Conflict - Can you afford ignore it?

Unmanaged employee conflict has been described as one of the largest reducible costs in organisations today and one of the least recognised.  Some of the more obvious costs are grievances, litigation, mental health and absenteeism.  However, international studies have also revealed that:

• Over 65% of performance problems in the workplace result from strained relationships between employees -- not from defects in individual employee skill or motivation.
• 30% or more of a manager’s time can be spent dealing with conflict;
• Chronic unresolved conflict is a decisive factor in at least 50% of employee departures.

Workplace conflicts cry out for management intervention.  Proactive involvement decreases the likelihood of the conflict escalating to a point where resolution is difficult, if not impossible.  While this “nipping it in the bud” approach seems like commonsense, all too often managers/supervisors fail to address low level conflict at the local level.  This appears to be due to a number of factors, including:

• Lack of knowledge of basic conflict management skills.
• Fear of becoming the subject of a complaint or grievance if they do try to intervene.
• Fear that their intervention will fail or make matters worse.
• An organisational culture where avoidance of conflict is considered the “norm”.

The key is choosing the right intervention.  Research has shown that the some interventions are ineffective (or even harmful) once the conflict has escalated to a certain level.  Livingstones uses a two-stage approach to conflict resolution.  Firstly, conflict analysis and secondly, intervention recommendation.  The type of intervention depends on several factors including the nature of the dispute, the personalities involved, the culture of the organisation and the level of entrenchment of the parties.  Possible interventions include:

Mediation

Mediation is a process by which a neutral third party facilitates a discussion between the parties in conflict.  Mediation can be focused on problem solving (facilitative) or changing the nature of the conflict interaction (transformative).

Multi-party facilitation

Multi-party facilitation is process that brings together individuals who have been affected by harmful and negative workplace behaviour.  The focus is to address the causes and consequences of this behaviour, and to find a satisfactory solution through consensus decision-making.

Conflict Coaching

Conflict coaching is one-on-one support to help a person deal with a conflict situation.  The coach helps the person identify and develop new practical skills to resolve conflict, replacing less effective strategies.

Training

Training in conflict prevention and management techniques can assist to build confidence in applying these skills in the workplace.