Conflict at Work – Why aren’t we resolving things better?

Conflict at work

These last few weeks have seen the new government struggle with dealing with conflict in Downing Street and different approaches to management style and crucially communication. A situation that is becoming all too familiar across organisations and businesses.

In a world where there are increasing opportunities for flashpoints and disagreements as pointed out by Zoe Wigan Workplace conflict is growing in 2024 – how can businesses stop it? (peoplemanagement.co.uk) we wanted to look at ways to prevent this becoming an issue in organisations and businesses. According to the CIPD’s newly published How employers are tackling bullying and harassment at work (cipd.org) there is a high % of employees who feel that workplace conflict has either been partly resolved or not resolved at all. This is despite many organisations believing that they are doing enough. So why the gap? Here are a few reasons…

Ineffective resolution procedures:

Despite 70% of employers claiming to have effective conflict resolution procedures, many employees feel their grievances have been unresolved, indicating a gap between perception and reality. Managers may feel they have applied their policy fully and exhausted their duty, but it seems clear from the data that either the approach or the policy is failing.

Toxic behaviour handling:

Only 6% of cases involving toxic behaviour in the workplace are resolved successfully. This reflects the difficulty organisations face in addressing more serious issues, leaving many employees feeling disillusioned peoplemanagement.co.uk – Fewer than one in 10 cases of toxic behaviour in the …

Prolonged conflicts:

Conflicts often remain unresolved due to mismanagement or poor communication strategies, contributing to ongoing tensions within teams

Managerial challenges:

Managers may avoid or struggle to handle difficult situations effectively, worsening workplace conflicts instead of resolving them

It’s no secret that HR professionals spend a lot of time dealing with the results or fall out from conflicts at work. Increasingly however we are finding that organisations are having to field higher levels of grievances and/or the threat of complaints.

All workplaces inevitably have areas where people may not see eye to eye or do not share the same values and opinions but it is where that escalates into unprofessional behaviour and then how that is dealt with that is key to ensuring that workplace conflict is resolved effectively for all involved.

We recommend the following methods:

Promote a healthy and open culture centred around positive communication:

Many employees and managers believe that we should avoid conflict in the workplace and see conflict as a negative state. However organisations need a degree of conflict in order to develop and grow. We need to expect that not everyone will agree and make it acceptable to disagree in a positive and respectful way. So instead of viewing it as a negative we need to foster a culture of respect and inclusivity. Healthy debate that is open is good and helps individuals understand another point of view if done with openness and in line with an organisation’s values.

Clear policies and procedures:

Ensure that all employees are clear about the standards of behaviour from the moment they join the organisation. Set out what formal procedures are in place to resolve issues. Clear guidelines for handling disputes help set expectations and provide a structure for conflict resolution.

A different approach:

Ultimately if the worst does happen and conflict does escalate and threaten relationships then sometimes allowing the different parties to be heard can de-escalate a situation or help with restoring working relationships after the event. An HR facilitated conversation may help in some situations but occasionally a situation requires professional mediation. 

Mediation is sometimes a good process to facilitate improved relationships and can be a very useful service to offer employees at all levels to resolve issues. It is not the panacea to all workplace conflicts but can be effective if utilised at the right point in the right situation.

If you think Mediation might help some situations in your organisation then take these points into consideration:

Mediation is:

“A confidential and voluntary process in which a neutral person helps people in dispute to explore and understand their differences so that they can find their own solution” What is mediation? (cedr.com)    

The Mediation process is:

  • Voluntary – all parties must enter into voluntarily – it cannot be an order from management or HR
  • Impartial – It should be performed by someone outside of the organisation who is trained
  • Confidential
  • Non-legally binding

Sometimes a different approach may help and enlisting outside help can change dynamics and shift the focus to the future rather than the past.

If you want to learn more, please contact us and we would be happy to answer any questions or assist and support. Contact Us – New Dawn Resources