MOD004160TRI Managing a polarized workforce
1.Introduction
The report focuses on the issue caused by the political situation and the certain movements which caused uncertainness in the world. Movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, have made the organisations suffer challenges such as installing trust among the workforce, fostering passionate debate (Heyman, 2016). The main cause of the problem is the fact of fear in the people’s mind to the psychology of disagreement. This causes people to avoid these topics than to engage in such topics and solve them respectability. This is one of the most difficult tasks for the organisations all over the world to manage polarised world.
The report will include the concept of the issue and the major causes which led to the problem. It will consist of the different theories to analyse the issue with respect to the organisational culture. The report will cover the differed causes and the area of conflict. Thus, creating a critical analysis of the problem and the solutions to overcome these issues from a general and a business point of view. The report will include suggestions and how the organisations can use different methods to manage the polarized world and maintain healthy and diverse culture in their organisations.
2.Critical analysis of polarised workforce and it’s cause
2.1 Key Concepts with respect to the problem
2.1.1 Polarisation
Polarised is a term often used to describe a differentiation of any matter, whether it may opinions or different people. It is the division of the people between two or more different parts, each opposing each other (Denny, 2019). It has led to creation of two groups each supporting their cause.
Polarised in this case acts as the division of the mindsets of the people because of the difference of opinions. The difference of opinions, difference of culture and race has created two groups or more groups in the society. The culture in an organisation is also affected by this polarisation.
2.1.2 Workforce
Workforce is the human resource of an organisation. It is the labour force or the human’s efforts of the organisations. They are people working for a organisation to create value for the organisation and add value to the organisation in exchange of a amount of money to sustain their lives.
In the case of polarised workforce, the organisations across the globe are experiencing a divided workforce or set of people with differentiated opinions and especially no respect of each other’s opinions for that matter. This creates a major issue for the organisations to successfully maintain a spirit of teamwork and build trust among each other in the organisations.
2.2 Brief of the problem
The problem is caused by the political and social unrest caused due to certain incidents which were not ethical and socially right (Denny, 2019). The movements such as the #MeToo movement and the Black lives matter are significant in creating a polarized world. This has made the organisations face difficulties for managing a polarized workforce. The Black lives matter is the movement against racism and to demand equality for each type of people irrespective of their race, religion and culture. The problem is not with the existence of these movements or the reason of the movements and, the problem is about the mindset of the people who are fearful to talk about these issues in the society.
Figure 1: How Business Leaders Can Reduce Polarization,2021
(Source: Martin et. al. 2021).
The issue rises from the uncomfortable scenarios and the perspective of people towards these issues. It is not about supporting a movement or supporting a cause neither it is about against the movement or against any social cause (Rook, 2021). The problems faced by the organisations is the fearful nature of the people which has raised from the political and social unrest in the world. The people are afraid to speak on such topics because of the fear of getting into trouble or hurting someone’s emotions and most of all the fear of not accepting the opinions of other people. People are afraid of accepting the fact that opinions may be different and it is not necessary to support each opinion, the cause of issue for the organisations are the failure of acceptance of opinions in the organisations.
Organisations are facing the problem of integrating spirit of teamwork and trust among the organisations. This is a major issue, as the workforce of an organisation is the backbone of the company and it is required for the workforce to act as a team without engaging in conflicts and misconceptions about each other (Faux‐Nightingale et. al. 2022). It is reducing the overall performance of the company and creating an unhealthy organisational environment.
2.3 Factors leading to a polarized workforce
The root cause of the problem is the fear of the people of understanding the different opinions and their fear of accepting these opinions. It is caused by the unknown psychology of disagreement among people, people often mis concept that disagreeing to someone means, being to rude them or opposing them. Although this is not the truth. This increases the chance of people avoiding such topics and the creation of an unwanted uncomfortable situation among the organisation (Wallace, 2021). Because the problem is not tangible, the causes are not because of a single factor, it is the misconception amongst the society which restricts them from indulging in topics because of fear and the misinterpretation of disagreement. These can be termed as myths which are as follows:
2.3.1 Misconception about knowledge
The most common myth of the problem of disagreement and the fear of indulging in a conversation or starting to unpolarised the world is often restricted by the fact of lack of knowledge. The most common assumption when there is a situation of disagreement is that the other person lacks knowledge and that there are not educated (Schmidt, 2022). This creates a biased opinion in the minds of the people in an organisational environment. For example, if a team member disagrees with the idea of the other team member, it will be considered that the team member with the idea is not educated and lacks knowledge.
