Phone Assignment Week 2

I had a very enjoyable conversation with Maria this week. I contacted Maria, my Human Resources manager, with a very serious problem I was facing with an employee in which I was supervising.

The employee, who is African-American, is accusing me of discriminating against him. He is claiming that I, being a white female in a management position, am not giving him the same respect, responsibility and bonuses as the other employees I manage because I am racist. Although he is, in fact, the only African-American employee, the reality is that he is not performing as well as the rest of the group. He does not contribute as much to projects and is consistently late to work. When I approached him about these issues is when he claimed that I was discriminating. I explained that I base my observations on the quality of the employee regardless of color.

My concern was how I should go about resolving the matter before he went to someone else making such allegations. I am worried about upholding my character as well as maintaining a healthy work environment for all my employees.

Maria explained that the matter should be dealt with immediately because avoiding it could cause a larger problem and would seem like I was not willing to handle the situation appropriately. We agreed that there should definitely be someone else present when he and I are to discuss this due to the seriousness of the accusations brought against me. I stated that I would want an outside party such as Maria or another HR manager and not anyone from my department involved.

Maria suggested that I offer him as many options as possible in order to resolve the matter. First, to explain my perspective and state that my concerns are with his job performance, that he is not complying with his job duties and it is not race related. Offer to have weekly evaluations of his performance and keep a log of all employee progress. She also suggested that I reinforce his positive aspects instead of strictly focusing on the negative. Next, I should tell him that if he still feels discriminated against, he is more than welcome to file a formal complaint and that I will cooperate with a full investigation of the matter. And lastly, if he wishes to move to another department or under another manager, that I will not hold any personal vendetta against him. I am to express that I want what is best for my employees and to create a healthy work environment for each of them.

I am also to ask him exactly why he feels this way so that we can address each situation directly. It may just be a matter of misunderstanding and miscommunication.

I feel that we were able to come up with numerous solutions to such a sensitive issue. Maria and I were able to work together to come to these resolutions by asking questions and attempting to explore all possible avenues.

Thank you Maria! I feel we accomplished a great deal!