How to Manage Employee Conflict
According to Scott Miller, vice president of management consulting firm Kirk Miller & Associates Inc., over 65 percent of work-related performance complications result from employee conflicts, as opposed to lack of skill or motivation. By managing employee conflict effectively, you will not only increase performance and productivity, but will lower employee turnover rate as well.
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Instructions
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Deal with employee conflicts before others get involved. Often, one person in a team starts a conflict and others join by in taking sides.
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Listen to both sides of the conflict. Do not assume you already know the issues involved; let both sides tell you their stories in detail.
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3
Ask for specific conflict details. Often employees will describe employee relations in vague terms such as "she never listens to me" or "he always thinks he's right". Instead, insist that employees fill you in with specific examples. For example, if an employee tells you "she always thinks she's right", get him to make a specific accusation such as, "she always makes changes to my reports without asking me." Without details, you cannot devise a plan for change.
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4
Respect employee's feelings. Show empathy as you listen to each side by saying "I can see you are angry" or "I understand you are hurt." Do not give over an opinion on the conflict by saying you feel the same way or by saying that the other person is wrong, just show that you care.
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Do not force employees to change the way they think; allow employees to agree to disagree. Understand that some employees will never agree on certain issues, but help them overcome their differences and work together.
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Set up a plan for employees to make behavioral modifications that will help them get along. Do not expect drastic behavioral changes that employees will not be able to comply with long term. In the example in Step 2, agree that the employee will allow the hurt employee read over changes to reports before submitting them or agree that a third-party will read over the changes before submitting.
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Use extreme caution if an employee is having a conflict with you as a manager. Confront the employee politely and ask her to explain to you why she is upset. Do not become offensive, hostile or apologetic. Internalize the complaints against you and determine if they are valid. Realize that changes in your own behavior may be necessary and the angered employee may be doing you a favor by bringing this to your attention. At the same time, expect that the employee modifies her behavior and respects you as a superior in order to create a healthy working relationship.
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