Managing conflict

Conflict in the workplace can have a negative effect on the day-to-day working of your business, or result in a large scale strike or other employment dispute. It can also affect the general health and wellbeing of your employees.

This guide outlines how you can manage relationships in your business and minimise conflict between individuals, teams, and larger groups of employees.

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Spotting signs of conflict

Conflict can arise at work for a number of reasons. For instance, two employees may have a personality clash, an employee may have a grievance against their manager, or a manager feels an employee is underperforming. It could also happen when there is a rivalry between teams or a lack of trust between workers and management.

Sometimes the signs of the conflict can be visible – for example, in an argument between colleagues, a meeting that turns into a stand-off or when colleagues send angry emails to each other. Other conflicts can be harder to discover – for example, one team could withdraw from contact with the rest of the business, or there might be an increase in staff absence from work.

Conflict can have a negative impact on your employees and this may be demonstrated by:

• a lack of motivation – fewer people volunteer to take on new tasks, and there is little employee input at team meetings or briefings
• unpleasant behaviour – people start to make derogatory remarks towards each other and there are fewer social events organised
• falling productivity – there are likely to be more queries and complaints if people are not cooperating with each other
• increased sick leave and absence of staff – unhappiness may lead to depression or stress

By spotting signs of conflict early, you have a better chance of:

• identifying the causes
• reaching an agreement
• resolving the conflict

You should also identify and address the early signs of conflict. Some managers will find it easier than others to pick up signs of conflict, and there is often an element of doubt.

As a manager you are more likely to be able to interpret the behaviour of your employees if you have regular channels for open communication and consultation. By listening to the views of your employees at an early stage – before issues become potential problems – you can gauge future reaction to proposed changes.

Employee feedback forms or questionnaires may also help you to understand the situation and stop future conflict arising – see the page in this guide on preventing conflict.

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Causes of conflict

Every employee has needs and certain expectations at work, and conflict could arise when people feel that these are not being met or are being ignored.

Conflict could be the result of:

• poor management
• unfair treatment
• unclear job roles
• inadequate training
• poor communication
• poor work environment
• lack of equal opportunities
• bullying and harassment
• new changes to products, organisational charts, appraisals or pay systems

Other major causes include:

• Personalities – the ‘personality mix’ within a team can be upset when a new member of staff joins or if two colleagues suddenly fall out. Individuals may also respond to difficult or challenging situations in an unhelpful or unproductive way.
• Needs and expectations – conflict at work can often be caused when employers ignore the needs of employees or set unrealistic expectations. For example, arranging hours that make it difficult for employees to carry out childcare responsibilities.
• Values – most people have very clear ideas about what they think is fair, and your organisation’s procedures and policies must reflect this. For example, giving someone a fair hearing or explaining the reasoning behind a decision.
• Unresolved issues – for example, an employee might ask to be moved to another team because of their manager’s ‘aggressive’ leadership style. However, the employee may have other reasons – for example, they may blame their manager for a lack of training or career progression.
• Increase in workload – sometimes conflict is caused because people feel they are being pushed too hard and that ‘something has to give’.

It is important to understand the root cause of an individual’s or group’s unhappiness. For example, a person in a team may seem to be struggling with an unmanageable workload, but they may be resentful of another employee who appears to have less to do. It may also be a result of organisational changes, restructuring, or promotions given to other staff.

To help you manage conflict, look at the previous relationship between the employee and their manager, and their peers for signs of past conflict and feelings which may influence them.

You can put policies and procedures in place to help prevent and manage conflict. For more information see the page in this guide on preventing conflict.

Coping with change

Change can make employees feel vulnerable and uncertain, as they worry about their future career prospects. Therefore, managers should communicate and consult with employees about future changes so that they don’t feel alienated and raise grievances.

You can read advice on managing change in your organisation in our guide reorganisations, restructurings and other major changes.

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Preventing conflict

To minimise and prevent conflict in the workplace, you should try to learn as much as you can about why conflicts occur and develop processes to help you address them. Common action points that employers should consider are:

• developing a strategy for managing conflict with managers, employees and your representatives
• having sound policies and procedures in place
• explaining plans for change and training to managers and employees and making everyone feel involved
• listening and consulting with employees on decision-making
• rewarding fairly with pay or bonus schemes
• ensuring work safety
• ensuring that managers are properly trained and able to handle management responsibilities

For more information, see our guide on how to inform and consult your employees.

You can also improve your working environment and develop interpersonal relationships by:

• valuing employees and thinking about the business culture of the workplace
• treating people fairly
• communicating the law on harassment and discrimination
• encouraging initiative
• balancing employees personal and business needs
• asking Investors In People to assess your business and promote training and communication

See our guide on how Investors in People can help your business.

It is also worth considering:

• regularly giving out employee feedback forms or questionnaires
• keeping regular channels of communication open
• knowing your employees’ different personalities

Equality policies

Having a clear equality policy in your workplace may help to prevent feelings of unfair treatment, and so prevent conflict. For more information, see our page on equality and diversity policies in our guide on how to set up employment policies for your business.

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Conflict between groups and individuals

Conflicts in the workplace could occur between individuals or groups.

Conflicts may arise between individuals because:

• of a clash of personalities, difference of opinion, bullying or harassment
• of an aggressive or weak management style
• some employees may feel others are treated more favourably

For more information on dealing with conflict between individuals in your workplace, see the page in this guide on managing conflict between individuals.

Conflict may arise between groups because of:

• team rivalry, disagreements or resentment
• a ‘them and us’ mentality between large groups of employees and their managers
• resentment of senior management, poor morale, low motivation, disagreement over pay, health and safety, redundancies and lack of proper consultation

Groups of people in a team tend to display a certain pattern of behaviour. Four distinct phases of a group or team’s development are:

• forming – the team is new, uncertain of how to behave and reserved
• storming – the team argues about who should do what and how, and therefore conflict may occur
• norming – the team agree its core tasks and responsibility is assigned
• performing – the team operates according to agreed norms and can progress

For more information on dealing with conflict between groups in your workplace, see the page in this guide on managing conflict between groups.

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Managing conflict between individuals

When a conflict arises you should try to take a calm approach and not react in a challenging way. You should also not ignore the problem and hope that it will go away.

The best way to handle conflict is to face it and have a planned approach. If you have policies or procedures in place, you can use these to determine how you approach the issue or to give your employee an idea of how you will approach addressing the problem. It may help to have an employee representative and/or a senior manager who can help if:

• employees find it difficult to confront their managers and make a complaint
• you are not able to speak to each employee individually

Talk informally

You should allow everyone to clear the air and have their say. Employees need to know who they can go to when they have issues and that they will be taken seriously.

Investigate formally

It is important that you make an informed decision by gathering information from everyone involved. You should think about what would be the best outcome for everyone involved, including the business itself.

Use internal procedures

You should make sure that your grievance procedure is up to date and communicated to all staff, discussed at team meetings and at individual appraisals. These procedures will also help deal with issues such as bullying, absence and misconduct.

Upgrade your skills

Having one-to-one conversations requires sensitivity and empathy. You should always make sure that you:

• listen to what an employee says
• question them calmly to understand any underlying problems
• consider problems from a variety of perspectives
• lead by example
• comply with the latest employment laws
• have up to date policies on dispute resolution procedures

Get external help

Resolving personal conflicts can be difficult if you feel you are too close to the problem.

Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) may be able to help by providing mediation. This involves an independent, impartial person helping two or more individuals or groups to discuss their problems and reach a solution that’s acceptable to everyone. You can read about how mediation could help to resolve conflict on the Acas website [opens in a new window].

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Managing conflict between groups

Sometimes you do have to make difficult decisions about work practices, pay and organisational rules and procedures, all of which may cause conflict.

Communication

You should ensure that all communication is relevant, concise and delivered in a suitable way. Employees should be consulted before decisions are made.

Representative structures

If you can’t talk to each person individually, set up ‘sounding boards’ of employee representatives such as:

• working groups to consider issues such as absence levels
• staff councils or consultative committees to look at issues like new products and training
• trade union representatives to negotiate terms and conditions of employment

You can find out more about representative bodies in our guide on working with non-union representatives.

Dispute resolution procedures

It is also useful to have an agreement with your employees’ trade union on how to resolve conflicts in a systematic way. An agreement will generally cover:

• scope of who is covered by the agreement
• general principles and shared aims
• subjects for discussion
• stages for resolving a dispute
• third party involvement and when you will ask for external help

Consider getting outside help

Getting help early will give you more options for resolving conflict and more chances of reaching a resolution.

If you do ask for help, you should decide whether you want someone to:

• work with you to find your own solutions
• advise you on how to resolve the problem
• tell you what to do

For external help in resolving conflicts, you can contact the Acas Helpline on 0300 12 1100. Acas provides free, impartial, confidential and independent information.

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Formal complaints procedures

Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that your employees raise with you. Where possible, you should encourage employees to settle them informally with their line manager, but you should also have formal procedures available to your employees.

Having formal grievance procedures in place allows you to give reasonable consideration to any issues which can’t be resolved informally and to deal with them fairly and consistently.

Your rules and procedures should be set out in writing and follow the good-practice principles set out in the Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Failure to meet either of these requirements may result in extra compensation for the employee if they succeed in a tribunal claim.

For more information on grievance procedures, see our guide on handling grievances.