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WIIITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1985, PAGE 9 Chamber of commerce is told.... Business must learn to deal with confrontation Today's business leaders must be prepared to deal with confrontation in the workplace, the Whitby Chamber of Commerce was told iast week by Don Sinclair, director of human resources at Durham College. Yard sale The County Town Singers will hold a yard sale in the parking lot of Anderson Collegiate, 400 Anderson St., on June 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Featured will be a wide variety of food and a bake table. Table rentals are available by calling 579- 6951. Proceeds will go towards helping to finance the choral group's trip to Expo '86 in Vancouver, B.C. next year. "There is no easy an. swer to confrontation in tbe workpiace," Sin- clair said. "But we have to recognizethat it exist eit is just a part of our everyday North American society. " Confrontationin the workplace arises from basic human nature. "Why do we have con- frontation?" Sinclair asked. "Generally, the nature of us as human beings is that we are not content." People will always want something more - be it promotions or in- creases in salary or a change in working con- ditions. People want change and because North American society thrives on the adver- sarily system, confron- tation results. Siiclair noted that with the recent proclamation of the sec- tion of Canadian Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms dealing with individual rights, con- frontation in the work- place could become more commonplace. And tbese confron- tations may end up being resolved in the courts, not in the office. Requirements such as mandatory retirement are going to be questioned and the business community is going to have to deal with it. Sinclair noted that any organization is founded on three things: people, product and profit. Without people, neither products nor profits can be made. Therefore, confron- tation should not be seen as a negative but as a means of problem solving. "Confrontation is an opportunity to do something," he said, of- fering his business audience one piece of advice on how to deal with it. The first step in dealing with confron- tation is listening. When an employee brings up a problem, hear him or her out. Ask for their suggestions on how to deal with it. Then take the time and think. But do not, Sinclair stressed, leave it at that. Take the time to inform the employee of tbhn mdecaindthat has been made and why. Sinclair also said tbat empioyees want to be part of the decision making process in any company. They want to believe tbeir con- tributions to the organization are valued and recognized. "Make a decision and go back to the employee and explain why," be said. "A lot of the time, people are satisfied if they believe you've taken a look at the problem and given it serious thought." People are also better educated today than they were even 20 or 30 years ago. They expect more out of life. They are better informed and more aware of their rigbts as individuals. This means, Sinclair said, that business managers "have to be more flexible." He urged his audience to examine the Japanese experience. In Japan, he said, "there is a spirit of co-operation" between business and labor. They work for the common good and listen to each other as a means of solving problems. "A job today represents more than just a pay cheque,"l Sin- clair said. "People, wben they go to work don't want to shut their brains off." Business has to take opportunity of that to maximize productivity and profits. After all, who knows the job bet- ter than the person doing it? "They want to have some decision making authority in the job," Sinclair said. Allowing them to fully participate in the business organization is perhaps the best way to deal with confrontation. Corridor Capers By MARYP w Call725-8967withl MCEACHERN Items for this column ByMARIONIÎUCHANAN The sewer construction on Scott St. is well under- way. In some places it is almost completed. It is going to be terrific when done. It does make a person wonder though about who dbes the scheduling. Thornton school has a lot of bussed students and there is a church in the next block which has a Y-play school. As much as we ap- preciate the local improvements, could they have not been left for one more month when these facilities would not be so busy? I hate to say anything in case 'the powers that be' say now or never. Being a school bus driver is a job I would never want in the best of times but especially when the road by the school is torn up. Westminster Church -next Sunday (June 9), is the annual Family Picnic. It is right after a shorter ser- vice on Sunday at the Greenwood Conservation Area. Rides can be arranged if necessary. Notice: There will be no adult choir practise this week. Mary McEachern is back from her vacation so please call her with items for the next column, 728- 9274. OUR SUPER BUYS TO BRITAIN LONDON•PRESTWICK• MANCHESTER SUMMER LETS FAIRS S GET BACK FROM: 4 TO SANITY NON-STOP FULL SER VICE FLIGIITS ARRANGEMENTS BACKED BY OUR 26 YEARS EXPERIENCE - WORKING FOR YOU TO BRING YOU VALUE HOWARD TRAVEL BUREAU LTDt AJAX SHOPPING PLAZA ACROSS FROM AJAX TOWN HALL 683-6690