Embrace efficiency, cut costs, and foster a positive work environment that propels your success with a workplace mediator on retainer.
Conflicts happen when humans gather.
Unresolved workplace conflict is disruptive and can immediately begin to damage a work culture if left unresolved. The root of a conflict can be just below the surface or deeply embedded into the soul of a company affecting its people, brand, service or product delivery, and even external partnerships.
Workplace conflict manifest as any extended struggle; clashing of ideas, ideologies, desires, needs, and ego; or incompatibility of ambitions, hopes, wishes, and demands that interrupt the flow or production of work. The question shouldn’t be, How can we avoid workplace conflict? But rather, How can we learn to navigate it with peace and dignity?A workplace mediator on retainer may be a solution.
Engage Directly in Conflict with a Workplace Mediator
Conflict avoidance is real thing. We generally hope a disagreement along with negative feelings that accompany an unresolved issue will disappear and work operations will return to normal. However, normal operations do not mean conflict vanishes. As leaders, we are aware that unaddressed matters will eventually deteriorate morale and operations resulting in unsettled feelings, delayed projects, and workplace trauma.
Consider the recent Writers Guild of America. Even after a contract has been negotiated and agreed upon, conflicting points of view and contention remains. Many of the 11,000 writers secure employment from project to the next. Writers return to shows, but consider the financial or emotional losses to writers, actors, network management, and audiences. Conflicting points of view and issues remain. Integrity and trust have been degraded. After this contract is ratified and writers return to work, communication must be restored to prevent contention and rebuild a collaborative work environment.
Workplace Conflict Is Pervasive
On average, employees spend 2.8 hours per week navigating workplace conflict, averaging an annual loss of $3,000 per employee as a calculated on an hourly rate of $20.80. Conflict can translate into the loss of thousands of dollars each year in productivity, talent, reputation, opportunity, and innovation, not to mention the mental and physical strain on employee health.
Here are the most common ways conflict inserts itself into the workplace thereby creating an unhealthy work culture:
Interpersonal conflict between individuals within the organization
Communications breakdowns across teams and departments
Competitive environments causing tension between departments and peers
Disputes between employees(s) and manager(s)
Cultural conflicts due to differences in beliefs, values, and practices
All forms of bullying and harassment
Organizational restructuring (eliminating positions or shuffling teams)
Policy and procedural changes
Customer or client disputes
Corporate governance disputes made by board member or shareholders
Depending on the scope and size of your organization, having a workplace mediator on retainer is a sound option for companies. There will always be some level of conflict within your organization. If conflict is handled poorly, the work culture is forever damaged. Often organizations place band aids on conflict symptoms instead of resolving the root issue or problem between the parties involved.
If unattended, conflict can eventually destroy relationships from inside and outside of an organization. Unresolved conflicts create frustration across leadership and employee teams and will eventually impact product and service quality and their delivery to clients/customers. Conflicts follows a path through corporate operations and negatively impact the bottom line.
Workplace Conflict Is an Old Story. Resolving Conflict with a Workplace Mediator Is a New Idea.
Disagreements, disputes, or tensions arise often in the workplace. They always have, and they always will. Conflict is inherent to the human condition. It does not matter at what level within the organization. It could be the result of competing interests, goals, perspectives, or personalities. More often than not, the blame is assigned to a person (or persons). After which, managers place persons involved on a disciplinary or improvement plan without opening a real channel to communicate and discuss the conflicting issue and resolve it. There are tools and skills worth learning to ensure a work culture encourages mutual respect while also honoring feelings as employees work toward a peaceful and sustainable resolution.
A Workplace Mediator on Retainer
Investing in peaceful conflict intervention will save your company money while increasing morale, job satisfaction and employee engagement.
Workplace mediators are trained to remain impartial, promote effective communication, and facilitate negotiations toward mutually agreed upon solutions. The respect and dignity of each person involved in the process is held at the highest level so that the parties can move forward and work together. The professionally trained workplace mediator helps to foster and preserve working relationships.
According to Workplace Peace Institute’s CEO Dr. Robyn Short, “Investing in peaceful conflict intervention will save your company money while increasing morale, job satisfaction and employee engagement.” Having a workplace mediator on retainer includes access to conflict coaching, online leadership development, virtual mediation, and restorative justice services.
During the resolution process, the parties involved in the conflict secure the tools and skills to recognize conflict and address it sooner rather than later. Organizations prevent prolonged disruptions due to internal and external conflicts affecting business operations.
Leaders have access timely expertise to diffuse even the most complex workplace issues. This translates to uninterrupted workflows, increased employee morale, and enhanced workplace contribution from team members.
Elevate Your Business Through Peaceful Conflict Intervention
Ready to experience the dignity that comes with a peaceful workplace? Join hands with Workplace Peace Institute and empower your business with our corporate retainer for conflict intervention services. Embrace efficiency, cut costs, and foster a positive work environment that propels your success. Contact us today to learn more about how our retainer can help you reimagine your approach to conflict resolution in the workplace. Your journey to a peaceful workplace starts now!
Workplace Peace Institute is an organization systems design and research firm that is singularly focused on creating workplace cultures where people thrive. Workplace Peace Institute supports small to mid-sized businesses in optimizing employee engagement, maximizing organizational productivity, and improving profitability by infusing human security and dignity as foundational attributes of their business model. Our Leadership Academy supports leaders in honoring basic human needs and dignity needs in the workplace, so they can actualize human potential in the workplace. The online Leadership Academy optimizes competencies in human behavior, communication skills, conflict resolution, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging to create highly engaged workplaces where basic human needs and dignity are consistently honored. All our courses are offered online and can be customized for in-person workshops and seminars.