Introduction

The success of a company depends on its level of productivity and customer satisfaction. However, the two factors depend significantly on employee satisfaction at the workplace. Most Firms try to consult the workers first in case of a problem because they are the heart of the business. Likewise, a significant number of top-ranking organizations have established policies that address the concerns of all staff. Conversely, employee dissatisfaction is one of the leading reasons that lead to the downfall of an enterprise. As a result, managers should formulate plans that identify and solve any issue that affects the performance of the workforce.

This paper focuses on the reasons that led to a strike at a small restaurant called the Happy Meal. Consequently, the eatery had to shut down for three consecutive days because none of the one hundred and ten employees came. Instead, they gathered outside the manager’s office with placards that showed several demands that led to the strike. Likewise, they arranged themselves according to gender because each group had different grievances. Indeed, each of the fifty males and sixty females wanted the manager’s attention before they resume work. Therefore, the research focuses on the main issues that led to the strike and the best solutions in three sections namely, findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Findings

Figure 1: Employees’ Responses

Employees filled up a questionnaire with three main questions that addressed the pressing issues at work. Firstly, forty male employees believe that the manager mistreats them most of the time, which represents 80% of them (Jeong, 2017). On the other hand, fifty-four female workers, which are about 90% of them, claim that the manager is unfair towards them at the restaurant (Jit, Sharma, & Kawatra, 2016; Singer, 2018). Moreover, both groups assert that the manager favors the opposite gender when allocating duties (Cheng, He, Wu, & Zhang, 2016). The results, in this case, are significant because more than 75% of both groups of employees believe that the manager is unfair towards them.

Secondly, the personnel at the eatery want the supervisor to distribute duties equally between both genders. The questionnaire recorded fifty-seven female and forty-six male workers who support the statement above (Porat, Halperin, & Tamir, 2016). Likewise, the results represent 95% and 92% of men and women who work at the restaurant respectively. Each cluster claims that they receive more work than the other does, which sparks a rivalry between them (Lewin, 2017; Wallensteen, 2018). As a result, they believe that they should work for an equal number of hours despite gender.

The third finding is that a significant number of the participants feel that they deserve a pay rise. The issue is essential because fifty-eight female and forty-nine male workers support it (Novo, Herbón, & Amado, 2016). Likewise, the results signify more than 95% and 97% of men and women respectively. According to the results, only three out of one hundred and ten workers believe that salaries should remain the same (Menkel-Meadow, 2017). Consequently, most of the employees claim that wages do not correspond to the working hours.

Conclusions

The results reveal that working conditions could affect the overall performance of an enterprise. Primarily, the manager of the restaurant has two working groups whereby, female employees work during the day and male ones at night. The daytime group claims to do more duties than the other one because they clean the establishment, cook, and serve the customers. On the other hand, the group that works in the evening believes that they are underhanded because the night hours are hectic. Similarly, the employees assert that the manager is unfair towards them because of the uneven distribution of duties. As a result, they demand an equal number of working hours and responsibilities irrespective of gender. Indeed, the results show that the manager does not distribute work equitably among the employees of the eatery.

Moreover, the workforces agree that they deserve a salary increment because they work for many hours.  The matter is vital in the conflict resolution process since more than 95% of employees at the restaurant support it. Likewise, they want the pay to reflect the number of hours that one spends at work. The employees want the manager to hear the complaints and solve them before they report to work. For that reason, the strike seeks to address bias and insufficient pay at the Happy Meal.

Recommendations

According to the findings and conclusions in this research, the following are the appropriate recommendations:

The leaders should summon all employees and use a mediator in the negotiation process.

1. The manager should form groups that comprise of male and female members. One of the main reasons that led to the strike was bias. As a result, the groups should have an equal number of men and women to create a gender balance. The restaurant should hire ten more men, which would ensure that it has the same number of male and female employees. Likewise, the workers would not feel like the supervisor allocates duties based on sexual orientations. The mediator should allow both parties to accept gender-neutral groups as a step towards a fair work environment.
2. A mediator should allow the employees and manager to agree on a reasonable amount of salary increment. The approved amount should be fair to both parties; however, they can decide to adjust it after a certain period. Additionally, they can settle on a favorable bonus system, which ensures that hard-working employees receive a monthly or annual bonus. Both clusters should participate in the mediation process, which should help them to make impartial decisions.
3. The supervisor should involve the personnel to formulate a balanced duty roster. The mediator should ensure that the conflicting sides create one that is fair in terms of the number of duties given to each set and working hours. Each cluster should have an equal share of cleaning, cooking, and serving duties, as well as day and night shifts. As a result, the timetable should be fair to all personnel irrespective of the time that they work.
4. Another essential suggestion is that the director should have an open door policy in the workplace. The move should allow employees to voice any concerns and give viable Similarly, employees should feel motivated to perform better if they are involved in the decision-making process. Management should call for meetings occasionally, where staff can highlight pressing issues at work. Correspondingly, they should deal with the concerns appropriately to avoid more strikes.

Reference List

Cheng, Y., He, F., Wu, Y., & Zhang, D. (2016). Meta-operation conflict resolution for human-human interaction in collaborative feature-based CAD systems. Cluster Computing, 19(1), 237-253.

Jeong, H. W. (2017). Peace and conflict studies: An introduction. Routledge.

Jit, R., Sharma, C. S., & Kawatra, M. (2016). Servant leadership and conflict resolution: A qualitative study. International Journal of Conflict Management, 27(4), 591-612.

Lewin, D. (2017). Unionism and employment conflict resolution: Rethinking collective voice and its consequences. In What Do Unions Do? (pp. 313-345). Routledge.

Menkel-Meadow, C. (2017). Dispute processing and conflict resolution: theory, practice, and policy. Routledge.

Novo, M., Herbón, J., & Amado, B. G. (2016). Victimization and gender: Effects in the evaluation of subtle and overt violence, adult attachment, and conflict resolution tactics. Revista Iberoamericana de Psicología y Salud, 7(2), 89-97.

Porat, R., Halperin, E., & Tamir, M. (2016). What we want is what we get: Group-based emotional preferences and conflict resolution — Journal of personality and social psychology, 110(2), 167.

Singer, L. (2018). Settling disputes: Conflict resolution in business, families, and the legal system. Routledge.

Wallensteen, P. (2018). Understanding conflict resolution. SAGE Publications Limited.

Appendix A