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Workplace
Communication, Inc.

1600 South Road
Scottsville, NY 14546
Phone: (585) 538-6360
Fax: (585) 538-6362
beth@workplacecomm.com

What others are saying.

Thanks to Beth’s teaching skills, hundreds of working people in Upstate NY are now better able to manage their anger, interview for new positions, resolve interpersonal conflict, lead groups, and convey their intended messages. In my 25 years with ILR, I have never worked with a more effective instructor than Beth Sears. I commend her without hesitation.

Linda Donahue
Senior Extension Associate at Cornell
School of Industrial Labor Relations

Case Studies
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Not-for-Profit Organization—Typical client results

The Challenge

A call came from a manager facing a meeting with two employees whose working relationship was nonexistent. Over time unresolved conflict had eroded the relationship to the point that they now refused to speak to one another. Although both employees did their jobs well, this disagreement was having a very negative impact on work getting accomplished. The manager hated dealing with conflict, but was at the point she considered now whether she should fire both of them or move them to other jobs.

Our Approach

As consultants we needed to help the upper management develop a plan to deal with the conflict in a manner that met the needs of the workplace as well as retain these long-term employees. We would:

  • Coach the supervisor in mediation skills to confront the issues.
  • Educate all members of the organization regarding job responsibilities and cross-training on job functions.
  • Training for the supervisor to understand how to constructively confront aggressive behavior, before it grew to this magnitude.
  • Develop a follow-up protocol to make sure the behavior has been eradicated and they are working together again.
  • Set up a process whereby employees can confront conflicts in the early stages
  • Create opportunities for employees to deal with stress in a constructive manner

Outcomes

  • Conflict was totally resolved
  • Increased productivity
  • Decreased interpersonal threats
  • Improved communication
  • Improved workplace environment
  • Supervisor reported feeling much more confident handling conflict