There are studies that shows the behaviour of the human mind, which states that people do not agree of something in which they do not believe in. Similarly, when the team member disagrees with the idea of the other member, the idea is not believed in and hence is discarded by creating a judgment of lack of knowledge. This creates an unhealthy space in the organisations to conduct work in a team spirit.
2.3.2 Disagreements lead to defensive measures
It is a common misconception that disagreement will make people defensive and that can cause any unnecessary action or circumstance. This causes the avoidance of the hard work to understand the other persons opinions (Canduela et. al. 2012). Despite of this, the action of the people is opposite, they create a perception that the disagreed person develops an anger and threatened feeling because of the fact of the disagreement. This makes the organisational situations caused by this myth a crucial challenge to deal with.
Managers and top-level management often face this issue, where people are defensive about their disagreement and created a polarised group within the organisation which causes the difference in the thinking of the people. This makes the work of the people hinder because of lack of teamwork and the lack of positive attitude within the organisation.
2.3.3 Disagreement is unhealthy
There is a common misconception about disagreements that they are bad and unhealthy, whereas it is not so common for people to have the same thinking and opinions on an issue or topic (Wisman and Reksten, 2013). This is an hypocritic situation and issue in the minds of the people. People often feel if they disagree with their superiors, they might not part with them and take their disagreement in a negative manner, although this is the case for some people but not for everybody. The disagreement and its ability to deal within people is not very common, most of the people feel discouraged and anxious when their team member or their subordinate disagree with them. This is not the positive attitude.
Figure 2: Employers face a polarized workforce as they address COVID-19 risks, 2022
(Source: Steve Nyce,2022).
The acceptance of the fact that the ideas and the thinking style of the other person are different rather than invoking opposite feelings for them is what the people need to focus on (DENNY and DEMOGRAPHER, 2020). Organisations deal with this issue regularly when the subordinate fails to agree with the superior and the subordinate does not recognise their opinions and work. Thus, needs to be focused on by the organisation.
3. Strategies to deal with polarised workforce
3.1 Neutralising the concern of disagreement
People frequently avoid conflict out of concern about its possible outcomes. But it’s through dispute that we discover new things about ourselves and other people. According to some researchers, workplace training might emphasise finding common ground with opponents. People often have more in common than they realise (Poggi and Silber, 2010). Second, advise concentrating on the issue at hand rather than the offending party.
The majority of us find discussing opposing viewpoints to be uncomfortable, therefore we usually want to leave the situation as soon as we can. Few of us thoroughly examine contentious discussions to improve our conflict-management skills and strategies for the future. However, understanding disagreement might help us accept and handle it in subsequent interactions. Here are some strategies for promoting such comprehension.
The defusing of fear of disagreement among people can be achieved by some common actions taken or some common practices for the people to undertake such as
3.1.1 Coming at a common ground of agreement
When in situations of a disagreement people should often follow an approach which is positive, despite formulating misconception about the other person. This will help the situation to be neutralized and to ensure that the commitment to the situation of both the parties are for the topic or the idea only and not towards the person (Haasler and Gottschall, 2015). Agreeing on common terms which both can agree on is a great way for people to understand the basics of the topic and what are the points of agreement rather than focusing on the disagreements. This will refine the process in an organisation and reduce the amount of conflicts and disagreements in the company. It will increase the chances of performing as a team.
