Lately I came across a number of cases which are associated with the conflicts between superiors and subordinates, where the subordinate claims that the superior misuses the legitimate power, while the superior claims that the subordinate disobeys the order.

This phenomenon is commonly happening at supervisory level when the supervisor/manager is being assigned a task by the senior management, and is fully accountable to the completion of it, without being given a set of clearly defined KPIs for different levels and different positions, nor being granted sufficient authority to carry out his/her task in terms of the delegation of works and the carrot and stick within his/her team. There is absence of proper guideline on the effective designation of roles to play within the team.

The management expects him/her to complete the tasks without much interference into the team's planning and implementation, only expect the works to be completed by hook or by crook. The job performance has not been fairly appraised, as the management sees the success as a result of the teamwork, without giving due credit to the contributors behind the success accordingly.

This unfair performance appraisal is seen as a stumbling block to the junior staffs in the climb of corporate ladder, and demoralize the teams as a result of jealousy, threat of competent subordinates, and divergence of interests. Everyone within the team will start making every effort to make sure his/her talent is noticed by the senior management, in order to bypass the barrier of management's recognition. The teamwork will then be jeopardized where the works are not done in accordance with a team's common goal, but the team members' individual goals.

In order to prevent or overcome this tense scenario, it is HR Department's responsibility to make sure the assignment of every task by the management is being carried out in accordance with the following:

1. To clearly define the authority and jurisdiction of every leader/supervisor/manager/director.
2. To clearly define and communicate the KPI for different levels and positions.
3. To ensure the individual staffs are appraised fairly and recognized duly out of teamwork.
4. To foster the team spirit by building the consensus within the teams.
5. To foster an open communication working culture where bainstorming is well practised.
6. To advise the superiors and subordinates on a neutral ground in the case of disputes arising.
7. To ensure a fair internal competition environment for the climb of corporate ladder, taking into account the soft and hard skills required in a particular position, without prejudice and favouriteeism.
8. To organize company events, such as family day, birthday party for staffs born in the month; to encourage communications across different levels and positions.

Hopefully the abovementioned eight essential points will help to improve the cohesiveness and team spirit within an organization. The less internal disputes means the higher efficiency at work.