Exploring and Identifying Issues

Exploring and Identifying Issues of Conflict in the Workplace: Gaining Insight and Making Changes

By Shari Swoish

Presented by: Candice Gottlieb, MS

This fast-paced session explored the causes of workplace conflict, focusing on the emotional and interpersonal relations aspects. Candice asked: Why do people stay on the job? Because they like the people with whom they work. When you dread working with someone, this leads to depressed and anxious feelings—and when there is an imbalance in personal and professional relationships, the cycle of conflict escalation begins.

According to Candice, the major sources of conflict include balancing personal and professional relationships, acknowledging the effects of change and recognizing organizational issues. She emphasized that changes at work affect the balance between our personal and professional relationships with our co-workers. Common causes include the effects of:

- Promotions and/or new responsibilities

- New hires and/or issues of trust

- Change in someone’s actions

- Changes in our opinions

Candice introduced four characters to effectively illustrate how an individual’s style of handling conflict will be different, based on diversity, gender, education level and other variables. Another consideration is that a person’s upbringing is critical to understanding how conflicts are approached. For example, if a person was brought up in a household where screaming at each other was the norm, then yelling and talking over each other is the way this individual learned to handle conflict. On the other hand, if a person grew up in a silent home and was sent to his/her room to think about a dispute, this person may need to retreat and quietly come to grips while approaching conflict situations. Imagine how difficult it would be for these two individuals to resolve a conflict together!

As Candice noted, “emotional health affects business health,” and this brings finances into the discussion. The cost of workplace conflict is astonishingly high: it is estimated that 30% - 42% of a manager’s time is spent resolving conflict matters. In addition, the cost of replacing an employee ranges from 30% to 75% of that employee’s annual earnings, and could go as high as 150%, depending on the job level of the employee.

Candice believes that, “Mediation is an essential tool for any business that values employee retention.” Please refer to her website, www.mediatingsolutions.com for further information, including a template for calculating workplace conflict. Candice is the President of Mediating Solutions and can be reached at 818-400-5670.

The following resources were listed:

K. Crowley & K. Elster (2006). Working With You is Killing Me. New York, NY, Warner Business Books.

R.M. Bramson (1981). Coping with Difficult People. New York, NY, Bantam Doubleday.

K. Cloke & J. Goldsmith (2005). Resolving Conflicts at Work—Eight Strategies for Everyone on the Job. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass.