1 in 4 of us have an ongoing difficult relationship at work, finds CIPD report

• 02 Apr 2015

 

Managers can avoid workplace ‘fracas’ by diffusing tension early on

New research from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, highlights that one in three UK employees (38%) have experienced some form oif interpersonal conflict at work in the last year – this includes one in four (29%) who have had isolated disputes or clashes and a further one in four (28%) who report ongoing difficult relationships. The CIPD is warning that mangers have a key role to play in diffusing tensions early on as workplace conflict can have a major impact on employee wellbeing and  business outcomes, with as many as one in ten employees leaving their organisation as a result.

The report, Getting Under the Skin of Workplace Conflict, found that conflict manifests itself in a number of ways at work, the most frequently cited one being lack of respect, according to 61% of respondents. Alarmingly, one in every 25 respondents who had experienced conflict at work in the last year, said that they had experienced the threat of or actual physical assault at work. The CIPD is urging employers to build a business culture that supports positive working relationships and channels which mean that any workplace conflicts can be dealt with early on before it escalates and becomes unmanageable.

When conflict does arise at work, it’s most often perceived as being with line managers or other superiors (36%) rather than with direct reports (10%), highlighting the important influence of the power balance in how conflict is experienced. In other words, the junior person in the relationship is more likely to identify the issue as a problem, while the senior person either didn’t identify it as a problem in the first place or sees it as having been resolved.  The most common cause of conflict is a clash of personality or working style (44%) rather than a conflict of interest as such. Individual performance competence and target setting are also among the issues most likely to spark conflict, with promotions or contractual terms of employment being less influential.

The report found that there is a clear power differential at play with employees being most likely to perceive a lack of respect, bullying or harassment from their boss or other superiors and as many as 1 in 4 said that their line manager actively creates conflict.

Jonny Gifford, Research Adviser at the CIPD, comments:  “All too often, employers brush workplace conflict aside, putting it down to a difference of opinion. but it’s clear that it has a serious impact on our working relationships, wellbeing and productivity. Line managers have a crucial role to play here. For the most part they are seen as a positive influence in helping to create strong, healthy team relationships, but there’s still a clear case for developing managers and providing them with the skills they need. We need managers who can both build robust teams, where challenges can be made in a non-threatening way, and nip conflict in the bud before it has the chance to escalate. These are not generally seen as part of a core skills set for line managers and that view needs to change.”

The CIPD’s report found that in some instances, conflict has become unworkable, resulting in one in ten people leaving a role either by moving to a another role in the organisation, resigning or being dismissed. There are other impacts as well; individuals feeling stressed is the most common one, followed by a drop in commitment or motivation. One in seven cases, (14%) said that there had been a drop in productivity and in 6% of cases, stress levels escalated to a point where an individual went off work sick.

Gifford continues: “Both ongoing difficult relationships and isolated incidents at work can have major ramifications for employees’ personal wellbeing and morale and serious implications for the organisations through demotivation, absence, and employee churn, not to mention the time it can take management and HR to resolve disputes.

With one in ten people leaving their role as a result of it and one in seven saying it affects their productivity, interpersonal conflict is something that no business can ignore.”

When it comes to dealing with conflict, the most common approach tends to be informal, with individuals discussing the matter with their manager, HR or Personnel team, or the other person involved. We also look to our friends and family for support and advice – women are twice as likely as men to do this – but this does not seem to bear any relation to how well the conflict is resolved.

The CIPD has the following advice on tackling conflict management in the workplace:

More scope for mediation: In the CIPD’s survey just 1.5% of employees who had experienced conflict used mediation as a tool to resolve interpersonal conflict but 46% of employees surveyed overall thought that it was an effective approach to dealing with workplace conflict and more than one in ten (13%) felt that they personally had had a relationship that would have benefitted from mediation. This points to an unmet demand for alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR). Line management matters: Line managers have a key role to play in creating good working relationships at work and would benefit from particular training on managing and resolving conflict within the team as well as understanding how they need to protect their team in conflict situations resulting from external influences, e.g. suppliers, the general public if in public-facing roles, etc. Develop a suite of options for conflict resolution: While the survey supports the value of more informal approaches to resolving conflict, it also confirms the importance of having formal grievance and discipline procedures. However, in some cases, such as in conflict rooted in personality differences, they do not seem to help. Employers should therefore provide a range of options to help resolve different types of conflict.

