Conflict at Work

There's no doubt that more needs to be done to help employers resolve conflict in the workplace. Conflict costs employers time, money, employee commitment and reputation. According to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), there were more than 115,000 employment tribunal applications in 2003 to 2004, a rise of 17% after two years of falling applications. A key finding from CIPD's research is that a significant amount of conflict in the workplace results from personal behavior and identified bullying/harassment at work as a common cause of workplace conflict and one of the most difficult to manage. Organizations have to act to prevent these disputes and address problems that do happen as early as possible.

The CIPD defines bullying as persistent behavior against an individual that is intimidating, degrading, offensive or malicious and undermines the confidence and self-esteem of the recipient. Harassment is unwanted behavior that may be related to age, sex, race, disability, religion, sexuality or any personal characteristic of the individual. It may be persistent or an isolated incident. It is essential to remember that it is not the intention of the perpetrator that is key in deciding whether bullying or harassment has occurred, but whether the behavior is unacceptable by reasonable, normal standards and is disadvantageous or unwelcome to the person/people subjected to it. According to one estimate, bullying costs employers 80 million lost working days and up to £2 billion in lost revenue each year. It also accounts for up to 50% of stress-related workplace illnesses. The vast majority of employers have a policy that covers defining and encouraging non- discriminatory behavior at work. Different organizations use different types and names for policies that cover these areas. 91% have a diversity/equal opportunities policy, 83% have a bullying/harassment policy and 39% have a policy covering dignity at work.

In conclusion, the main challenge facing organization in resolving conflict at work is to encourage line managers to become more proactive in recognizing problems. They need to identify the problem early on so it doesn't escalate further. Some managers ignore the issue, hoping it will go away will only worsen the conflict at workplace. Another biggest challenge in tackling bullying at work is giving confidence to individuals to report bullying/harassment, providing independent support to both accuser and accused, as often the focus can be on one or the other but not both. Organization also need to change managers' attitudes so that they fully understand what behavior is and isn't acceptable. Thus, a clear and effective policy that stated procedures and guideline to handle conflict or harassment will be useful for all type of organization to eliminate conflict at work.