3.1.2 Avoiding disagreement towards the person
The most common reason of a polarised environment is because of the disagreement on small issues and topics often lead to the people forming disagreements and misconceptions about the other person, which is not the right approach for the situation. The aim of the company should be to ensure that there are no personal negative feelings for the person (Jørgensen, 2018). The aim should be focused on the topic of discussion, the task or the situation rather than arguing about the person. This will help individuals to ensure that the main issue of people to not indulge in conversations like this are met and to ensure that the argument is limited to the task rather than getting personal.
This approach is best for an organisational environment, because often the disagreements are about small details and many times these small disagreements lead to large conflicts. Focusing on the issue will be a better way to tackle the disagreement rather than to develop personal disagreement for each other. It will ensure the organisational performance of the organisation and reduce the conflicts.
3.1.3 Accepting the disagreement
The people need to accept the disagreements and the fact that it is not necessarily bad if they do not believe in it. Many a times, people form the perception that if they don’t agree on something, it is going to fail or cause trouble, whereas sometimes it can be the opposite (RUTHERFORD, 1994). It is important to have an open mind and the be receptive about the topic or to the opinions of others.
In organisations superiors and managers can instil this and encourage their employees to accept disagreement and come at common grounds on the topic without arguing about the disagreement and focus on the positives of the discussion or the task. It is important to eliminate all the misconceptions and thoughts developed at the time of disagreement as it gives the employees a chance to create a healthy and prosperous environment for themselves. This can lead to the overall performance of the company to improve and the reduced conflicts within the organisations.
3.2 Teaching people in an organisation to be open minded
It takes a lot of practise to develop an open mind. One must deliberately take the opposing viewpoint’s information into consideration if you want to cultivate an open mind. Utilizing the listening triangle is a positive approach towards disagreement (Lovitt and Shuyler, 2016). In the listening triangle, one poses a question regarding other opponent’s viewpoints, hearing these responses, and then restating it in one’s own words to make sure they comprehended it right. Stopping there though is not a positive approach in order to delve deeper, repeating the process with a similar or identical question can be an ideal approach for the disagreement.
Some people are able to maintain an open mind when faced with an opposing viewpoint, demonstrating what we term receptiveness to competing viewpoints. Those who are this open-minded undoubtedly gain from having access to a variety of opportunities, resources, and sources of information.
3.2.1 Considering the opposite sides information
In an organisation one should always consider the opinions of others, although people believe they are doing it already (Locher, 2010). It works better to suggest that they carefully explore the reasons why people hold the opinions they do. Similar to this, developing a receptive mindset requires attempting to see material from the perspective of its proponent. To do it, one must reject the expedient strategy of discarding those who have different positions as stupid or evil while convincing ourselves that one has already made all the cognitive and emotional effort that is reasonably anticipated. This can help individuals in the organisational setting to be more considerate of each other’s opinion and will have a positive approach towards discussions and different tasks.
This can lead to the change in the mindset of the people and the different approaches of people for a healthy and informative discussion. It will help individual to understand the perspective of the other person and can help them to add their value to their idea.
3.2.2 Listening triangle
This technique is also used by the conflict resolution professionals which focuses on the active listening to the opinions of others. This technique has some steps to be followed. There are only three easy steps in it: To be sure one has understood the opponent’s position accurately, asking about his or her opinions, paying attention to the response, and then explaining it in one’s own terms (Viswesvaran and Ones, 2002). Then, starting again with the same or a very similar query. People frequently believe they have a counterpart’s understanding after hearing their response to a single inquiry. It’s possible that if someone asks it or a similar question again, others will learn something new and learn the rationale behind one’s opponent’s viewpoint.
Leading businesses have concluded that listening helps their bottom line. Companies like Pixar and the major automobile supplier Webasto provide training programmes to aid in the development of its personnel. The listening triangle can help one make sure that your presumptions regarding the causes of the foundation of someone’s views is fact, not one’s prejudices.
3.2.3 Keeping a learning approach
Despite the fact that most people approach arguments with the intention of convincing the opposing side, some research demonstrates that it is more beneficial to approach them with the intention of learning and the presumption that our partners have the same intention (James et. al. 1998). When people put their attention on learning, they put judgement aside and become more receptive to the perspectives and experiences of others. When someone expresses a viewpoint you disagree with, express gratitude and acknowledge the qualities of the viewpoint you find admirable before presenting your own case. People feel more heard and respected when using this strategy (Lee et. al. 2011). They notice more points of agreement and think the discussion is more cooperative.