Fourteen Rules Millennials Have to Master in the Workplace

In this era, there is no place for free riders, either you rise to reach the top or you just don't survive. To thrive in this challenging world, millennials have to master the new set of rules which are not taught in the schools. The list is quite long including advancements in technology on daily basis, rising social media, 24/7 wireless connectivity and what not. Now the young people need to take ownership of their careers and have to promote it differently from the previous generations. The fourteen new rules millennials must learn about the modern workplace are as follows:


1.      Job Description Is Only The Beginning.
You won't achieve success if you do what you were hired for, but you'll have to do a lot more to make an identity. The job description given to you is a basic task sheet of what you have to do. One should be attentive and should lookout for new projects and collaborations and go for more learning and development.
2.      Job Is Temporary.
World is changing and so does the workplace. Corporations are acquiring companies and companies are merging into conglomerates. So there is a high risk that your team could be eliminated, your job could be outsourced now or you might lose interest in your current job.
3.      Learning New Skills.
The corporate skills that are necessary for a successful career are good working capabilities, proficient communication skills, the emotional capacity and the additional qualities. By learning and incorporating these skills you can perform better at work, build stronger associations and work towards receiving encouragement on your job. At times talent is tied to an individual's own personality rather than a formal training. These are allied with a person's Emotional Intellect Quotient.
4.      Reputation Is The Greatest Asset.
The things that are going to improve your career are your skills, the projects of which you are part of, the level of trust your colleagues have on you, whom do you know, what others know about you, what you are best at, etc. Eventually what you do is important and highlighted because others take a perception from it, so money and reputation would follow you automatically.
5.     Nothing Is Personal.
Small postings on twitter and facebook about your boss or your colleagues could ruin your career forever. Even small things like your dressing, your behavior, body language, social networking, etc. could build or break your image in the most horrible way.
 6.      Positive Image
The new media has built convergence between private and personal lives. Online social networking sites have connected people of similar interests. This helps in building a reputation and at the same time one can dig deeper into opportunities one is passionate about and wants to learn the expertise.
7.      Working With Mixed Generations.

Currently in the market, you find the Baby Boomers (Executives), Generation X (Managers), Generation Y (Employees) and Generation Z (Interns). All of these generations are different from the others because of the difference in view of workplace, communication ways and of course the difference of eras. Learning the management of relationships despite of these differences would earn you a successful career.
8.      Boss Comes First.
You see low chances of promotion, if your boss is unsuccessful so indirectly or directly he would rub off his anger on you. To tackle this issue you'll have to support your boss's career, by making his life easy and earn his trust. This way he'll take you along the success steps whether in same organization or in the other organization.
9.  Networking.
This is no more an information economy, we have moved towards a social one. On the other side, it is now more about your relationships with people you work with and less about your technical understanding of the work because now anybody can learn anything with a simple click.
10.  Rule Of One.
It is about that one person who can change your life in a better aspect, whether it is related to getting a job or your marriage or starting a business or anything else. There are people all around saying no but the yes from that one person would trigger that you are on the right track.
 11.  You Are The Future.
As predicted that by 2025, the workforce will constitute Generation Y. It means that you will be on the forefront despite of being early in the career lead. All you need to do is position yourself to take up the leadership roles when the older generations retire.
12.  Entrepreneurship, Open For All.
Entrepreneurship is the procedure of commencing a company or business. The entrepreneur or the opportunist is a risk taker, who develops a business plan, acquires the human and supplementary needed resources, and is fully accountable for its accomplishment or failure. In today's world if you want to go ahead of the competitors, you need to work on your company's management as a venture capital firm. It about selling your innovative idea and being persistent.
13.  Accomplishments Matter.
Calculating the hours one has put in on the job has become outdated. The thing which matters most is one's own value and staying firm on delivering tasks based on that value, so that one can measure his own success and earn encouragement.
14.  You Career, Your Rules.
Time has changed, now there isn't anything like relying on anyone else, one has to be accountable for his own career and is in charge of his own life. The issues that must be resolved are learning, growing and in return benefiting your own self.