Only a third of staff feel workplace conflicts fully resolved

While most employers feel they do enough to prevent and manage bullying and harassment, only a third of employees who experienced conflict think it has been fully resolved.

According to a new report from the CIPD, based on the experiences of more than 2,000 employers and 5,000 employees,  a clear gap exists between employers’ trust in their policies and positive outcomes for employees.

Eighty-one per cent of employers believe they are doing enough to prevent and manage bullying and harassment at work, but only 36% of employees who experienced conflict in the past year feel it has been fully resolved.

The CIPD said its findings highlight the need for employers to have a comprehensive conflict resolution framework that emphasises the importance of early action.

Seven in 10 (70%) employers say their organisation has effective procedures for resolving interpersonal conflict.

Disciplinary action (43%) and grievance procedures (41%) are the most common methods that employers say their organisations have used to deal with workplace conflict over the past year.

However, the report notes that these procedures are often drawn out, adding to employees’ stress and increasing costs to the organisation.

The CIPD is urging organisations to consider using more informal and early routes to workplace conflict resolution, where appropriate, to nip conflict in the bud.

Rachel Suff, senior employee relations adviser at the CIPD, said: “Employers must ensure that conflict, including allegations of bullying and harassment, is investigated promptly and fairly.

“Having an anti-bullying and harassment policy that outlines a robust approach to inappropriate behaviour can help to prevent conflict and enable people to speak up. This will help to create a culture where every individual feels able to challenge unfair treatment.”

The research found that most employers say line managers would resolve conflict effectively (75%) and at an early stage (78%), but this is undermined by the finding that 49% admit managers can cause conflict in their teams, rising to 61% in public sector organisations.

Employees are generally positive about line managers, with more than three-quarters agreeing their manager is supportive if they have a problem (77%), treats them fairly (78%), and respects them as a person (79%).

However, of those who state they experience barriers to managing conflict, employers identified line management confidence in challenging inappropriate behaviour (38%), in addition to lack of role-modelling by senior leaders (38%), as the most common. This reinforces the need for more organisations to invest in people management skills, considering three in 10 organisations (30%) do not currently provide it.

Suff added: “Managers at all levels should be trained to manage people effectively and role model the right behaviours. People managers, senior leaders and HR professionals must work together to drive cultural change.”

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