Notes

Hail Fellow, Well Met
The other day, I was at a mega mall - browsing a queue to pay for my groceries. Suddenly, there were plenty of commotion and a population group were attempting to prevent a couple of the mall staff from going at the other person with knives drawn out. Their anger was so palpable and I could sense a fear that they may even kill each other, otherwise stopped. The situation was growing tense, whenever a rather senior-looking silver-haired Manager appeared in this area. He gave a whack to both of them, ordered these to go back to work and asked everyone else to disperse - all-in-one swift motion. It was like he had cast a spell - both the staff slunk away, eyes downcast, respectful on the man and also the tension just turned off..
We reside in your global that is on the move. Information overdrive, intense competition and technological advances are attracting newer challenges to this great art of conflict resolution. Our threshold to tolerate has vastly diminished. We keep hearing about road rage, unprovoked violence in public life, harsh and violent mannerisms in situations where it is not required at all. There is a lots of seething rage, anger, resentment and turmoil inside a vast number of folks, that when left unresolved, often manifests itself in different ways. It is like a box of ammunition which has a short fuse as well as simply a small spark to ignite. Consequences are often disastrous, whether it be the guy who shot and killed several innocent people with a theater screening Batman or perhaps the fellow who took a rampage with the Sikh Gurudwara inside United States. Alienation and loneliness along with despair and hopelessness is usually a lethal cocktail of emotions.
Recently there was a news item with regards to a conflict between Management and Labour with a leading Automobile Manufacturing Plant in India. One of the General Managers was reported to have been killed - a very serious offense, following that this plant needed to be de-activate temporarily. A very volatile situation with extremely low level of trust, emotional vulnerability, complete breakdown of transparency, deficiency of clear communication and insinuation. Workplace mediation services can very well imagine what might happen within this type of climate.
I was reflecting that of a decade ago, every company used to possess Labour Welfare Officers and Personnel Managers who were well-trained in Industrial Relations, studied the labour laws in great detail, cut their teeth into Human Resources Development having a long stint inside production shop floor, developed keen insight and understanding, which experts claim resulted in compassion along with a flexible and tolerant look at life, which helped Management and Labour arrive at the discussion table. Suffice to say there is plenty of things that had been mostly resolved through informal consultations and quite chats for the sidelines, no issue ever blowing up, unless it had been something grave.
These Labour Welfare Officers and Personnel Managers are actually extinct, replaced by state-of-the-art professionals who have a very top-class B School Management Degree in Human Resources Development. They are extremely sound in tactics, strategies, presentations, negotiations, presence of mind and manouvering. However a careful study reveals, since the devil is inside detail, that they have scanty expertise in handling labour or conflict management and resolution inside a decidedly win-win approach. A flash strike, a tool-down strike, lock-out or even an angry band of agitated workers are all nightmares for them, since they are not equipped emotionally in addition to their people skills are awfully poor, exposing them in the rough and tumble of people management.
While we all do concede that times have changed, we have come very distant from days gone by and Managements tend to be more benevolent and transparent. Employee welfare will be the order through the day and never very. Having said this, I always ponder whether it turned out smart to completely scrap away from those positions in manufacturing and service areas, which had its very own utility and relevance. Possibly the Labour Welfare Officers and Personnel Managers may stage a comeback, as the truth is that no matter just how much technology advances, processes improve, conditions congenial, folks have emotions, fears, anxieties, hopes and expectations; machines and technology cannot be aware of it, while human beings can. We need more humane people when controling Human Resources, as in the end they are the greatest resources a business has.
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