Posted: Friday, 4 January 2019 @ 13:43
I read that civilian police workers at Essex Police have criticised the way they were told their redundancy payments are to be cut by half.
The complaint is that instead of having the bad news broken in a letter, e-mail or a formal meeting with bosses at Essex Police, the force told its thousands of workers by posting an article on its internal website.
This move has upset some(most?)of the force’s support staff.
Speaking anonymously, a civilian worker told the Essex Echo: “This affects 25 per cent of police staff.
“But they decided to tell us by putting the news on the intranet; they weren’t as polite as sending a letter or an email, that would have been too much to ask.
“So if you’re a member of police support staff and you didn’t read the intranet you wouldn’t have known.”
This illustrates why in negotiating and communicating with staff regarding potential conflict, style is often more important than substance.
There are two reasons why the Essex Police communicated in such a way.
1. Fear.
2. Lack of Sensitivity.
Fear is a natural emotion in any conflict situtation. Clearly the bosses in this instance did not have the courage to face up to staff directly. Yet, if they had they would have more chance of avoiding what they fear, namely conflict.
Lack of sensitivity is a feature of many individuals involved in negotiation. Yet sensitivity is a hallmark of any successful negotiator. When I mediate my energies are spent often just as much as the "little" things such as in common coutesy, small talk, focusing on eye contact as in the big things such as the money.
Style is just as important as substance.
Justin Patten
Mediator