Conflict is everywhere. The workplace simply provides a hothouse for good and bad workplace behaviour. The choice of how to deal with workplace disputes is yours. Learn some strategies you can use to calm the waters and provide leadership in this area.

1. Strategies for
Workplace Dispute
Resolution
Lisa Peckham
CG Hylton & Associates Inc.
Sept. 16, 2010
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2. 2

3. Introduction
 Lisa Peckham: Lisa@hylton.ca
◦ Over 10 years experience
◦ Presented at other Infonex Conferences
 CG Hylton & Associates Inc.
◦ EAP
◦ Group or Individual Benefits
◦ CustomCare
◦ Human Resource Consultants
◦ First Nation Consultants
◦ Insurance
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4. Agenda
 What is workplace conflict?
 Types of conflicts
 Why do we need to fix these issues?
 Strategies
 Steps to resolve
 What else can companies do?
4

5. Do you have any workplace issues
we can try and solve for you in this
session?
5

6. Why do Employees Fight?
 Any ideas?
6

7. What is Workplace Conflict?
 Any issues that arise between two or
more people
◦ Ex. Between two co-workers, between a
supervisor and a subordinate, etc.
 Conflicts are emotional or physical
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8. Emotional Conflict
 Hurt feelings resulting from:
◦ Insults
◦ Gossip/rumours
◦ Arguments
◦ Favouritism
◦ Misunderstandings
◦ Sexism
◦ Abuse of power
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9. Physical Conflict
 Physical conflict is caused by:
◦ Harassment
◦ Bullying
◦ Violence
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10. Why is it important to fix these
issues?
 Employers need to strive to make the
workplace non-toxic
 A toxic environment creates:
◦ Higher absences
◦ Issues with retaining staff
◦ Uncooperative staff
◦ Lower productivity
10

11. Why is it important to fix these
issues?
 Employees enjoy coming to work
because they enjoy going to work
 A fun and happy place to work
increases productivity!
 Higher productivity means better
results
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12. 12

13. Solutions for Workplace Conflict
 There are different types of conflict
resolutions
◦ Competition
◦ Collaborative
◦ Compromising
◦ Accommodation
◦ Avoidance
 What is the best choice?
 What else can the company do?
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14. Types of Conflict Resolutions
Styles
 Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
Instrument (TKI) helps you to identify
which style you tend towards when
conflict arises
(http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm)
14

15. Style 1: Competitive
 Useful in an emergency or decision
needs to be make fast
 Can leave people feeling unsatisfied
and resentful when used in less urgent
situations.
15

16. Style 1: Competitive
 People who tend towards a
competitive style take a firm
stand, and know what they want
 They usually operate from a position
of power
◦ Ex. position, rank, expertise or persuasive
ability
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17. Style 2: Collaborative
 A collaborative style tries to meet the
needs of all people involved
 Highly assertive, they cooperate and
acknowledge that everyone is
important
17

18. Style 2: Collaborative
 Useful when:
◦ Need to bring together a variety of
viewpoints to get the best solution
◦ There have been previous conflicts in the
group
◦ The situation is too important for a simple
trade-off
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19. Style 3: Compromising
 Try to find a solution that will at least
partially satisfy everyone
 Everyone is expected to give up
something and the compromiser also
expects to relinquish something
19

20. Style 3: Compromising
 Useful When
◦ The cost of conflict is higher than the cost
of losing ground
◦ Equal strength opponents are at a
standstill
◦ There is a deadline looming
20

21. Style 4: Accommodation
 A willingness to meet the needs of
others at the expense of the person’s
own needs
 Knows when to give in to others, but
can be persuaded to surrender a
position
 This person is not assertive but is
highly cooperative
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22. Style 4: Accommodation
 Appropriate when:
◦ Issues matter more to the other party
◦ Peace is more valuable than winning
◦ Wants to be in a position to collect on this “favour”
he/she gave but people might not return the favour
 Overall this approach is unlikely to have the
best outcomes.
22

23. Style 5: Avoidance
 Seek to evade the conflict entirely
 This style is delegating controversial
decisions, accepting default
decisions, and not wanting to hurt
anyone’s feelings
23

24. Style 5: Avoidance
 It can be appropriate when victory is
impossible, when the controversy is
trivial, or when someone else is in a
better position to solve the problem
 However, in many situations this is a
weak and ineffective approach to take
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25. 25

26. Is there a Bully Lurking
About?
How to recognize a bully
Negatives Positives
◦ Deceitful (great liars) ◦ Sweet
◦ Overly critical of ◦ Charming
others ◦ Clever
◦ Manipulative ◦ Funny
◦ Cheaters
◦ Evasive
26

27. The Bully
 Criticisms and allegations are a
projection of the bully's own
weaknesses, shortcomings, failings
and incompetence; every criticism or
allegation is an admission by the bully
of their misdeeds and
wrongdoing, something they have said
or done - or failed to do.
 It has nothing to do with you!
27

28. You are not alone
 It is rumoured that one in eight people
have been bullied at work
 Don’t feel guilt or shame, it’s the
bully’s way of gaining control
 Bullies are generally incompetent
workers and work hard to make others
look bad to cover their inadequacies
 You have done nothing wrong!
28

29. Types of Bullies
Two Headed Snake The Screaming Mimi

30. Types of Bullies
The Gatekeeper The Constant Critic

31. The Statistics - Bullying
 Men & Women bullied/bully in equal
numbers
 Women bullies target women 84% of the
time
 Men bullies target women 69% of the time
 Vast majority of bullies are bosses (81%)
Source: Campaign against workplace bullying 2000 (USA)
 New research from Griffith University
estimates the cost to Australian employers
is between $6 billion & $36 billion a year
Source: HR Monthly February 2002
Kainai Family Services Workshop

