¶ … managing conflict in a company faced with layoffs. PropCo, an operating unit of Allied Technologies Corporation (ATC) was faced with both downsizing the number of employees and attempting to diversify its workforce. Employees who had been laid off and those still working, expressed concerned about this and had a strong opinion of management and their co-workers.

Employee Reactions

Several employees were asked how they felt about the layoffs and the diversity program. The ones who were still employed for PropCo were worried that they would be included in the next group of workers to lose their jobs.

One member of middle management dreaded having to inform those working for him that they no longer had a job after years of dedicated service. He would not park his...

One member of management who had been employed by PropCo for over 27 years had planned to retire from the company. Instead, he was faced with sending out resumes and worrying about losing his health benefits. Another employee's main concern was about the talks of trying to diversify the company. He felt minorities were the first to be let go, and the company did little to recruit minorities in to management positions. He did feel he was one of the lucky few who had been able to find new…