In cases where unilateral view of the thing is perceived by one party, a dialogue can be the best way to address the concern. This act calls for understanding of concerning parties and not merely an objective talk but more of an outlet of emotions for those who have something in heart to say. One should take account of other’s self in the process. Management has to inquire about employees preferences, at times. Management, however, can be utmost cautious in disclosing information during dialogue with employees.
It has almost been a practice that they should not release information conveying their own, hidden interests. Employees have this notion predefined in their minds, however. This makes having a dialogue with employees so difficult for top management. But it is not only the top management that has difficulty in doing dialogues. Employees, during some inevitable instances, use representatives to speak for the group. In so doing, some points are being simplified, translated, reduced, or summarized, which, in some cases, bring loss of true meaning of the message (Herriot, 2001).
The Authenticity of Dialogue Rhetoric, whose purpose is merely to persuade than to share and listen, is sometimes becoming a substitute, of (management’s) choice, for dialogues. This, however, promotes more negative thoughts to employees who think that they are just there to receive command from top management. The issue with rhetoric is trust. It seems to pose management’s mistrust in employees’ competence and motives in sharing something in the dialogue or in contributing to decisions to make. It, in essence, takes off employees’ capability to assess thing on their own view of it.
While it is true that some changes call for unilateral decision, a good and complaisant approach of cascading it will prove to serve the purpose of getting cooperation of the other side. In doing decisions, management should acknowledge the fact that employees have the right to contribute to at least some of those. Employee, in turn, should acknowledge management’s right to expect certain level of performance and flexibility to adapt to whatever changes are deemed needed by the organisation, for a cause mutually beneficial for them (Herriot, 2001).