the requirement to locate the best candidates to fill a few current openings. Your company is in need of individuals who can work effectively with a diverse population, who have previous experience leading others, and who display an eager attitude and willingness to learn from corporate training.

Compile a PowerPoint presentation with your analysis of how hiring practices and effective leadership can enhance performance measures. Explain how this applies to your company and/or discipline. In your PowerPoint, be sure to address the following questions/topics and include company or organizational examples, as relevant.

§  Describe specific ways effective leaders can hire key people to serve as prominent leaders and subordinates. Include your rationale.

§  Examine the effectiveness of training efficiently to build on employee knowledge and skill sets with respect to your area or field of business.

§  Compare and contrast the different types of challenges leaders face when hiring and training new members.

Your presentation must be a minimum of eight slides in length (excluding a title slide and a references slide). In this presentation, you are required to use speaker notes. In the speaker notes, you will provide what you would say if you were actually giving the presentation to your supervisor. Please write your notes in complete sentences and adhere to typical grammar and punctuation rules.