People express themselves through emotions. Frustration over judgment, responsibility, or alignment may at times erupt into conflict. People increasingly live in their own information bubbles and extreme polarization in society has made discussions more tense. This has led to a rise in conflict, including conflict at work. The workplace is a melting pot of different cultures and views. It's important for leaders to learn how to manage a diverse crowd and mediate conflict when it arises.
Conflict in the workplace is common. Back in 2008, CPP Inc. performed a study and found that 85% of employees and leaders experienced some amount of inevitable conflict at work. 29% of employees experienced almost constant conflict. In a more recent study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the United Kingdom (2020), 26% of employees stated conflict was common and more than 33% of employees experienced conflict in the previous year. Throughout their careers, the majority of employees enter into one or multiple conflicts with peers or their managers. For a significant size of the workforce, the volume of conflicts is so high that they are nearly always in conflict. With these statistics, it's critical to assess the impact of conflict on the employee and the organization.
The time spent on conflict and acts to remedy conflict costs organizations a significant sum of money. On average, employees experiencing conflict lose 12 hours every month (CPP Inc., 2008). Back in 2008, that cost the global economy $359 billion. Today, the financial impact, due to bigger salaries, is much higher. Apart from the time lost in conflicts and resolving conflicts, there are other factors that weigh on organizations. Employees exposed to a conflict are less satisfied with their jobs and therefore report higher absenteeism and are less productive. In addition, employees experiencing conflict are more likely to quit their jobs. 58% of workers say they either quit or are considering quitting their jobs because of disruptive workplace politics (Randstad, 2018). The process to then acquire and onboard new employees is costly plus an organization known for conflict has a harder time in hiring qualified workers. Finding methods to prevent or timely identify and resolve conflict can therefore save organizations a lot of money.
When conflicts erupt they often are the result of growing underlying tensions. In its report, the CIPD (2020) stresses that most conflicts (49%) start over clashing personalities. In other words, the majority of conflicts are not over content but character. Other important reasons for conflict are stress (34%) and heavy workloads (33%). Managing the causes of conflict falls under the responsibilities of leaders. Leaders are appointed to effectively manage people with differing backgrounds, allocate work appropriately, and prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed. When leaders allow causes for tension in the work environment to sear and sizzle for too long, conflict is its natural consequence. Even when leaders consistently address all of the aforementioned items, it's not possible to completely avoid conflict. Sometimes conflict can even have a positive outcome stimulating progress, deepening trust, and strengthening relationships. That's why it is critical that leaders possess the skills needed to manage conflict.
Conflict resolution is a difficult but vital skill to master. Employees attach great value to leaders being able to mediate conflicts. 70% of employees believe managing conflicts is a critical leadership skill (CIPD, 2020). At the same time, 54% of employees see room for leaders to improve their ability to identify and address conflicts and underlying tensions timely. CPP Inc. (2008) reported that less than 50% of employees who reported their conflict to a supervisor saw their situation improve. Since 2008, the percentage of employees expecting more from their leaders grew by 11% from 43%. Not surprisingly, leaders are more confident in their ability to troubleshoot conflict and fewer of them believe training is required to improve their conflict resolution skills. The frequency of conflict in the workplace and the severe impact of conflict on organizations however justify additional leadership training on conflict resolution.
Addressing conflicts heavily relies on communication and listening. Good conflict resolution starts by enabling people to voice frustrations and emotions before transitioning to a solution mode. By releasing some of the pressure, the conversation about resolving conflicts becomes more manageable. Fundamental to such a conversation is that all participants understand and ascribe to the values of positive relationships. Believing that finding a resolution is beneficial to everyone paves the way to hearing each other out. The core of a conversation over conflict is a respectful dialogue over what's causing the underlying tensions. Actively listening to and balancing the needs of contributors is what allows for workable solutions to be put on the table. Leaders who are able to apply their skills to manage conflict conversations are more successful in creating a win-win situation.
The majority of people face conflicts. The performance of employees and organizations suffers under conflict. There are various causes of conflict but most commonly it starts from clashing personalities, stress, and heavy workloads. Leaders need to master conflict resolution by addressing the underlying tensions as well as managing conflicts themselves. To effectively apply conflict resolution, leaders must rely on their communication and listening skills and align employees to find win-win solutions.