๐ง๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
No-one in the workplace, including the employer signs up for conflict. Most people want to go to work to do the job they are employed to do and go home. Most employers want their employees to succeed and be happy at work because this goes a long way towards a successful business.
So how does conflict arise, how does it escalate and what is the impact on employees and employers?
In mediation, workplace conflict is observed every day. Parties embattled, stressed, wound up in some cycle of tension that doesnโt seem to go away.
If conflict is not dealt with quickly and efficiently it is likely to build or sit under the surface of the relationship until it is sparked by some seemingly minor incident. It can cause the wider workplace to take sides, it can cause productivity to drop and it can develop a workplace culture where everyone is a little uneasy or on edge.
Conflict triggers can broadly be categorised under five headings:
๐ญ. Poor communication.
๐ฎ. A state of uncertainty, where hours are being cut, redundancies occurring or changes of management.
๐ฏ. A lack of clarity, where roles, responsibilities, expectations and tasks are not well defined (which may lead to people feeling undervalued in their contribution to the business).
๐ฐ. Clashes of personalities and cultural differences.
๐ฑ. When an employer does not have a foundation of what behaviours are expected within the organisation.
Each conflict will have its own story, but the common elements of a disagreement are often:
โข How it happened,
โข What the impact has been,
โข What should be done to resolve it, and
โข Who is at fault.
What can employees and employers do to de-escalate and resolve conflict?
The burden is on the employerโs shoulders to โdo somethingโ when it becomes aware of conflict. To do nothing, can create a feeling that the employer thinks that the situation is acceptable and may develop the idea of โthis is what itโs like around here, nothing will be done about itโ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. This is simply addressing the matter as soon as it occurs or you are made aware of it.
The key elements to early intervention is to have respectful courageous conversations when conflict arises and be prepared to draw a line and agree on a different way of communicating in the future. A brief framework of a courageous conversation involves:
๐ญ. Each party being clear about what has occurred (the event)
๐ฎ. What the impact is (using โIโ statements)
๐ฏ. What resolution looks like (how to acknowledge the past, draw a line and agree on the future)
๐ฐ. And understand that, although parties do not always agree with one another, they can acknowledge the โIโ statements and agree on behaviours going forward.
If you need our assistance, please get in touch with our team.
