About 41 percent of managers and employees think their direct superior is not prepared to handle conflicts that arise at the workplace.
According to a recent survey, employees did not necessarily trust their bosses to handle workplace conflicts successfully, a potentially serious issue since some conflict is likely – if not inevitable – in any company. One researcher noted that conflicts can often arise around issues such as management succession or growth strategy, according to BLR.
Because of the challenges involved, however, bosses can sometimes make workplace conflicts worse rather than solve them. This might occur if someone chooses to overlook a seemingly minor occurrence, if a solution is perceived as unfair or unreasonable or if the boss does not seem to have considered the matter as much as it warrants. Similarly, employees may become displeased if the manager becomes defensive or confrontational, so professionals must be wary of their own emotional involvement.
Dealing with workplace conflicts effectively
Part of the difficulty is that conflicts may arise out of legitimate business issues or simply because two personalities are not compatible. If two individuals do not get along, it may be for personal reasons, professional ones, or a mix of the two. They may have actual disagreements, incorrect perceptions of each other, or a combination. This means that the first challenge is often understanding the nature of the conflict, which is not always simple.
Sometimes an issue should be resolved quickly, but other times it can present an opportunity to look at the available alternatives more closely and see if the problem is not the people involved, but rather the way the business operates. A flexible HR management system may be necessary to adjust to such diverse possibilities.
