Bosses: Settle Your Employee Disputes

If you're a boss, you know employees don't always get along. Unfortunately, an argument can create an uncomfortable environment in the office and also lower productivity. Settle your employee disputes by squashing them right away. Here's how. Just:

Be fair.
Prior to talking to either of the disputing employees, decide to be fair. Don't let your personal feelings toward one; override how you approach the situation. Remember, sometimes even the best people can be wrong and the worst people right. So, you don't want to jump to conclusions.

Get the facts.
Settle your employee disputes by finding out the real reason behind your employee's behavior. Is one jealous of the other? Or, was their some type of miscommunication? Ask questions of each party until you get truth. The more you know, the better you will be able to bring peace to the situation.

Face them off.
Try to get both parties in the same room with the purpose of discussing the dispute. By causing them to face-off, you eliminate a lot of lying, sidetracking and gossip. You also let them see that employee disputes are not tolerated in your office.

Ask for a compromise.
Get buy-in from the two employees by asking them both for a compromise. Can they share common equipment that might be causing a strain between them? If so, how? By getting them to come up with a solution together, you're more apt to settle your employee disputes. Each person will walk away feeling empowered and less angry.

Set a time line.
If an agreement between the fighting employees can't be met right away, give them a time line. Let them know that within 48-hours, you expect some type of compromise and will meet again. As the boss, you plan on helping them work toward an amicable solution for the good of everyone.

Lay down the law.
Unfortunately, in certain situations that violate company policy, you will have to lay down the law. This is true when two employees can't get along because of racism or sexism. The offending party has to be told that under no certain terms he can act in a certain way and if the behavior doesn't stop, you will fire him. This action is the only way to settle this kind of employee dispute.

Keep up the communication.
Even after disputing employees resolve their issue, it is important to keep in touch with them. Keep tabs on the situation by following up after 30 days with each person. Get feed back on how things are going and evaluate the need for more work.

Use these suggestions and bring more calm into your office. You can settle your employee disputes more easily and get down to business.