The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and a key focus is Career Discussions. Regardless of whether you’re an employer or an employee, it’s critical to understand how to avoid conflicts at the workplace as they can both hinder productivity and hinder career advancement. The following contributed post is entitled, How to Avoid Conflict At the Workplace.
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If your employees are unhappy and disengaged, chances are that their productivity will suffer, and they will not represent your company and brand as well as possible in front of your customers. This will lead to reputation damage and conflict in the workplace, which can cause long term problems. Instead of dealing with conflict, you might want to prevent it and take a proactive approach to maintaining a positive work environment. Find a few tips below.
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Clear Policies
To avoid disagreements that are based on assumptions and misconceptions, it is important that your business has clear human resources and behavior policies. If you don’t have one at the moment, chances are that your employees are just guessing which one is the best approach, and this will lead to conflict and arguments. Talk to a human resources professional to get help with developing your workplace policies.
Value Alignment
When you recruit people to represent your brand, you will need to make sure that they share your values and your vision. If your employees couldn’t care less about customer service or quality, chances are that you are employing the wrong people. There are many ways you can check whether or not your applicants’ values are aligned with your company policy and brand philosophy, using online tools and personality tests.
Effective Communication
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If there is a block in the communication channels, you will find it hard to communicate your goals and get your employees to commit to them. Workplace communication should never be flowing in one direction only. If you haven’t studied democratic leadership yet, it might be time to find out how you can encourage debates and discussion and avoid value conflict in the workplace, so your employees can fully engage with your company mission and vision.
Shared Goals
To make your workplace run smoother and to encourage collaboration and support, you will need to create shared goals. If you hold monthly appraisal meetings, take your time to sit down with each individual and find out what their personal career goals and aspirations are, so you can find a common trait and goals you can work towards together.
Conflict Management Frameworks
It is crucial that you have a procedure map in case conflict happens in your company. There is no point trying to deny that there is a problem, and the sooner you deal with it, the better you can handle the situation. Mediation, disciplinary procedures, training, and development, as well as sitting down with a civil attorney to learn about the legal framework of dealing with conflict and ethical problems at the workplace might be some of the best options.
When you have employees from different walks of life, conflict is something that may seem inevitable. Create a company culture that values and respects diversity and find a way to align your mission and vision with your employees’ own aspiration. Open up channels of communication, so you can deal with conflict as soon as possible.