CONFLICT RESOLUTION THERAPY AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SKILLS OF TRADE UNION LEADERS IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IN IBADAN AND IKEJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The h.osp.i.tali.ty indu.stry in Nig.e.ri.a is fast gro.wing wi.th gre.at pote.nti.al.s. H.o.weve.r, the.re is anec.dotal evid.e.nce that the inces.sant indu.stri.al ac.ti.ons in the sub-sec.to.r have negatively impac.ted i.ts g.e.ne.ral pe.rfo.rmance and econ.om.ic pote.nti.al.s. Th.is tre.nd is attrib.uted partly to the inabili.ty of the Trad.e Uni.on Le.ad.e.rs (TUL.s) to effec.tively manag.e the occu.rring conflic.ts, thu.s, ra.ising conce.rns fo.r the ne.ed to incul.cate bette.r Conflic.ts Manag.eme.nt Skill.s (CsMS.s) in the TUL.s. Previ.o.u.s studi.es have focu.sed mo.re on le.ad.e.rsh.ip, pe.rsonal, o.rganisati.onal and e.nvironme.ntal fac.to.rs than on the.rape.utic tra.ining that co.uld e.nhance the CsMS.s of TUL.s. Th.is study was the.refo.re, d.esigned to d.ete.rm.ine effec.ts of Conflic.t Resoluti.on The.rapy (CRT) on the CsMS.s of TUL.s in the h.osp.i.tali.ty indu.stry in Ibadan and Ikeja, Nig.e.ri.a. The mod.e.rating effec.ts of g.e.nd.e.r and educati.onal atta.inme.nt we.re al.so exam.ined. The Plu.ralist The.o.ry was u.sed as the anch.o.r, wh.ile the m.ixed-meth.ods of su.rvey and qu.asi expe.rime.ntal d.esigns we.re adopted. Two func.ti.onal branch uni.ons of Nati.onal Uni.on of H.otel and Pe.rsonal Se.rvices Wo.rke.rs we.re pu.rposively selec.ted and as.signed to CRT (Prem.i.e.r H.otel, Ibadan) and control (She.raton H.otel, Lagos) gro.ups. Two-intac.t (2015 and 2017) Branch Wo.rking Comm.i.tte.es (BWCs) we.re adopted as partic.ipants in e.ach c.i.ty (CRT - 16; control - 14), wh.ile the tre.atme.nt lasted e.ight we.eks. The instrume.nts u.sed we.re Conflic.ts Manag.eme.nt Skill.s (r=0.78) and Conflic.ts Manag.eme.nt Style (r=0.82) scales, and CRT Gu.id.e. Focus Group Discussion was conduc.ted wi.th 11 TUL.s. Qu.anti.tative data we.re subjec.ted to d.escriptive statistics, Analysis of covari.ance and Scheffe post-h.oc test at 0.05 level of significance, wh.ile qu.ali.tative data we.re conte.nt-analysed. The partic.ipants’ ag.e was 50±7.5 ye.ars, wh.ile most of them (73.3%) we.re male; 43.3% we.re marri.ed, and majo.ri.ty (60.00%) we.re h.old.e.rs of OND/NCE ce.rtificates. The adopted conflic.t manag.eme.nt styles we.re competing (20.7%), avo.iding (20.4%), collabo.rating (20.3%), accommodating (19.8%) and comprom.ising (18.8%). The.re was a significant ma.in effec.t of tre.atme.nt on TUL.s’ CsMS.s (F(1;29)=7.12; η2=0.26). The partic.ipants in the tre.atme.nt gro.up had a h.ighe.r post-tre.atme.nt me.an sco.re (x ̅=62.92) than th.ose in the control (x ̅=44.69). The.re was a significant ma.in effec.t of educati.onal atta.inme.nt on TUL.s’ CsMS.s (F(2;29)=0.84; η2=0.07), wh.ile the ma.in effec.t of g.e.nd.e.r was n.ot significant. Partic.ipants wi.th h.igh educati.onal atta.inme.nt had a bette.r post-tre.atme.nt me.an sco.re (x ̅=32.65) than th.ose wi.th lo.w qu.alificati.ons (x ̅=25.29). The two-way inte.rac.ti.on effec.t of tre.atme.nt and educati.onal atta.inme.nt was significant (F(1;29)=1.11; η2=0 .05), wh.ile the two-way inte.rac.ti.on effec.ts of tre.atme.nt and g.e.nd.e.r, and g.e.nd.e.r and educati.onal atta.inme.nt we.re n.ot significant. The thre.e-way inte.rac.ti.on effec.t was significant (F(1;29)=1.61; parti.al η2=0.07). The TUL.s we.re reluc.tant in adopting comprom.ising style, o.wing to a long dom.inance of the manag.eme.nt, based on the beli.ef that manag.eme.nt we.re obstacles to conflic.t resoluti.on. Conflic.t resoluti.on the.rapy e.nhanced the conflic.ts manag.eme.nt skill.s of trad.e uni.on le.ad.e.rs in h.osp.i.tali.ty indu.stry in Ibadan and Ikeja c.i.ti.es, Nig.e.ri.a. The.refo.re, trad.e uni.on le.ad.e.rs sh.o.uld adopt th.is the.rapy to improve the.ir manag.eme.nt skill.s, particularly th.ose wi.th lo.w level of educati.on.