Over the years, attitudes towards workers have changed considerably. After all, there was a time when workers had no rights at all, and laboured in appalling conditions. Conditions have improved a lot, but conflict in the workplace is still common. And human resources managers nowadays need to be able to deal with it when necessary.
What is conflict in the workplace? Definitions vary, but I’m taking it to refer to a whole range of behaviours that the victim finds unacceptable, from minor, harmless arguments to – at the opposite extreme – physical violence. Much of this is covered by the term bullying 【Q31】, by which I mean one or more people behaving abusively or aggressively against another who is in a weaker position. Although all behaviour like this is a form of conflict, not all conflict can be described in these terms.
As with all human behaviour, there are numerous reasons for it. But often it’s caused by someone who feels the need to show their superiority over someone else 【Q32】, in order to feel that they aren’t at the lowest level in a hierarchy or a group of people.
In some cases one person simply dislikes the other, on the basis that the personality of one is in some way incompatible with that of the other person 【Q33】. A general habit of optimism in one person could make them intolerant of a colleague who’s constantly pessimistic – not that that justifies treating them badly, of course.
Some conflicts arise when people are more interested in promoting themselves and their team than in the company as a whole. These conflicts are called ‘structural’ 【Q34】, and could come about, for example, when a sales team believe they are the only people in the business who do any useful work, and look down on behind-the-scenes administrators.
Conflict obviously affects the inpiduals concerned – the situation is likely to be very stressful for victims, resulting in their absence from work, possibly for months 【Q35】. For the company, if no effort is made to deal with conflict, it can spiral out of control, and even lead to the breakdown of the business.
Some interesting work with chief executives – CEOs – has uncovered some of the reasons why they may treat colleagues badly. Many CEOs combine two opposing characteristics: confidence – that is, the belief that they’re capable of great achievements – with a high level of anxiety 【Q36】, a fear of missing targets, whether set by themselves or by the directors of the company. This combination can make them respond badly to anyone who questions their decisions.
In a high pressure work environment, such characteristics become problematic. And it’s particularly difficult to tackle the situation where colleagues, managers and board members are all trying to achieve their own visions. When they can’t agree on strategic issues and on where they see the business going, there are real problems. 【Q37】
For managers at lower levels within the organisation, it might seem that an autocratic form of management – where the chief executive gives orders and everyone else has to obey – would see more conflict than others. Interestingly, though, a company with a more democratic business model, can suffer more, when uncertainly about who to report to leads to conflicting demands. 【Q38】
Now I’ll say a little about dealing with the type of conflict that has harmful effects. Of course the ideal is to prevent it arising in the first place. A good manager, at any level, will make efforts to earn the respect of the people they work with 【Q39】, particularly those who report to them. That will involve politeness in all communications, and treating them as equals who happen to have a different role within the organisation.
Sometimes, of course, conflict does occur, and can get out of hand. In such cases the human resources department often gets involved. However, if one of the parties in a conflict sees human resources as simply a mouthpiece for the chief executive, then an external mediator might be able to help 【Q40】. By talking to both sides, and trying to find the truth of what’s been happening, they can build a clear picture of the situation, and give feedback that both sides will accept, precisely because they’re independent.
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
听前预测：定位词 behaviour；提示词 general category of。此处应填名词。
题目解析：我们首先听到了含定位词 behaviour 的信息“a whole range of behaviours that”， 然后听到“Much of this is covered by the term bullying”，其中 this 指代前面出现过的各种 behaviour，covered by the term 与题干 general category of 为同义替换， 因此答案为 bullying。
听前预测：定位词 result；提示词 people、wanting to、prove。此处应填名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到表因果关系的 reasons 和 caused by，这两个信息都对应题干 result，接下来我们听到了“someone who feels the need to show their superiority over someone else”，其中 someone 对应 people，feels the need to 对应 wanting to， show 为 prove 的同义替换，因此答案为 superiority。
听前预测：定位词 caused by；提示词 differences between people。此处应填名词。
题目解析：本题同上一题，考查产生冲突行为的其他原因。首先我们听到“In some cases one person simply dislikes the other”，这里的 In some cases 衔接上一题中的 Often，
对应本题题干中的 Also，dislikes 则体现出了 conflict；接下来的“on the basis that the personality of one is in some way incompatible with that of the other person”为答案所在位置，其中 on the basis that 对应题干 caused by，而 sth. of A is incompatible with that of B 意为“A 与 B 的 …… 不和 ”，对应题干 differences in sth. between people，因此答案为 personality。
听前预测：定位词 conflicts、own team、company；提示词 more…than。此处应填形容词。
题目解析： 首先我们听到了定位词 conflicts，然后听到了“when people are more interested in promoting themselves and their team than in the company as a whole”， 其中 themselves and their teams 对应 own team，more…than 和 company 原词出现，所以答案很快就出现了“These conflicts are called ‘structural’”，因此答案为 structural。
听前预测：定位词 stress；提示词 Conflict-related、cause、last for months。此处应填名词。
题目解析：我们首先听到了含定位词 stress 的信息“the situation is likely to be very stressful for victims”，其中 stressful 和 stress 为同义替换；紧接着答案对应信息出现了“resulting in their absence from work, possibly for months”，其中 resulting in 与题干 cause 为同义替换，因此答案为 absence。
听前预测：定位词 CEOs、Many；提示词 both…and、anxiety。通过 anxiety 可以预测出此处应填抽象名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到了“Many CEOs combine two opposing characteristics”，其中 two 对应的是题干 both…and，并且通过 characteristics 一词告诉我们这一题的答案和 anxiety 一样，是一种性格特点。然后马上就出现了答案 confidence，以及题干 anxiety，因此答案为 confidence。
听前预测：定位词 people；提示词 may、conflict、different。此处应填名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到了“colleagues, managers and board members”，这些人其实对应的 就是题干 people，然后结合定位词前面出现的“difficult to tackle the situation”以及定位词后面出现的“all trying to achieve their own visions”，可以锁定答案为 visions。其中 difficult to tackle the situation 对应题干 conflict，their own 对应题干 different。
听前预测：定位词 more；提示词 structure、uncertainty、report。此处应填形容词。
题目解析：我们在转折词“Interestingly, though”之后直接听到了答案对应信息“a company with a more democratic business model, can suffer more, when uncertainty about who to report to leads to conflicting demands”，其中 model 对应 structure，所以很容易判断出 more 后面的形容词 democratic 即为答案。
听前预测：定位词 Minimising conflict、Bosses；提示词 try hard to、gain。此处应填名词。
题目解析：首先我们听到“to prevent it arising in the first place”，与小标题中的 Minimising conflict 为同义替换，提示我们答案快来了。然后听到“A good manager, at any level, will make efforts to earn the respect of people they work with”，其中 manager 对应 Bosses，make efforts to 对应 try hard to，earn 对应 gain，因此答案为 respect。
听前预测：定位词 outside the company；提示词 Someone、role of、resolve conflicts。通过Someone 可预测此处要填表示人的名词。
题目解析：同样是转折连词 however 之后出现了答案对应信息“then an external mediator might be able to help”， 其中 external 对应的是 outside the company，help 对应 resolve conflicts，因此答案为 mediator。