How To Best Handle Employee Conflict In The Workplace

The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) estimates that conflict costs UK business £33 billion per year, and consumes 20% of leadership time, potentially losing up to 370 million working days. Therefore, organisations must understand how to deal with conflict quickly and effectively before it escalates into a significant problem in the workplace.

What is Conflict?

Conflict occurs when one person (or a group) perceives that another person (or a group) is preventing them from satisfying their needs or is blocking them from expressing their views and beliefs in a way that they think is reasonable. It is so important to note the word ‘perceives’; perception is everything when it comes to conflict issues. Conflict pivots between functional or dysfunctional conflict based on our perceptions.

Conflict is a perfectly normal part of being a human being. It can be internal – inside our heads, or it can be external with others. Conflict can be toxic, harmful, and destructive. It can also be a powerful driver of change, learning, and growth. But when it goes bad, it can be bad! Any manager knows the agony of dealing with the fallout of a grievance that has been raised; it is no wonder then that managers feel left in the dark when it comes to trying to sort out conflicts within their teams. Conflict management is a vital technique that tries to help people to modify or ‘reframe’ their perceptions of themselves and of the other person they are in conflict with.

 

Handling Conflict In The Workplace 

When faced with a difficult conflict issue, people can choose to ignore it, complain about it, blame someone about it, or try to deal with it indirectly by gossiping and dropping hints. Or we can be direct, clarify what is going on, and try to resolve the issue. The key phrase in this sentence is that we can choose how to deal with it.

Many techniques have been developed in dealing with conflict, and it will depend on the specific situation that has caused the conflict to know which resolution will help it. David Liddle in his book, Managing Conflict, developed the following management theory- the Six F Words. They are management areas that are overlooked a lot of the time, but are vital to personal, collective, and business success:

• Fights – how to resolve conflicts courageously, constructively, and collaboratively.
• Feelings – how to respond to strong emotions and give them meaning and relevance. Critically it is important to use empathy to better understand another person’s needs.
• Fear – how to have confident conversations, how to overcome our fears, and how to manage others without the use of fear.
• Failure – how to handle mistakes and learn from them while avoiding blame and retribution.
• Forgiveness – how to move on and how to let go.
• Flow – how to engage in a dialogue with others that opens up connection, promotes understanding and creates meaning and insight.

It can be difficult for managers (and people in general) to be able to deal with these areas on their own; that’s why we encourage you to reach out to us at Think People if your team is having an issue (no matter how small it may seem). We offer a range of services that can help deal with conflict at any stage; whether it is dealing with the fallout of a grievance being raised, offering mediation between disputing parties, or as a preventative approach by training your managers to spot and deal with issues themselves. Please get in contact with us so we can help resolve any issue you are facing in your workplace. To speak with a consultant, call our office at +44 (0) 2890 310450, +353 (0) 1969 7865 or send an email to enquiries@thinkpeople.co.uk

To learn how to confidently manage issues with employees legally, register for our free webinar on Managing Employee Relations & Conflict here. The seminar holding on Thursday 19th May10 am to 11 am is a great opportunity to tap into expert advice and top tips from Victoria Smith, Senior HR Consultant at Think People and David Mitchell, Employment Lawyer at Millar McCall Wylie.