A Downward Economy, Ups the Workplace Clash Factor
Workplace conflict is a common these phenomenon these days. You are not among the minority feeling the tangles of conflict or tension at your workplace. According to a study by CPP, a Mountain View, training and assessment company showed that most workers spend an average of two hours per week on clashes in the workplace. The study which covered a sample population of 5000 employees in nine different countries including Germany, Ireland, U.K, Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France and of course the United States, showed that such conflicts have snowballed to a figure of roughly $350 billion in one year. The study found that the Unites States was among the top three countries in their number of hours spend on dealing with conflict (they spent 2.8 hours/week).
The down economy, leads to increased stress and bigger workloads. Although it is definitely recommended for employees to seek professional help and learn techniques to channel their stress, outside of the workplace, it is every employer’s responsibility to also offer its employees the facilitation and conflict resolution expertise. As a corporate psychologist, I constantly come in contact with individuals who after having struggled for a long time end up leaving or getting terminated from their organizations, and then seeking my help. When I ask why they didn’t seek help while they were employed, they mention that their long hours at work did not allow them to cut from their busy schedules to spend time on conflict resolution.
Organizations are being more frugal in their spending, however when one looks at the hours and the amount of dollar lost in haphazard ways of dealing with the workplace clashes, one can only reach one conclusion: it is wiser to spend a fraction of that amount on providing the employees the assistance they need in order to avoid much greater losses down the line.
It is a common misperception that workplace conflict is a result of personality clashes alone; when in fact it is only a percentage of all incidents. While personality clashes cover 49 percent, stress, heavy workloads, poor leadership from the top, and lack of honesty and openness are the greater reason for the conflict. Ironically, a good Conflict Resolution Plan is all it takes to resolve the latter issues, while personality clashes are a matter of understanding, tolerance and in final, executive decision-making.
