Managers should have some conflict resolution skills, but HR professionals must recognise that they are not mediators.
A panel discussion on the second day of the CIPD Festival of Work in London covered what organisations should do to ensure workplace conflict does not spiral out of control and begin to affect individual and team morale.
Professor Richard Saundry, principal research fellow at the University of Westminster, said that conflict at work can “have an enormous impact on an individual that can spread into a team” and that early intervention is key to both minimising the impact it has on individuals and costs to the organisation.
Conflict resolution
“The difficulty is that [saying early intervention is important] is very easy. But many managers will be concerned about recrimination and HR holding managers to account [for any mistakes they make during the process],” said Saundry.
Although he recognised that managers are busy, “wait and see” was an “irrational approach” for them to take when faced with conflict in the team.
Transformation expert Kate Griffiths-Lambeth noted that a team can quickly become dysfunctional if conflict is not resolved in its early stages.
She said that dealing with conflict should be seen as part of the criteria for a management role, but organisations should not “throw them in the deep end and expect them to swim”.
She highlighted the importance of coaching in developing managers’ conflict resolution skills, and noted that good managers should also be aware of any challenges individuals are facing in their personal lives that could be contributing to how they are dealing with others at work.
Academic and author Jonny Gifford said: “Managers are not mediators, but should have some conflict resolution skills up their sleeves.”
Asked whether conflict can sometimes be seen as a “good” thing, Griffiths-Lambeth said that a degree of conflict is sometimes needed for organisations to innovate.
“Being brave enough to speak up and raise something that can cause debate is healthy,” she said.
Saundry said that six out of 10 managers involved in conflict resolution experience stress, depression and anxiety. “If we address it early enough we can minimise these negative impacts,” he added.
Gifford said: “Healthy disagreement is vital but that’s not really conflict – it only becomes conflict when it becomes personal.”
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