Are your employees constantly at each other? Are certain people bickering relentlessly? Has a recent change resulted in employee disengagement and hostility? The origins of conflict are seemingly endless and indeed, if it was always easy to see where conflict was coming from we would probably live in a very different society.

Having an independent third-party assess, diagnose and treat workplace conflict can be invaluable for a host of reasons. Firstly, as the saying goes, “you are never a prophet in your own land.” When emotions are high and employees feel they have a tremendous amount invested, even if the source of the problem and a solution to it are clear, will the messaging be received well if it is delivered by someone internal to the organization? Can you be seen by your colleagues as unbiased and objective enough to help in a way that would be accepted by all your stakeholders, especially when the topics and repercussions are potentially contentious and affect people’s jobs? Additionally, would you actually have the time to set aside your business-as-usual (BAU) operations in order to dedicate yourself solely to understanding and working through the complexities of workplace conflict in a way that wouldn’t potentially make it worse? Also, do you have the skill and expertise that may needed to bring various parties together in a way that deescalates, understands the needs of the conflicting parties, can mitigate risk, and mediate an outcome acceptable to all involved?

Conflict in the workplace that goes unaddressed can tear apart an organization. Tackling it early affords the opportunity to not only resolve it before lasting damage is done, but to learn from it as an organization. At resolveHR, we understand that’s not always the case and by the time you have been made aware of the conflict, things may have had time to escalate and get out of hand. Regardless of where you are in the journey, we can help your organization move through it and come out the other side intact.