Figure 3: Speaking Freely: How to Prevent Group Polarization, 2022
(Source: Speakingfreely, 2022).
3.3 Communicating in a structured manner
The factors which often lead to a conflict within the people is because of the misinterpretation of their thoughts verbally. Often conflicts are caused because of the verbal communication in a discussion or task which invokes the other person this can create conflicts in an organisation. Although this can be avoided by the choosing of correct verbal elements which are politically correct and does not invoke anybody (Schalk and Soeters, 2008). It is important to convey the thoughts without hurting someone’s ideas and respectfully convey the message to others. This will result in the balanced discussion and avoid the possibility of a conflict even in a situation of a disagreement.
Using encouraging phrases such as “I understand that you considered…” and rephrasing can help the people in framing their ideas which will help them convey their ideas without hurting the sentiments of others and conveying their actual opinion in front of the group. This will not only convey the opinion, it will also put a sense of informative approach for the group to be open and expand their ideas which will take them to new tangents on the discussed topic.
Organisations should train and develop the verbal and the art of speaking of the employees which will help them in reducing the different conflicts which rise because of the wrong interpretation of the employees (Kozlowski and Hattrup, 1992). It is often observed that people who frame their opinions better without hurting the sentiments of other are more reluctant to conflicts. This gives them the opportunities to ensure that there are no conflicts and their message is also conveyed.
3.4 Encouraging tolerance through fostering a culture
Modifying the corporate culture to foster greater tolerance inside a corporation. Managers and other leaders should set the tone for the organisation by using open and responsive language and communication techniques themselves. Leaders can take additional steps to make their organisational cultures more tolerant and less polarising by building on the ways to foster a receptive mindset and persuade everyone in their organisations to use more receptive language (van Dijk, 2020). Leaders may go further to make their corporate cultures more accepting and less polarising by building on the strategies for developing a responsive attitude and encouraging everyone in their organisations to use more receptive language.
3.4.1 Using a receptive tone as a culture of the organisation
It’s human nature for people to mimic one another’s tone of voice, picking up on words and phrases that denote openness or closeness and using them in their own responses.
This means that team meetings and communications can disseminate a particular dispute communication style. An effective opening can instil receptiveness for the remainder of the conversation. Confrontational language in the opening sentence can start a destructive cycle.
3.4.2 Becoming an idol
Leaders who desire for others to follow their attitudes and support their objectives are better served by displaying intellectual humility and speaking in receptive terms. Such candour fosters a climate of psychological safety where individuals feel at ease raising concerns and owning up to errors, which improves organisational performance (Barfield and Beaulieu, 1999). Leaders can turn into role models for the employees by giving an example of how to tackle a situation of disagreement with all the necessary positive outlooks for the matter this will encourage the employees within the company to be more open and fear less about disagreement.
Figure 4: Common Workplace Conflicts and How to Overcome Them, 2022
(Source: CSP, 2022).
4. Steps to be taken by organisations to reduce polarity
4.1 Building a cooperative environment
Creating a cooperative culture can aid in lowering the erroneous polarisation bias. Different workplace environments will manifest this differently, but a good place to start is by reviewing your incentive structures and switching out competitive systems for ones that encourage teamwork among staff (Gash and Inanc, 2013).
For instance, many businesses impose ranking systems on managers, which fosters a feeling of competition. Managers should encourage a cooperative approach instead. For instance, a London-based law business created an online application that allowed staff members to give points to their colleagues, encouraging teams to collaborate on shared objectives. These kinds of systems provide workers the chance to interact more deeply and start to see past their disagreements.
4.2 Fostering evocative contact among teams
Spending more time getting to know people with diverse political viewpoints is one of the best methods to overcome damaging prejudices and presumptions about them. Studies have shown that instead of mingling with other groups in many professional situations, people frequently end up hanging out with their own in-group (Ilmarinen, 2006). Managers should instead look for ways to foster greater trust among employees who might not normally interact with one another.
