A Different Light... The Benefit Of Workplace Conflict

With the holidays behind us, and economic troubles looming, employee morale is running low and managers are having to deal with a vast array of HR issues many of which surface in the form of conflict in the workplace. Disagreements that disrupt the flow of work are, of course, inevitable - and costly. The time spent managing the conflict adds up, and distracted employees inevitably produce work of comparatively lower quality.

According to the July 2008 report 'Fight, flight or face it', published by OPP in association with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, "poorly managed conflicts in the workplace are crippling British business. The average UK employee spends over two hours a week dealing with conflict, which means in total more than 370 million working days were lost last year at a cost to British employers of more than £24 billion".