CMM91025 - Social and Emotional Competence: A Reflective Account

This reflective writing assignment delves into the critical importance of social and emotional competence within the workplace, using a personal conflict scenario as a case study. The author reflects on an experience of discrimination and bullying by a manager, evaluating the situation through the lens of social and emotional intelligence. The reflection incorporates both internal and external factors influencing behavior, considering personal values, emotional burnout, and workplace stressors. The assignment proposes conflict management solutions, emphasizing the need for constructive feedback, critical self-evaluation, and improved communication to foster a healthier team climate. The writing highlights the significance of self-awareness and emotional intelligence in resolving conflicts and promoting professional growth, while also acknowledging the role of organizational support in addressing workplace issues. Desklib provides a platform to access this and similar assignments, offering students valuable study tools and resources.

Running head: CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
Introduction
Ayoko (2016) states that social and emotional well-being of the employees plays a key
role in the development and growth of the organisation. Social and emotional competence is
defined as set of skills applied constantly in dealing with oneself and others and is observed as
one of the most important feature to have within a work environment. The organisation is
comprised of diverse demographic and people from different management hierarchy work
together for their personal and the growth of the company (Ayoko, 2016). It is natural for
conflicts to arise in the workplace and if not resolved can hamper the performance of the
employee and lead to emotional and psychological problems for the individual. Keevers et al
(2011) define the term conflict as something that describes a way of thinking that is in
disagreement or incompatibility between groups of people or individuals in terms of behaviour,
roles, attitude and beliefs.
Study conducted showed that managers spend 25% of their time in resolving or dealing
with issues related with conflict (Ayoko, 2016). Cao and Chen (2020) are of the opinion that
since conflicts are always associated with negative emotions, stressful therefore, more
workplaces give attention to resolving such conflicts and create strategies to minimise the
intensity and incidence of the conflict. The conflict is complex and often time very ambiguous in
nature, however it does cause harm to the social and the emotional state of an individual it can
start as something minor such as gossip and then slowly escalate to something more insidious
(Ayoko, 2016). The following is a reflective writing which analyses a conflict scenario and aims
to form effective conflict management to resolve the issue.

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Description of the scenario
The incident that I have chosen to reflect upon happened to me when I was working at
this firm with my manager Ted (name changed) and faced discrimination and bullying. It should
be mentioned that it was my first job so I was looking forward to the learning experience. During
my work there I noticed that Ted would not interact with me much and when he did he would
talk in a very condescending manner. He would state that I was not performing as per his
expectation, however upon asking for guidance and feedback he would never state the exact
nature of the problem nor provide any constructive feedback to improve my performance. The
lack of communication and constant bullying was off putting to me as well as other members of
the team. Additionally, he would make me work very long hours so that I would learn and asked
me to change my accent to ensure it suited the work culture.
Initially I would be irritated with his remarks, such as “Are you sure you turned in your
report?”. He would also not communicate regarding any changes that the client needed and keep
making me to do the task without briefing me. I was very enthusiastic about my job when I first
got it. Slowly over time, I felt very demotivated and less enthusiastic about the job. Whenever I
had any good idea he would refuse to take me seriously and even mentioned that I was not
capable of having such ideas. Initially I felt very irritated and the irritation slowly turned into
anger. I would always complain about my boss Ted at home, with friends and it started affecting
my personality and mental health. I even considered quitting the job several times. Studies
suggests that conflict begins very covertly with certain little things such as gossip, non-
cooperation, rumour, retaliation and others. The same happened in this case, however, I want to
resolve this conflict as this is affecting me very negatively (Howard et al, 2019).

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Evaluation and Assessment of the situation
While evaluating the situation I have realised that while the job helped me learn a lot
from professional aspect that was the positive aspect of the situation. I also made friends with
other team members. Upon assessing the issues I have realised that the manager lacked social
and emotional competence (Sathya et al, 2018). His own ethno centric views and gender
discrimination was shown in his way of handling his team members. Even though he handled his
work well and performed well yet it failed to promote peaceful coexistence among the member
of the group. Ayoko (2016) suggest that aggression can come from various situation and is very
strong emotional outcome of a conflict. It is also very negative for a workplace. A report of Tesla
points that gender discrimination is one the most common workplace conflicts and mostly
women are subjected to it and it is the leading cause for termination (Levin 2020). Saxena et al
(2019) also state that gender bias is the reason for most common conflicts and questions the
credibility of the leadership considerably. For example in the case of AJ Vandermeyden a female
engineer at Tesla a luxury brand failed to address the sexual harassment complaint and gender
bias that included less pay than her male co-workers (Levin, 2020). When conflicts are
unaddressed, it results in escalation of the problem and may result in severe emotional and social
conflict. Jacobsson and Wilmar (2019) states that disruption in the team climate is one of the key
features that influences the performance of the team, it is also shared attitudes, emotions and
expectation that is shared by the members of the team. When the team climate is not suitable for
the employees it leads to increased burnouts, emotional distress and decrease in staff retention
(Jacobsson et al, 2019).
On evaluation, I have come to realise that Ted’s approach towards the team climate was
not appropriate and caused stress and burnout among the members of the team. They did not feel