32. What to do
 Bully’s are smart they won’t bully you
when others are watching...so write
everything down that is said or done.
 Do not keep this paper at work, it will
be found by the bully.
 Watch for the pattern that will appear
once you start journaling all incidents
32

33. What to do
 It's not each incident that counts, it's
the number, regularity and especially
the patterns that reveal bullying
 A bully can explain and/or charm away
an incident but it’s harder to explain a
pattern or series of events
33

34. What to do
 Keep copies of all
letters, memos, emails, etc. Get and
keep everything in writing otherwise
the bully will deny everything later
 Carry a notepad and pen with you to
record everything that the bully says
and does.
34

35. What to do
 Make a note of every interaction with
personnel, management, and anyone
else connected with the bullying
 Expect to be accused of "misconduct"
and "unprofessional behaviour" and a
few other things when you do this
 The bully will be angry and try to
discredit you
35

36. What to do
 The bully will be angry and try to
discredit you
 Ask the bully to substantiate their
criticisms and allegations in writing by
providing substantive and
quantifiable evidence
36

37. The Bully
Do not underestimate
the bully's capacity to
deceive!!
37

38. The Action Plan
 Talk to your supervisor
 Share your notes
 Arrange a meeting with victim, bully
and management or 3rd party mediator
 SOLVE THE PROBLEM
38

39. What`s the best strategy?
 Each situation calls for a different
approach
 1. Assess the situation
 2. Strategize an appoarch
 3. Pick the style or styles that suit the
situation
 4. Review and evaluate
39

40. 1. Assess the situation
 Find out what the root of the problem
is
 How many people does it involve?
 Is it necessary for management to
intervene and help?
40

41. 2. Strategize an approach
 Does the situation call for a specific
approach?
◦ Can mix couple of approaches together
to get the best solution
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42. 3. Pick the strategy or
strategies that suit the situation
 If necessary bring a
supervisor, manager or 3rd party to
play referee
 Follow the strategy and ensure that
the problem can be resolved
 Listen to what the other person has to
say!
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43. 4. Review and evaluate
 Did the problem get resolved?
 There should be no fear of retaliation
when confronting and trying to find a
middle ground
 Be aware that you might need to
change your attitude towards that
other person as well!
43

44. What else can companies
do?
 Have a zero tolerance policy!
◦ No violence, no verbal abuse, no
threats, etc
 Managers and supervisors need to play
mediators in order to help resolve
issues
44

45. What else can companies
do?
 Offer workshops that build team
cooperation
 Offer an EAP (Employee Assistance
Program)
◦ This program allows your employees to speak
to a counsellor about any issues
◦ Can be used as requirement to keep positions
if attitudes or issues affect their work and the
people around them 45

46. Is there a Bully Lurking
About?
How to recognize a bully
Negatives Positives
◦ Deceitful (great liars) ◦ Sweet
◦ Overly critical of ◦ Charming
others ◦ Clever
◦ Manipulative ◦ Funny
◦ Cheaters
◦ Evasive
46

47. The Bully
 Criticisms and allegations are a
projection of the bully's own
weaknesses, shortcomings, failings
and incompetence; every criticism or
allegation is an admission by the bully
of their misdeeds and
wrongdoing, something they have said
or done - or failed to do.
 It has nothing to do with you!
47

48. You are not alone
 It is rumoured that one in eight people
have been bullied at work
 Don’t feel guilt or shame, it’s the
bully’s way of gaining control
 Bullies are generally incompetent
workers and work hard to make others
look bad to cover their inadequacies
 You have done nothing wrong!
48

49. What to do
 Bully’s are smart they won’t bully you
when others are watching...so write
everything down that is said or done.
 Do not keep this paper at work, it will
be found by the bully.
 Watch for the pattern that will appear
once you start journaling all incidents
49

50. What to do
 It's not each incident that counts, it's
the number, regularity and especially
the patterns that reveal bullying
 A bully can explain and/or charm away
an incident but it’s harder to explain a
pattern or series of events
50

51. What to do
 Keep copies of all
letters, memos, emails, etc. Get and
keep everything in writing otherwise
the bully will deny everything later
 Carry a notepad and pen with you to
record everything that the bully says
and does.
51

52. What to do
 Make a note of every interaction with
personnel, management, and anyone
else connected with the bullying
 Expect to be accused of "misconduct"
and "unprofessional behaviour" and a
few other things when you do this
 The bully will be angry and try to
discredit you
52

53. What to do
 The bully will be angry and try to
discredit you
 Ask the bully to substantiate their
criticisms and allegations in writing by
providing substantive and
quantifiable evidence
53

54. The Bully
Do not underestimate
the bully's capacity to
deceive!!
54

55. The Action Plan
 Talk to your supervisor
 Share your notes
 Arrange a meeting with victim, bully
and management or 3rd party mediator
 SOLVE THE PROBLEM
55

56. Our offer to you
 Please call if you have any HR, or
workplace issue that you are
overwhelmed with
 We can help you
 We also are pleased to do Free
Workshops for your organization (some
limits apply) Let us know what your
needs are and we will make it happen!
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57. CG Hylton - Services
 HR Consulting  Benefits, Pensions,
 Job Descriptions EAP
 Salary Grids  Strategic Planning
 Wellness at Work  Drug and Alcohol
programs
 Staff Morale
 Dept re-orgs
 Training and
Workshops  Leadership
compensation
Tel 403 264 5288
chris@hylton.ca
57

58. Thank you for the
opportunity to meet today!
Tel 403 264 5288
lisa@hylton.ca
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