At the start of the New Year, I was promoted to the Executive Director of my families child care business. Needless to say I oversee both the child care programs and the pre-k counts programs for both of our locations. My most recent conflict was with two staff members who made poor decisions regarding their work schedules. My one employee was observed 10 days straight arriving to work 10-15 minutes late. I sat down and had a discussion with her regarding her punctuality and offered a resolution to the conflict. After writing her up, I adjusted her schedule to arrive at 8am instead of 7:30am. She agreed and has been on time, of not early for the last 3 weeks. I was willing to compromise with her and bring someone else more dependable to be in at 7:30am with me to open. She knew that this schedule change was the best thing for her because if she arrived late one more time, she would be terminated.
A second conflict I had with another staff member concerned her lack of concern for the good of the children we provide service to. She made a decision to leave the facility to go get something to eat and that left the center out of ratio. Luckily, we were all down at our office and could quickly come to the aid of the staff who were in the center. When we questioned why the staff member left, she apologized and stated she thought someone was coming in to cover her. We explained how serious this offense was and when considering her most recent offenses, we offered her a retirement package and felt it be best for her to no longer work in the facility. She agreed that it was time for her to retire and she accepted her retirement package with no questions asked. We are planning on throwing her a retirement party this spring and all the staff look forward to seeing her one last time.
Two strategies I have learned that might have helped me manage or resolve the conflict more productively are the Platinum Rule and Non-Violent Communication. In the Platinum Rule, we learned to treated others as we would want them to treat us. I would always want someone to treat me with respect and to show empathy when necessary. The Non-Violent Communication (NVC) is a way of communicating respectfully to others in such a manner to increase effective communication and both parties are heard/understood. If I applied these two models in the conflicts I stated above, I believe the conflicts would have been settled in a similar manner. There were no harsh words exchanged in the communication with these two employees and the resolution was the best for all parts of the business. I explained to them that in any work field, accountability and responsibility are everything. They knew exactly what I meant and we have been progressing ever since.
shaylamitchell 
Hi Shayla,
I like your post very much. It was fully structured and I like the different scenarios that you made. Indeed you had exercised great management skills in a respectful and professional manner. The conflicts that you had on hand were properly dealt with within a warm and friendly yet professional manner. Thanks for sharing