Reduction in assessed penalties negotiation
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Scenario:
You are the business owner and are entering into a negotiation with a federal manager to reduce the penalties issued against your company. You really do not know what to expect. You have been penalized $14,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for what you consider to be petty violations. You do not think you should have been cited for two of the three violations that were identified as “Serious”: There was an open elevator shaft 30 feet from where your electrician was working. Someone cut the grounding prong off one of your extension cords. Your electrician did not cover an open circuit breaker box that was energized, which exposed other workers to potential electrical shock hazards. In addition, you consider your company’s safety program to be one of the best in the industry, having won several awards from the local Safety Council. You also have not had a recordable injury for more than five years. You do not think you should have been cited for the elevator shaft since it was not very close to where your electrician was working (so the employee wasn’t really exposed to the hazard). He didn’t even have a reason to go near the shaft, and it wasn’t your company’s responsibility to put up a guard rail (the carpenters are supposed to do that). You do not think you should be cited for the electrical cord because you have repeatedly instructed your workers not to cut grounding prongs, and you have a program to check grounding prongs daily (though your foreman sometimes forgets to do this). You decide to set up an informal settlement conference to try to settle the case with the area director. However, you have heard conflicting stories related to her willingness to negotiate in good faith. A framing contractor (who is admittedly a bit of a “hothead”) stated that the area director is “a jerk” and that she “has it in” for construction contractors. He stated, “I showed her how her inspector was clearly wrong, and all she would do was give me a 20% penalty reduction. She wants to put us all out of business.” A roofing contractor stated, however, that you just need to get on the area director’s good side. He stated that the area director was very accommodating and that she withdrew two out of four serious citations tied to an inspection conducted at one of the roofer’s sites. He ended up with a 65% penalty reduction overall. For this assignment, review the background materials and prepare a 2-page paper (excluding title and references pages). Include 2 scholarly sources, in which you provide the following: Provide an overview of the key tenets of emotional intelligence.
Discuss how an awareness of emotional intelligence and the human element can be useful going into such a negotiation.
Discuss how you will negotiate with the federal manager to gain a reduction in assessed penalties.
Sample Solution
Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, understand, and manage one’s own emotions as well as those of others. It involves several key components such as self-awareness, managing emotions, empathy, and interpersonal skills. Self-awareness refers to recognizing one’s feelings in a given situation and understanding their impact on behavior. Managing emotions involves regulating intense feelings such as anger or anxiety so that they don’t interfere with decision making. Empathy is the capacity to recognize other people’s needs and feelings in order to respond appropriately while interpersonal skills involve understanding how different people interact and communicating effectively with them.
The ability to employ emotional intelligence when negotiating can be extremely beneficial for achieving successful outcomes especially when dealing with federal managers who may not be receptive negotiation requests . An awareness of the human element—the fact that people are driven by emotion rather than logic—can help business owners take perspective assess how their arguments will likely interpreted before going into negotiations . This could involve identifying points common ground between parties , utilizing strategies like active listening ensure productive dialogue , expressing appreciation recognition where appropriate , being empathetic towards opposite party any potential disagreements arising throughout negotiations
When it comes actual negotiation process itself business owner must consider all facts evidence presented organize persuasive case why certain penalties should reduced lowered completely . This might include presenting strong safety program records having no recordable injuries five years amongst other measures already taken demonstrate commitment workplace safety. Furthermore, creating “win win” situations where both parties ultimately benefit from result can give added incentive reach agreement favorable terms everyone involved which ultimately lead fairer resolution dispute at hand.
