Yes, another exercise in Human Relations, here it is the manager with a disgruntled employee. We see disgruntled employees in the military, civil service, and business world. You cannot escape them, but this class may help you think about ways to deal with them. This week's reading assignment should be enjoyable, and your peer replies will often be fascinating. Enjoy! 1. You have just been hired by Yummy Juicy, a national corporation selling organic juices at major retail stores. You have been hired as the West Coast Distribution Manager. After about five weeks on the job, you get the following email:

Sir/Ma'am,

You are hurting this company. You have continued to try to force all of us to change our ways and follow procedures that are no good. I am not sure why you got the job. You trained us on these new, "better" procedures, which wasted hours of our time. Don't bother to reply to this email; I know nothing will change.

R/

Bob (disgruntled employee)

2. Complete the following: a. Develop an email response. Use the three-step process for being assertive. Bob is one of your first-line supervisors and has been with the company for 20 years. Mary, another supervisor, tells you that Bob is just trying to bully you and that most other supervisors love the new processes. (I realize many of you would call Bob into your office, but for this assignment, you must generate the email).

b. Do you find it difficult to be assertive in your own life (personal and professional)? Why or why not?

c. What are the risks of being assertive with Bob? Make sure you utilize common course terminology when explaining the risks.

3. Mary comes to you later in the day and says, "Boss, Bob is trying to negotiate with you; he has a target in mind and is not flexible, so his limit is not much different than his target." Explain what Mary is talking about (explain, in your OWN words, the concepts of targets and limits during negotiations).

1. First Peer Reply: What specifically won't work in your peer's email to Bob? Make a recommendation on how to reword (or use another approach). This reply is due by THURSDAY at 11:59 EST.

2. Second/Third Peer Reply: Become Bob, negotiate with the "boss" (your student peer), and make them see your point of view. Utilize course material in your reply. The reply should be formatted as an email (don't actually send an email). This reply is due by SUNDAY at 11:55 EST.