For instance, NASA arranges rigorous wilderness treks prior to missions, placing team members from various backgrounds in testing circumstances that accelerate the development of mutual trust. Extreme sports may not be the best choice for your company, but it’s crucial for managers to develop approaches to promote openness and trust among staff members. Someone who is well acquainted with both parties and can formally or unofficially promote the fostering of a bond between two less familiar co-workers. Although there is no guaranteed technique to establish relationships, whatever managers can do to help their workers connect more deeply will help to lessen negative biases and promote a more productive work environment (Daday and Burris, 2001).
4.3 Creating an environment which allows to share
At the individual, group, and organisational levels, managers should promote candid dialogue. In political disagreements, leaders must set an example of tolerance and compassion, showing by example how to communicate potentially divisive opinions without alienating co-workers who may disagree (Gallie, 1991).
A humble and enlightening experience might result from attempting to explain something difficult. When people genuinely discuss why they support particular ideas, it can help them recognise that they don’t have exclusive access to the truth, which increases their openness to and understanding of other points of view (Cirillo, 2018). Conflict can be difficult at first, but in the long run, these open discussions can show everyone that having a different opinion doesn’t define them, which will lessen the false polarisation bias among employees. You can speculate about other people’s opinions all day long, but the only way to genuinely comprehend someone else is to speak with them.
5. Conclusion
With the help of the above report, the problem of the case study of managing polarised workforce is clearly understood. The report included the concepts of the problem such as polarization and the concepts of workforce which are the key elements of the study. The study also critically analysed the factors which cause the problems. As the problem of managing a polarised workforce is more intangible, the causes can also be referred to as myths or misconception which cause the problem. These causes included the fear of disagreement and the misconceptions about disagreements. It can be clearly summarised that the cause of the problem of polarised workforce is because of some common misconceptions.
With the help of the report it can be concluded that there are some strategies which need to be followed to ensure there is less conflict among team and develop a healthy environment for the employees within the organisations. It can also conclude that these strategies are needed to be implemented on part of the employees and hence training and motivating the employees can be a good strategy to reduce the polarity in the organisation. The different measures to ensure reduction in polarity among the workforce were also concluded in the report which focused on providing a safe and healthy environment for the employees to share their opinions without the fear of disagreement and its repercussions.
6. References
Denny, L.J., 2019. Workforce polarisation in Tasmania: Implications for the future of work and training.
Denny, L., 2019. Economic restructuring and the polarisation of the workforce: a regional perspective. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, The, 25(1), pp.4-25.
Rook, H., 2021. Rising above polarising discourses within nursing. Nursing Praxis in Aotearoa New Zealand, 37(1), pp.44-45.
Faux‐Nightingale, A., Kelemen, M., Lilley, S. and Stewart, C., 2022. Sensemaking in the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic: A narrative exploration of polarised morality in an NHS Trust. Sociology of Health & Illness.
Wallace, J., 2021. Getting collaborative robots to work: A study of ethics emerging during the implementation of cobots. Paladyn, Journal of Behavioral Robotics, 12(1), pp.299-309.
Schmidt, T., 2022. Education, Skills and Social Justice in a Polarising World: Between Technical Elites and Welfare Vocationalism: By Esmond & Atkins, Routledge, 2022, 176 pp., ISBN 978-0-3675-0333-8.
Canduela, J., Dutton, M., Johnson, S., Lindsay, C., McQuaid, R.W. and Raeside, R., 2012. Ageing, skills and participation in work-related training in Britain: assessing the position of older workers. Work, Employment and Society, 26(1), pp.42-60.
Wisman, J.D. and Reksten, N., 2013. Rising job complexity and the need for government guaranteed work and training. In The Job Guarantee (pp. 5-38). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
DENNY, D.L. and DEMOGRAPHER, W., 2020. Tasmania’s structural challenges: pre COVID-19 and post COVID-19.
