Shannon W Unit 18: Behaviour in public sector employment P3, M2, D1
There are four main types of behaviours that people can come under. These are aggression,
avoidance, submissive and assertiveness. If someone is ‘assertive’ it means they will behave more
confidently and they are not afraid to say what they want. In the public services the people in
charge, such as a commanding officer in the army, will be assertive. People who are assertive usually
maintain eye contact to ensure they get the message across.
Someone who is ‘submissive’ means that they will shy away from certain tasks which may go wrong.
People who are submissive usually avoid eye contact in most circumstances. They also want to
appear smaller to help draw less attention to themselves. In the public services, a submissive
employee would not be the ideal person because they usually lack in confidence which is crucial in
all of the public services. However, sometimes a public servant, such as the police, need to be
submissive in order to listen to the general public and their side of the story.
‘Avoidance’ is when people are unlikely to become involved in any form of conflict. Like submissive
behaviour, someone who is avoidant wouldn’t make a good employee for any of the public services
because they all deal with conflict at some point and the police especially are always dealing with
conflict
‘Aggression’ is shown in many different ways, for example when someone is speaking in a loud tone,
they may interrupt and shout over others, or they might even use some form of physical force in
order to get their message across. Aggression can mainly be seen in commanding officers in the
army. They do this by having a loud, aggressive tone in their voice to get the recruits attention and to
ensure they all listen.
Understanding psychology plays a big part in the public services when dealing with the behaviour of
people and ensuring their colleagues are positive and stress free. People’s behaviour is commonly
effected by the people around them, which is the reason why there is discipline and authority across
all of the public services. An understanding of psychology and behaviour can also help the police for
example, to deal with the suspect. Each suspect will have different types of behaviours therefore the
police officers need to understand how to deal with those behaviours. Some may have psychological
disorders, such as schizophrenia, which will make them much harder to deal with. However,
psychology will teach officers how to encounter people like this. It can also be useful because being
in the public services can be stressful, self-esteem can begin to get low while conflict can get high.
Therefore; having a good leader who understands psychology and having a positive environment can
benefit the public services and can create a better place of work which will result in happier
colleagues and a better work outcome.
Another important factor within the public services is having behaviour management techniques to
prevent conflict between colleagues. Conflict is where you have a disagreement with somebody
which then leads to an argument and this can be common across all of the public services. To
prevent conflict, mainly all of the public services involve some form of teambuilding activities to
make them work together, hoping that it will reduce the chance of conflict happening between them
or their team. There is also a theory, also known as a conflict resolution called the Betari’s box which
is basically a circular diagram that shows how both attitude and behaviour are linked. Our attitude
plays a large role in the behaviour we exhibit. When we are feeling positive and motivated, we smile
and work better as a result. These positive feeling tend to influence others into being positive as
well. The same thing is believed to happen if we have negative feelings, for example if a police
There are four main types of behaviours that people can come under. These are aggression,
avoidance, submissive and assertiveness. If someone is ‘assertive’ it means they will behave more
confidently and they are not afraid to say what they want. In the public services the people in
charge, such as a commanding officer in the army, will be assertive. People who are assertive usually
maintain eye contact to ensure they get the message across.
Someone who is ‘submissive’ means that they will shy away from certain tasks which may go wrong.
People who are submissive usually avoid eye contact in most circumstances. They also want to
appear smaller to help draw less attention to themselves. In the public services, a submissive
employee would not be the ideal person because they usually lack in confidence which is crucial in
all of the public services. However, sometimes a public servant, such as the police, need to be
submissive in order to listen to the general public and their side of the story.
‘Avoidance’ is when people are unlikely to become involved in any form of conflict. Like submissive
behaviour, someone who is avoidant wouldn’t make a good employee for any of the public services
because they all deal with conflict at some point and the police especially are always dealing with
conflict
‘Aggression’ is shown in many different ways, for example when someone is speaking in a loud tone,
they may interrupt and shout over others, or they might even use some form of physical force in
order to get their message across. Aggression can mainly be seen in commanding officers in the
army. They do this by having a loud, aggressive tone in their voice to get the recruits attention and to
ensure they all listen.
Understanding psychology plays a big part in the public services when dealing with the behaviour of
people and ensuring their colleagues are positive and stress free. People’s behaviour is commonly
effected by the people around them, which is the reason why there is discipline and authority across
all of the public services. An understanding of psychology and behaviour can also help the police for
example, to deal with the suspect. Each suspect will have different types of behaviours therefore the
police officers need to understand how to deal with those behaviours. Some may have psychological
disorders, such as schizophrenia, which will make them much harder to deal with. However,
psychology will teach officers how to encounter people like this. It can also be useful because being
in the public services can be stressful, self-esteem can begin to get low while conflict can get high.
Therefore; having a good leader who understands psychology and having a positive environment can
benefit the public services and can create a better place of work which will result in happier
colleagues and a better work outcome.
Another important factor within the public services is having behaviour management techniques to
prevent conflict between colleagues. Conflict is where you have a disagreement with somebody
which then leads to an argument and this can be common across all of the public services. To
prevent conflict, mainly all of the public services involve some form of teambuilding activities to
make them work together, hoping that it will reduce the chance of conflict happening between them
or their team. There is also a theory, also known as a conflict resolution called the Betari’s box which
is basically a circular diagram that shows how both attitude and behaviour are linked. Our attitude
plays a large role in the behaviour we exhibit. When we are feeling positive and motivated, we smile
and work better as a result. These positive feeling tend to influence others into being positive as
well. The same thing is believed to happen if we have negative feelings, for example if a police
