workplace conflict

Conflict in the Workplace

While many workers and bosses want to prevent workplace strife, it is unavoidable. Conflict arises as a result of differences of views, and although it is often perceived negatively, conflict may be beneficial to an organization. This is true as management learns how to successfully handle disagreement in order to achieve a favorable result.

Detrimental Effects of Conflict

Conflict in an organization can be harmful and it can cause rifts that harm the organization. Employees may get drained by the issue in conflict and instead of focusing their energy on being productive employees, the pressure becomes so much that they cannot concentrate on the important things (Kellett and Dalton, 2001). At the same time, conflict can be to the advantage of the organization in that it can help the organization to identify the problems that need to be solved in order to strengthen the organization. The important thing is to learn how and when to address these issues. It is always advisable that conflict is handled at its onset to avoid escalating the problem.

Importance of Effective Conflict Management

Failure to effectively handle conflict can result in high employee turnover. If a hardworking employee feels that they are being bullied at work and this problem is not being addressed, they tend to look for employment elsewhere where they feel that their needs will be addressed. Conflicts, in most cases, arise as a result of a weakness in the organization (Currie et al., 2016). It is thus important that an organization identifies the reason conflict arises and gets the best strategies to solve it for future purposes. By doing this, the organization becomes stronger and the employees work collectively towards attaining their goals and objectives.

Reference

Currie, D., Gormley, T., Roche, B. and Teague, P. (2016). The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature. International Journal of Management Reviews.

Kellett, P. and Dalton, D. (2001). Managing conflict in a negotiated world. 1st ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.