How to Create your Company’s Conflict Resolution Policy

Conflict is a natural part of life and even work. Employees in the United States reportedly spend around 2.8 hours each week embroiled in conflict. This equates to approximately $359 billion in hours paid that are filled with conflict rather than constructive output. We all experience different kinds of conflicts daily, but when it comes to the workplace, a conflict resolution policy is a must-have.

Conflict in the workplace produces a great deal of frustration, stress, discomfort, despair, and resentment. In today’s world, corporations hire people from all over the world with varying cultural and intellectual backgrounds, as well as different points of view.

Your conflict resolution policy is as important as your human resource planning. Because workplace conflict is prevalent, effective conflict resolution solutions, grievance process review, and disciplinary action for HR must also be common.

 

 

Common types of workplace conflicts

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Task-based conflicts

These types of conflicts occur for a variety of reasons. It could be a lack of coordination while collaborating, someone delaying work, a violation of boundaries or poor communication, resulting in poor performance. This impacts the job and has far-reaching effects, particularly on the team’s advancement and success. Task conflict typically involves tactile issues related to employees’ work assignments. It might include discussions about how to divide resources, differences of opinion on processes and rules and managing workplace expectations.

TimeTrack Employee Reporting helps to prevent conflict by allowing managers to observe what their teams are up to without breaching privacy or infringing on rights.

Personality conflicts

People differ from one another. We might meet someone whose personality contrasts with ours, resulting in confrontations.

Personality conflicts usually develop from differences in perceptions and behaviors, influenced by culture, religion, background, character and even conflict styles.

These differences can also lead to variances in how we see and react toward others. People who would never meet in real life are frequently pushed together in organizations and must strive to get along. It’s no wonder that personality clashes are common in corporations.

Work style conflicts

Employees may have differing views if their work styles are incompatible. We all have different ways of doing things, which can lead to disagreements. Many prefer to work alone and at their own pace, using their knowledge and skills. Others prefer working in groups, expressing themselves, and interacting with others.

Creative conflicts

Conflicts over creativity and ideas are common when working in groups. Employees may come up with different ideas and have diverse reactions to those ideas, which can trigger disagreements and competitiveness. Though dealing with completely different ideas or contradicting yours is difficult, it can provide the best solutions for your business.

Leadership conflicts

Typically, leaders are the ones who step in to mediate resolution between co-workers. But what if the drama is caused by and centered around the leaders? One of the most common categories of workplace conflict is leadership issues. Every leader has a unique management and leadership style. Additionally, every employee has a varied response to those styles.

What is conflict resolution?

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Conflict resolution is simply settling a disagreement between two or more employees. Conflicts between co-workers, bosses or the service provider and the clients can arise often. It can also include a serious behavioral complaint involving sexual harassment.

Negotiation procedures are the key to resolving a problem in such a contentious environment. A negotiated agreement expedites the resolution of conflict. It assists you in identifying the solution and reaching a consensus. It’s a great way to strengthen teamwork inside an organization.

Sometimes the person who resolves a problem is a neutral party or mediator. The key is that the person must be unbiased and deal with the facts only.

The ability to resolve conflicts is often heralded as a leadership characteristic. Many organizations value those who can identify disputes, locate the root reason, acknowledge opposing viewpoints and reach a satisfactory solution that works for everyone.

Examples of conflict at work:

• Conflict between colleagues who are on the same team or working on a project together.
• Issues around employee conduct such as sexual harassment, bullying and malicious gossip.
• Conflict between departments or groups, such as human resources or management and the workforce.

Company conflict resolution policy

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You must implement a conflict management process to maintain a productive work environment. When conflicts aren’t addressed, a toxic environment may become commonplace and staff will leave.

Employees who are competent at resolving issues amongst themselves are more likely to trust one another and discover creative procedures to resolve problems.

Benefits of the employee conflict resolution process

Now that you have a general understanding of the concept, it’s time to learn about the advantages of the grievance procedure, also called a conflict resolution process.

Building relationships

• Arguments that go unresolved can harm personal and professional relationships. These emotions may result in explosive behaviors and animosity if colleagues cannot resolve their issue. Communication, emotional awareness and empathy are the key components of productive conflict resolution, and these skills can help navigate connections and prevent future issues.

Goal achievement

• In business connections, goal completion can be hindered by a persistent conflicting situation. Concentrating or collaborating on a project might be challenging when there is underlying conflict. Greater effectiveness and goal achievement may result from addressing these problems at their source and conducting mediation. Using conflict resolution techniques to determine personal and professional goals, notably the capacity to compromise, negotiate, review and move past a disagreement, is critical.

One source of potential conflict is around working hours and fairness and transparency when allocating leave and managing employees’ breaks. TimeTrack Timesheet automatically generates a working model where managers can track attendances, working hours, breaks, absences and sick leave for all employees. This entails fair management over everyone’s time and breaks.

Enhancing commitment

• Once a disagreement has been resolved, conflict resolution can help bring people together. One of the most crucial aspects of conflict resolution is deciding to work together to solve issues rather than slandering each other or a termination. This is a smart strategy to increase employee commitment to the process and prevent defensiveness in the grievance procedure. Working through emotions might help both parties better comprehend and review company objectives and foster future employee commitment and loyalty.

What to include in a conflict resolution policy

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1. Set ground rules and acceptable behavior

Conflicts are easier to resolve once ground rules are established for the process, regardless of how well-organized and put-together the strategies are. The aim should be to make peace and come to an affable consensus.

2. Take time to investigate the situation

Sometimes things appear different on the surface, but a closer investigation reveals hidden truths. As part of conflict-resolution plans, mediators must research and understand the history of the disagreement. Refrain from rendering a quick judgment based on superficial observation. An investigation of a dispute, particularly from a legal perspective, might assist addressing all queries and preventing any escalation, such as termination.

3. Utilize the right conflict-resolution skills

The appropriate skills are required for conflict resolution and for creating a comfortable environment for everyone involved. A manager or HR representative must be confident and assertive to negotiate employee conflict amicably and conduct a proper investigation of a false report.

Building trust and respecting individual personalities depends on active listening and the capacity to understand the perspectives of both parties. Empathy is a critical conflict-resolution skill, particularly for mediators, because it enables them to grasp both circumstances objectively. Being alert and observing body language while actively listening will help mediators pick up on non-verbal signs to comprehend the speaker’s intentions. Mediators can organize a brainstorming session to help participants identify the trigger points and arrive at a rapid resolution.

4. Accommodate and collaborate to achieve the goal

The fundamental goal of conflict resolution is to reach a consensus on a solution and ensure that similar issues don’t cause conflict again. There are numerous instances of employee dispute resolution procedures in which one party must concede to another’s requests because doing so is financially in the business’s best interests. The accommodation must be reasonable, though, or there will inevitably be future disagreements. Since everyone can collaborate, a shared space for problem-solving is created, making it simple to conclude.

5. Implement consequences outlined by human resources

Good leaders know that the path to success is paved with failed theories and notions and one can never be too certain of a certain response. So, it’s crucial to prepare for failure to maximize the likelihood of success. HR managers should have comprehensive disciplinary measures in place, and everyone must follow the process to ensure a fair and positive outcome of any conflict.

Conclusion

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One of the most difficult areas of management is conflict resolution at work. It’s a delicate process but a necessary aspect of the work for a manager or human resources specialist. Conflict is unavoidable in the workplace. Take the time to work with HR in creating an effective company conflict resolution policy.