Introduction
The workplace consists of employees who represent the internal structure of a company or organization. All employees play a significant part in the growth and sustainability of a business. Maintaining a good work environment is ideal in promoting relations amongst employees. In some cases, people may not agree with a particular concept of theory because of different cultural backgrounds. Management should be equipped with knowledge on how to deal conflict management and resolution between two or more employees in a work environment (Hansson, Palm, & SALTSA, 2005).
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"Post Agreement Workplace Environment".
Reasons for Conflict Resolution
In essence, there are various approaches that one can take when dealing with disagreement in the workplace. Each approach is determined by the type of company, work environment, type of conflict, and persons involves in the conflict. As stated earlier, conflict in the workplace is uncommon in that it is an aspect of an employee’s life. Each employee has goals, objectives, missions, and strategies that they intend to fulfill. All these elements should reflect on the company’s overall strategy. In fact, an employee cannot perform their duties well if they do not agree with the decisions made by their supervisor or managers. Therefore, companies are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that each and every employee plays a significant role in their growth and development (Cornelius, 2002).
Conflicts in workplaces are inevitable. Conflict arises when goals and interests of one employee dose not auger well with the other employees. More often than not the employees in organizations may fail to reach a consensus thereby generating conflicts among themselves. Conflicts in the workplace may also be between the employees and the employers. Whatever the case, if the conflicts are not professionally handled and resolved, the productivity of an organization may snoop dive. Further, if conflicts are not resolved early enough, the spirit of teamwork deteriorates. Talented employees may decide to quite an organization because of the misunderstanding between themselves as employees (Collins, 2009).
Generally, the human resource department is responsible for handling issues pertaining to conflicts and disagreements in the workplace. As such, management in charge of this department should be aware of the various issues that may arise in and outside the office setting. Employees are often encouraged to be creative and productive during strategy formulation and the decision making process. Ideally, this is done through encouraging teamwork, promoting employee motivation, and practicing effective communication. However, employees have the tendency of placing their personal goals, opinions, and perceptions ahead of their peers. Additionally, each employee is motivated by their own goals and objectives. This makes the chances of conflict in the workplace to increase considerably (Crawley, & Graham, 2002). Consequently, management should have in place strategies and best practices for dealing with conflict and disagreements amongst employees.
Strategies and Best Practices to Create Productive Work Environment Post Conflict Resolution
Each person has a preferred conflict management style depending on the nature of the conflict. Different styles apply in different situations; thereby one style may be ineffective in one case and effective in another. The styles that are commonly used by managers are cooperative, collaborative, competitive, active listening, and avoiding. Notably, some strategies may be used to serve as a quick solution to an issue while some strategies are preferred when solving the underlying issues in a disagreement (Collins, 2009).
In the case that two employees have a difference in opinion on a subject matter, a third party should be introduced. A strategy that works when solving much conflict is the collaborative approach. This practice is encouraged by most managers because it involves various parties before the final decision on the matter is made. Using the collaborative approach places each employee on an equal platform by giving each person a chance to give their opinion on a particular issue. As a result, employees learn how to compromise on certain issues while maintaining their say on subjects that they are passionate about. This gives each staff member a chance to contribute their views and opinions when solving issues and making decisions (Murphy,1994).
In contrast, the competitive approach encourages employees to argue for their opinions while ignoring their peers. This practice can be complimented by introducing a third party who can either side or disagree with cooperating and collaborating, active listening,
Conclusion
From the above exposition, it is crystal clear that conflicts in the workplace are inevitable. If not well managed, the same may grind to a halt the operations of an organization. The productivity may reduce. The best approaches to be applied are those that address the needs and the interests of the parties. The collaborative and IBR are but some of these models. A win-win situation must be arrived at.
- Collins, S. D. (2009). Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships (2nd ed.). Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
- Cornelius, N. (2002). Building workplace equality: Ethics, diversity and inclusion. London: Thomson Learning.
- Cornelius, N. (2002). Building workplace equality: Ethics, diversity and inclusion. London: Thomson Learning.
- Hansson, S. O., Palm, E., & SALTSA (Program). (2005). The ethics of workplace privacy. Brussels: PIE-Peter Lang.
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