Caryn Walsh is an International Business Consultant, Executive Coach, Keynote Speaker. She is in Fiji four times a year.
Misunderstanding others, not listening well, personal agendas and talking about other people negatively are listed as some of the main reasons relationships at work suffer and conflict walks in the Organisational door.

And when it does, productivity suffers.  Unhappy people make unhappy workplaces which in turn, affect the bottom line.

Yet you’ve tried and tried to turn the problem around, sent them on training, spoken to the warring parties individually and yet nothing seems to help.  Nothing.

Conflict at work increases when issues are not addressed, frustration grows over time, people start to pull away from each other, ultimately not uniting together to solve problems they face.

Factions then often occur and competition is declared between team members.

Worse still, is when Organisational leaders are the problem.   When they talk about others and refuse to listen to those around them.

When this happens, a culture of fear and blame is created, which permeates throughout the entire Organisation.

The Impact of Workplace Bullying

The ‘silent’ epidemic in Organisations, impacts not only the victim, but also those around them and the overall productivity of the team or Organisation.

Workplace Bulling is defined as the ‘intentional, repeated behaviour directed at an employee or group to embarrass, humiliate or undermine.’

The costs of workplace bulling to Companies and national economies run into hundreds of millions of dollars per annum due to absenteeism, worker’s compensation, stress leave and reduced productivity.

What’s it costing your Organisation?

Workplace Conflict – a Leadership Issue

Employees are humans which means at times they annoy or irritate each other but if conflict is ongoing, it is a leadership issue.

Why?  Because often leaders ignore the conflict, hope it will go away, pray their people will ‘get over it’ and that things will get better in the future.  And they may, for a while.

But simmering tempers and frustration don’t go away.  They boil away under the surface, waiting for the right moment to explode.

And then the costs are high now only to the warring parties, but the whole team.  And everybody runs for cover ……. and it’s a million times worse when the warring parties are the leaders.

Learning Core Communication Skills

Core skills in effective Organisational communication include active listening, empathy (compassion), standing your ground calmly (assertive), willingness to solve the issue, looking for solutions to problems, being respectful and acting in an emotionally intelligent manner.

It also helps to have a keen sense of humour and not be over-sensitive.

According to Conflictintheworkplace.com:

When Organisations make it a priority to train employees in communication and listening skills, build trust by strengthening relationships and enhancing conflict resolution skills, less conflict occurs.

When employees feel that their concerns are heard by their leader, job satisfaction and productivity increases.

This goes straight to the Organisation’s bottom line.

From a leadership perspective, there needs to be a firm commitment to growing your people so that your Organisation can transform.

Conclusion

If workplace conflict is allowed to fester over time, it will only get worse — affecting morale, customer service, increasing individual and team stress and ultimately, negatively impacting on the effectiveness of your organisation.

Modern day organisations need to focus on creating Organisations that have a ‘can do’ culture, where communication is expressed with clarity and empathy.

Also where employees want to come each day.

Jeff Kotter, author of Leading Change explains:

‘The best performing organisations I know that operate in highly competitive industries have executives who spend most of their time leading, not managing employees who are arguing and fighting.

Highly performing teams and Organisations deal with conflict quickly and well.’