IS CONFLICT IN YOUR WORKPLACE DISRUPTING AND COSTING YOUR BUSINESS?

Have you ever thought about the cost of workplace conflict in your business?

We all know that a company’s best asset is its people. In the initial post Covid phase it was an employee’s market, so no-one had to stay in an organisation where they did not feel safe or comfortable.

We need to protect our people (assets) as workplace conflict, absenteeism through increased stress impacting mental health and staff turnover, costs the Australian economy in excess of $25 billion per year.

Conflict is an avoidable cost and can impact all areas of the business.

By utilising the services of a workplace mediator, you can manage conflict and turn this around to build cohesive and motivated teams to increase engagement, retention, performance and effectiveness. With the hybrid model of working, it is critical that you develop an inclusive culture and provide staff with a safe working environment where communication is open and honest. Where possible, provide training to develop conflict resolution skills within the team.

Importance of Workplace Resolution

Often in workplaces there will be a situation that cannot be resolved internally so engaging the services of a professional mediator is certainly more cost effective and efficient, rather than pursuing litigation which is now a very lengthy and cost prohibitive process.

There are so many hidden costs associated with not resolving conflict in the workplace.

To name a few - the actual cost of paying an employee to leave an organisation due to unresolved conflict; another being employee turn-over. Whilst not only expensive it is also very time consuming for both the recruitment process and everyone involved with onboarding, training and mentoring.

The cost of absenteeism when employees believe their workplace is unsupportive and unhealthy leads to nearly 46% of staff taking additional sick leave. This obviously increases the workload for those in the office picking up the slack and negatively impacts their morale and quality of work. This can then flow on to loss of productivity which is another huge blow to an organisation.

A large number of employees still resign or leave an organisation due to bullying and harassment because the issue has not been dealt with correctly. Thinking that an issue will resolve itself and not engaging the right help is detrimental to the business, especially if the employee is a long timer or a senior member of the team where they take years of IP with them.

We have all seen reviews on web sites such as Glassdoor and Seek. These days people, products and services are constantly being judged and evaluated so it is easy to damage the reputation of an individual or a company. Not taking the appropriate action to resolve conflict could possibly result in some unwanted publicity.

Next time you encounter conflict in the workplace, reach out to a professional and engage their services to prevent unnecessary expense, damaging repercussions and heartache for all concerned.