Why Training Your Employees to Be “Conflict Competent” Matters

Conflict is part of life in the modern workplace. And we’re often reminded that some workplace conflict can be good, leading to healthy discussion, better decisions, and stronger relationships.

But there are many instances where conflict is harmful, where it distracts employees, wastes resources and time, and damages work relationships.

Most employees have limited experience in handling high-tension events or the toxic personalities they occasionally encounter in the workplace. They’ve never learned how to disagree well or proactively address difficult behavior or situations that are bothering them. They are not “conflict competent,” and resignedly choose to stay frustrated or angry, leading to significant consequences for both them and the organizations they work for.

The magnitude of workplace conflict varies, of course, from the extreme of a worker throwing things, yelling or stomping out of meetings to small differences in work habits or styles that result in discord. Bullying is another extreme type of conflict. Someone who feels slighted or insecure bad-mouths a colleague, chooses to withhold key information or is generally uncooperative. When not addressed, these situations and their consequences build.

Reports suggest that roughly 85% of employees experience some degree of conflict at work and organizations spend 2.8 hours per week dealing with it, with estimated lost annual productivity at $359 billion.

These productivity losses indicate that not everyone is handling conflict well.

Organizations can sidestep some of these consequences. By training workers at all levels in how to deal with conflict, they are better equipped to overcome difficulties early on and minimize negative effects.

 

Causes of conflict aren’t going away

The causes of normal conflict vary. Personalities clash and work styles differ. Workloads are heavy and cause stress. Communication is incomplete or non-transparent. Work roles, project scope, or territories are unclear or sometimes overlap. In some cases, the source of conflict is the customer, client, or patient.

Of course, there are times when conflict crosses the line: Verbal abuse, bullying or harassment. One toxic individual’s interactions, left unchecked, can repeatedly debilitate a team’s progress. And some professions are worse than others. Healthcare studies report at least 60% of nurses experience verbal abuse. Thankfully, many organizations have formal processes in place to handle these more serious situations. 

But for normal, everyday conflict, employees must tackle challenging interactions on their own. And this isn’t likely to ease. The causes mentioned above have become part of the fabric of a work life filled with diversity and change.

 

Help your team learn to better navigate workplace conflict. Enroll in one of our newest, LIVE virtual seminars: Managing Conflict and Confrontation at Work.

 

Common responses to conflict

We’ve all been in the position where a disagreement, unfavorable situation or festering personality conflict distracts us from our work, causes stress, or even drives us away from a job.

As a young salesperson, I once went three months overlooking a colleague’s clear attempts to step into my sales territory. I tried to convince myself it was an oversight. I considered talking to my boss. Meanwhile, I fretted and anguished over what to do. I started looking for a new job … all to avoid this person and her behavior. After speaking with a close friend (and worrying a couple more weeks), I confronted the woman. It was awkward. There was a lot of silence. But it solved the problem and, most importantly, I was able to refocus on my job, stop looking for a new one and get some sleep at night.

Situations like these – along with awkward attempts to resolve them – distract our employees daily.

Common poor responses to conflict include avoiding, accommodating and competing. When someone avoids a difficult work conversation or accommodates even when they believe themselves to be correct (because conflict makes them uncomfortable), frustration, anger, and stress can build. Conversely, an overly aggressive, competitive response is also common for employees without conflict resolution skills, leading to their being overly forceful or surly, thus damaging critical relationships.

 

Equipping employees with conflict resolution skills is key

When employees don’t have strong conflict resolution skills, what start out as merely uncomfortable or frustrating situations, can swell, leading to decreased job satisfaction, high rates of absenteeism, and greater turnover. The ultimate fallout lands on organizations, showing up in wasted time and lost productivity.

For the most part, organizations have done a good job of creating formal processes workers can use when there is harassment or bullying – conflict that is clearly close or crossing the legal line.

But less clear-cut relationship difficulties can be trickier for organizations to navigate. Conflict training for everyone – not just managers – ensures better outcomes. By teaching employees how to deal with various personalities and tricky interactions, they have less fear and are able to work through conflict in its early stages … before it become unhealthy and damaging to both their work relationships and your organization.

 

 

 

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