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positive and lost their interest at work largely owing to the mismanagement of the team climate.
Reflection is a very important aspect that can help an individual gain clarity and understanding
of a situation and gaining perspective. Sathya and Velmurugan (2018) state that self-awareness
is one of the components of emotional intelligence (EI) and a vital part of the theoretical model
that enables to gain emotional and social competence. Sathya and Velmurugan (2018) suggest
that when we are more aware of the our own self we can critically analyse and evaluate ourselves
and behaviour of others and what reason might they have for behaving the way they do. I came
to the conclusion that it had a lot to do with Ted’s personal perception that might have been
shaped by the people around to him and his life experience.
Internal and external perspectives
There are various factors that affects an individual’s behavioural outcome. There are
internal and external factors that guide a person towards exhibiting certain negative behaviour.
Studies show that the reason for conflict is often the combination of both the internal and
external factors that finally affect the work place environment. A conflict is never one sided it is
brought from miscommunication or the lack of it which can have a very negative influence on
the individual and eventually the whole organisational environment. Therefore, in order to
resolve the conflicts it is essential to consider both side of the argument (Howard et al 2019).
Statistics shows that, work related stress causes the death of 42 out of 10,000 people on
an average, and work life stress is the leading cause of mental health issues among people which
subsequently affects their personal life (Howard et al, 2019). Howard et al, (2019) states that
there are always signs that a manager or the leader must be aware of and should take
precautionary measures to ensure that the members of their team and the overall team climate is
maintained well. This includes personal emotional and social competence as well, as the self-

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awareness to critically evaluate their own behaviour and personality traits. Under this is a table
which shows the personal conflicts and Ted’s perspective.
Personal perspectives Ted’s perspective
Internal factors
 Personal value and world view, such
as respecting elders, being polite,
always being helpful and others.
 Feeling of low self-confidence.
 Emotional burnout.
 Less enthusiasm about work.
 Social isolation.
 Anxiety.
 Resentment and anger.
Internal factors ( presumed)
 Personal view point and belief system.
 Stress from work.
 Depression.
 Unhappy personal life.
 Health issues that makes him
frustrated.
 Inability to accept fault and critically
evaluate.
 Perception of social construct that
gives rise to stereotypes.
 Personal emotional issues.
 Unable to understand the importance
of boundaries.
External factors
 Bullying from the manager.
 Restrictive working environment.
 Lack of communication from the
manager.
 Stress from the work.
External factors
 Pressure from the organisation to
achieve target.
 Financial crisis that makes him push
people more.
 Adoption of autocratic leadership style

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 Gender bias.
 Lack of initiative and constructive
feedback .
 Difference in opinion from the
manager.
that promotes unhealthy team climate.
 Competition to do better than other
teams.
Conflict management solutions
In regard to the issues that was faced, I wanted to resolve the conflict to grow as an
individual and also gain personal growth in my emotional and social competence. One of the
main problem that I faced was the lack communication and feedback, studies states that
communication and feedback is essential for growth and development of an individual and
promotes professional learning. The feedback that was given by the manager failed to be
constructive and had barriers such as condescending, blaming, biasedness. These factors hinder
progress and create conflict and if constructive feedback should be practiced by managers it
should possess qualities such as honest, clear, timely, specific and supportive. It is the duty of the
manger to create a positive learning, motivating environment for their members (Cambier et al,
2019). Gee et al (2017) suggest that a proper feedback mechanism creates effective
communication and can help the member to gain the understanding for their work. For example,
If Ted had said that my work was not up to the mark but could improve if I fixed my time
management skills. This would help to establish the nature of my problem and would also guide
me to improve my time management skill.
There is a consideration for the internal and external factors that play a role in the
conflict. The internal struggles may include Ted’s personal life, stress from overwork

7SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
responsible which created a reason for him to vent his frustration in a negative manner. The
external factors may include the projection of certain gender or community that developed his
gender and social stereotypes. One of the method that could help Ted to resolve his issues is
critical self-evaluation. Studies suggest that for continuing professional development (CPD)
there is need to be a systematic critical self-reflection which can help to improve competence
(Rubens et al, 2018). On the other hand, Keevers and Treleaven (2011) state that critical self-
reflection should be practiced when interacting with the client and colleagues to strengthen
interpersonal relationship and improve emotional and social competence. For example, in many
organizations now, there is social work counselor who can help to resolve emotional and social
conflict that occur in work places. They arrange for individual and group therapy session to
resolve any issues that may arise in the work place and work together with individual or team to
resolve conflicts and help them gain mental well-being. The counsellors also help to reflect
critically about oneself that helps with reflecting and analyzing the person’s individual thought
process. Improving self-awareness through meditating, improving critical self-reflection can be
useful in mitigating the conflict at workplace (Rubens et al, 2018).
Koley and Rao (2018) are of the opinion that when a person is able to confront their own
value system and analyse it as right and wrong that can help them gain insight of the problem
and also help to come up with solution to address the conflict. The first step as most
psychologists suggest is the self-awareness most times that is lacking in most individuals. When
people do not have the realisation that there is something wrong they cannot implement change
(Rubens et al, 2018). Angouri (2017) states that conflicts also arise from not understanding
boundaries at work. In the case in discussion Ted did not understand work place boundaries, not
all professional boundaries are written as rules and they rely on the ability to judge

8SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE IN THE WORKPLACE
professionally which is subject to change from person to person. For example, it was a breach of
professional boundary to talk in an insulting manner as well as making fun of accent is racism.
He should have understood how it affects the emotional need of someone else (Angouri, 2017).
In an organisation there is a need for disciplinary boundaries that tells the nature of tasks and the
responsibility associated with it. Exhibition of informal attitude can result in blurring of
boundaries that is unsuitable for work.
Implications of practicing emotional and social competence
There are various positive implications of practicing emotional and social competence. Firstly,
the client safety, organisations should promote client safety to promote a healthy work
environment. Employees spend a significant amount of time working in the organisation to help
it develop and grow. Therefore it is important that the organisation also provides a safe
environment for the employees to work in. When the employees feel relaxed and comfortable in
their work environment studies shows that they are more motivated to work and there is stark
reduce in the stress level. Employees feel more accepted and are more open about stating their
issues. In a case study, Google has been stated as one of the most desirable places for work and
the study shows that they have some of the most successful teams owing to high psychological
safety that is promoted by the company (Gassam, 2020).
Secondly, the team climate which is largely dependent on the leadership style, it helps fostering a
team climate that will improve the performance of the team and can enable to improve the
performance of the employee. Positive team climate promotes work ethics, inclusive and diverse
work environment that provides equal opportunity for individuals to develop and grow (Gassam,
2020). This also means successful leadership management that allows the promotion of positive
team spirit and effective communication. This can be noticed in health clinics where the

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emergency team needs to have positive team climate and successful leadership style (Jacobsson
et al, 2019). The group effort is essential in treating emergency situations where multiple doctors
and nurses need to work in sync with each other to aid their patient (Fitzpatrick, 2016). In this
case in discussion the lack of communication fostered negative emotions and took away the team
climate. It also showed that Ted’s autocratic leadership style was not suitable for all the members
within the group.
Emotionally the work place did not give me a sense of peace and I was constantly
doubting myself and hated the job. I also became more aloof and depressed, I felt I was
incapable of making proper decision and no matter what I did it would not help me gain that self-
confidence. I was angry and failed to manage my emotions. His casual jokes about my accent
was very hurtful and made me feel very guilty and self-conscious, it was also very socially
inappropriate and racist as I lacked the self-confidence and was always feeling like everything I
did was wrong it affected my performance greatly.
Theories and evidence in conflict management
According to the Thomas-Kilmann model of conflict resolution they site that individuals
often have a way of responding to the conflict. They explain that the first dimension is concerned
with the responses based on the attempt to get personal goals this makes the vertical axis also
known as the assertive options. The other dimension is referred to as the horizontal axis and it
signifies behaviours promotes helping people to get what they want and is referred to as the
cooperative options (Koley et al, 2018).
Case in discussion implied that while resolving the conflict that existed between me and
my boss Ted I chose to avoid him which is an uncooperative approach where I chose not to deal
with the conflict. Studies state that while that might be a diplomatic way of sidestepping the

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actual conflict, it is not useful in addressing the issue and finding a suitable method to approach
the problem. I also showed compromising behaviour when I agreed to work the long hours even
though I did not completely agree with it I tried to compromise and agreed to work so that I
could get the assistance of Ted. Upon realisation I have come to gather that I did not protest
against the racist jokes instead I suffered in silence. That was not the right way to manage the
conflict.
Outcome and possible solution
In the case in discussion the outcome of the problem was that it was not resolved. The anger and
the resentment that I felt towards my boss and in return the lack of empathy and proper,
management style affected my motivation for my work significantly (Gee et al 2017). While that
was one of the most important thing that effected my attitude towards work and the way I viewed
myself.
I think while the issue was unresolved, I have managed to gain perspective to my own
issues. I have gained self-awareness and managed to critically reflect on the reasons why I
behaved the way I did and even tried to understand the situation Ted was faced with that could
have possibly affected and made him behave in that manner. I understand that Ted’s personal
attitude was governed by both internal and external factors that made him act in that way.
However it does not justify his action and he needs help to assess his issues and gain self-
awareness.
One of the most possible solution that can help this session is that Ted gains help in
understanding that his gender biases and autocratic leadership style is destroying the team
climate and making people uncomfortable (Jacobsson and Wilmar, 2019). To help him

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understand I think the organisation should help him seek guidance and help, as well as me so that
we can talk honestly about the issues that we are facing and make progress from there.
Conclusion
Conflicts are one of the most common occurrences at work place and are very complex in nature.
In the above reflection it can be understood that while sometimes we can cooperate, and change
our nature to suit the needs of the team that does not mean that the workplace is socially and
emotionally competent. There is a need for emotional and social competency.

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