Poggi, A. and Silber, J., 2010. On polarization and mobility: a look at polarization in the wage–career profile in Italy. Review of Income and Wealth, 56(1), pp.123-140.
Haasler, S.R. and Gottschall, K., 2015. Still a perfect model? The gender impact of vocational training in Germany. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 67(1), pp.78-92.
Jørgensen, C.H., 2018. Young people’s access to working life in three Nordic countries: What is the role of vocational education and training?. In Work and Wellbeing in the Nordic Countries (pp. 155-177). Routledge.
RUTHERFORD, T.D., 1994. From ‘sitting by Nellie’to the classroom factory? The restructuring of skills, recruitment and training in a South Wales motor components plant. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 18(3), pp.470-490.
Lovitt, C.F. and Shuyler, K., 2016. Teaching climate change concepts and the nature of science: a library activity to identify sources of climate change misconceptions. In Integrating Information Literacy into the Chemistry Curriculum (pp. 221-246). American Chemical Society.
Locher, M.A., 2010. Power and politeness in action: Disagreements in oral communication (Vol. 12). Walter de Gruyter.
Viswesvaran, C. and Ones, D.S., 2002. Agreements and disagreements on the role of general mental ability (GMA) in industrial, work, and organizational psychology. In Role of General Mental Ability in industrial, Work, and Organizational Psychology (pp. 211-232). Psychology Press.
James, J.B., Barnett, R.C. and Brennan, R.T., 1998. The psychological effects of work experiences and disagreements about gender role beliefs in dual-earner couples: a longitudinal study. Women’s Health (Hillsdale, NJ), 4(4), pp.341-368.
Lee, I.C., Pratto, F. and Johnson, B.T., 2011. Intergroup consensus/disagreement in support of group-based hierarchy: an examination of socio-structural and psycho-cultural factors. Psychological bulletin, 137(6), p.1029.
Schalk, R. and Soeters, J., 2008. Psychological contracts around the globe: Cultural agreements and disagreements. The handbook of cross-cultural management research, 1(1), pp.117-33.
Kozlowski, S.W. and Hattrup, K., 1992. A disagreement about within-group agreement: Disentangling issues of consistency versus consensus. Journal of applied psychology, 77(2), p.161.
van Dijk, M., 2020. Exploring perspectives in the public debate with emotional awareness: Design to reduce polarization.
Barfield, M.A. and Beaulieu, L.J., 1999. The changing nature of work in the south: The polarization of tomorrow’s workforce. Southern Rural Development Center.
Gash, V. and Inanc, H., 2013. Insecurity and the peripheral workforce (pp. 142-68). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ilmarinen, J., 2006. The ageing workforce—challenges for occupational health. Occupational Medicine, 56(6), pp.362-364.
Daday, J.K. and Burris, B.B., 2001. Technocratic teamwork: Mitigating polarization and cultural marginalization in an engineering firm.
Gallie, D., 1991. Patterns of skill change: upskilling, deskilling or the polarization of skills?. Work, Employment and Society, 5(3), pp.319-351.
Cirillo, V., 2018. Job polarization in European industries. International Labour Review, 157(1), pp.39-63.
Heyman, F., 2016. Job polarization, job tasks and the role of firms. Economics letters, 145, pp.246-251.
How Business Leaders Can Reduce Polarization. (2021). [Online]. [Accessed through]: https://hbr.org/2021/10/how-business-leaders-can-reduce-polarization>
Employers face a polarized workforce as they address COVID-19 risks. (2022). [Online]. [Accessed through]: https://www.wtwco.com/en-US/Insights/2022/03/employers-face-a-polarized-workforce-as-they-address-covid-19-risks>
Common Workplace Conflicts and How to Overcome Them. (2021). [Online]. [Accessed through]: https://online.csp.edu/resources/article/common-workplace-conflicts/>
Speaking Freely: How to Prevent Group Polarization. (2021). [Online]. [Accessed through]: https://www.projectxfactor.com/post/speaking-freely-how-to-prevent-group-polarization>
Know more about UniqueSubmission’s other writing services:
