The Conflict
A conflict in reality is a difficulty or a difference that causes disagreement between individuals and/or groups. It is an inevitable part of working life and has always been there in the workplace, its there today and it will be there tomorrow.
Whether conflict is good or bad is a matter of how you approach it. Strangely, we are going to say that you should view conflict positively. If there is conflict and you view it constructively, discuss it, find a solution, your business will be better for it.
Conflicts arise for a variety of reasons which can include:
- Character clashes.
- Misinterpretation of actions.
- Perceived under performance.
- Poor communication.
- Job protection.
- Bullying.
Regrettably, the British do not like conflict. Most organisations are conflict averse, they do not analyse why the conflict arose and often fudge the issue rather than upset their employee’s feelings or, perhaps the truth is no one wants the sleepless nights or to be unpopular. The classic example is the boss refusing to deal with his secretary’s poor performance or unacceptable behaviour for a quiet life.
If conflicts are not resolved it can have a serious impact on the business and can lead to:
- Low moral.
- Under performance.
- Disruption of communication.
- Absenteeism.
- High turnover of staff.
We examine below the old traditional approach and the benefits of mediation.
The Grievance Procedure
When employees turn to HR for support they are often told they cannot do anything unless they make it formal.
For an employee to make it formal often can mean they have to involve the grievance procedure. It is a big step for that person to take what they consider to be the “nuclear” approach. It becomes a matter of record on their employment history, a matter of public face and can be a high risk strategy to their continued employment. If forced to adopt this high risk strategy by this stage often the aim of the aggrieved person is to secure justice, they want retribution. Put politely, their intention is to see that person suffer and, possibly, lose their job.
Our grievance procedures today, could almost be prefaced with we want to establish:
- Who is at fault?
- Who should be blamed?
Unintentionally, it becomes evaluative and sets complainant against respondent to battle out who is right or wrong.
On reflection after a few months of angst and anguish, because in reality having filed a formal complaint that is what it causes, what they really want or what they would settle for, is to restore a healthy working relationship with the position back to how it was originally. Unfortunately, our grievance procedures promote either conflict or silence. The former promotes one person leaving, the latter resentment and a festering situation.
In a way wouldn’t it be refreshing if the grievance procedure was prefaced with how can we establish:
- What went wrong?
- How can we learn from this and go forward?
- How can we restore a healthy working relationship?
We need to acknowledge and accept that when a party is faced with this type of work conflict, on which ever side, it causes deep issues for them:
- Intellectually
- Emotionally
- Behaviourally
If all want to move forward, both parties have to recognise these feelings and deal with the issues.
One of the approaches to achieve this is mediation. This is a huge cultural change, and while they may be moving towards it “over the pond” in the USA, in the UK we still have a long way to go but we believe this is the time to introduce the concept of mediation in the workplace in all its various forms.
The Cost of Conflict
There are various ways of looking at the cost of conflict for industry. Some surveys have calculated that 30% of absences can be attributed to stress related problems. CIPD calculated that on average employee spends 2.1 hours a week dealing with conflict. For the UK alone this translates to 370 million working days lost every year as a result of conflict in the workplace.
ACAS have calculated that the cost to an employer of a conflict if £9,000. The average cost of taking a matter to a tribunal is £19,000. Barclays Bank plc calculated the global cost in terms of employee time, management time, legal costs, disruption to work and replacement recruitment costs amounted to £277,000.
However you calculate the cost it is a significant and mediation is one way not only to reduce that cost but to provide an effective solution.
Mediation in the Workplace
If instead of allowing the complainant to revel in the “I want justice” arena, it was put to them that really what was in everybody’s best interest - theirs, the respondent and the company – which is to restore and improve on a previously existing healthy working relationship, after the emotion has been removed, they would probably agree.
There is still a feeling that mediation is a “last resort” before litigation but there are those would advocate that mediation should not be used “after the event” by which time the parties are already entrenched. Instead we promote that organisations should move their “conflict procedures” upstream to the beginning of the conflict and agree, without pressure, how they should deal with conflict situations in advance. To us mediation not only works in theory but in practice. It promotes solutions, it avoids business disruption, it resolves conflicts, it avoids anyone having to leave and it is cost effective in terms of management time, legal costs and the cost of findings a replacement.
It is clear the earlier a dispute is settled the better it will normally be for all concerned e.g. in terms of disruption to businesses and lives, and associated costs.
What can a mediator achieve?
As the process is confidential, and through utilising mediation techniques the mediator is able to explore the real issues affecting/troubling both parties. There will often be external factors causing depression/stress, such as family or financial matters, exacerbating the work issue, which the mediation can address and even point the party in the right direction for external support.
After understanding the issues the mediator can get both parties to understand the others position, or perhaps even get the individuals to realise the real issues that are troubling them. The mediator will challenge how the parties have constructed their own views, give an awareness and an oversight into the issues, allow the parties to reflect in a more balanced mood to overcome the normal initial resistance to move on to explore possible solutions. By looking at the conflict in a different light the mediator can find a solution which is not just adding a sticking plaster but a real and long lasting solution.
Why incur the cost of an external mediator?
When economic times are difficult and all companies are looking very hard at cutting cost in all areas why should they pay an external third party to come into the company to resolve disputes? At the end of the day, companies have got highly trained managers and HR personnel who should be able to do this without assistance from you.
First, does the internal person have the skill set to mediate? Chosen correctly and with training the answer must be yes, but there are still problems:
- In-house does not have the feel of confidentiality.
- HR, rightly or wrongly, are ultimately seen as on the company’s side.
- Whichever party feels they have lost will challenge the independence.
- People will be known to each other – will they be able to tell the mediator everything and confide in him or her?
- The mediator may see it as not such a good career move to raise certain issues with more senior people.
For the mediation to work both parties must have confidence in the system. Independence, impartiality (in itself can define a situation) and confidentiality all give the perception of confidence and trust, even to the knowledge that you will never meet the person to whom you bore your innermost soul, in the corridor or the canteen.
The reality is the more senior the level of the people in the dispute, the more likely you will need to have an external mediator to give the process credibility.
Conclusion
Regrettably formal grievance procedures are often seen as a last resort by disgruntled employees who by then want revenge rather than resolution and ultimately one of two valued employees will feel forced to leave. Employees are more likely to remain silent and allow the situation to fester and create even more problems.
Mediation is an informal way of facilitating a solution between two employees in a cost effective way for the benefit of the business.
