Today, the workplace is increasingly being defined by the diverseness of workers as employers seek to establish workforces with people from different backgrounds and comportments. With this diverseness, conflicts will always determine the office environments with individuals and groups required to find solutions to their differences. Although conflict resolution should be instigated from an individual’s level by leveraging on interpersonal skills, the management also has a significant role to play in this critical function. A combination of both interpersonal and management skills propels a conflict scenario in the right direction by bringing the parties involved to iron out their differences ( Lawless & Trif, 2016 ). In one of the organizations where I volunteered, the team was highly diverse with people from different backgrounds. When I joined the firm, I immediately noticed that within this team, conflicts always emerged from various subjects. The management seemed to struggle with conflict resolution until they hired a new human resource manager who steadied the organization's relationships. From the new HR manager's approach, I learned that leaders cannot bulldoze people into establishing cordial and objective relations, but it can use interpersonal and management strategies to create a harmonious working environment.
Indeed, conflict management approaches need to recognize the role of both individuals and groups. When I joined the organization, I noticed that the accountant always differed with the auditor on the latter's reports. I observed that the management concentrated mostly on two individuals. The leadership’s approach was usually superficial in that it focused on the issues that directly triggered the problem. They could temporarily sort out the issues, but they failed to notice the more significant underlying issues of diversity. I realized that interpersonal factors such as self-esteem, self-confidence, teamwork skills, cultural relation skills, and motivation contributed significantly to the organization's internal dynamics. According to Carozzo and Stirpe (2017), inspecting aspects of diversity in the workplace contributes positively to how employees solve conflicts that arise among themselves. The role of evaluating the diverseness of an organization is majorly the work of the leadership. The new HR manager brought changes into the organization, especially concerning interpersonal associations. The manager understood that conflicts do not just happen, but they are processes that affect other people though at a lesser magnitude.
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The HR manager employed a multifaceted approach comprising of individualistic and group strategies. From the individualistic perspective, the manager concentrated on communication, teamwork, ethical behavior, and stress management skills. Indeed, diversity is the bedrock on which strong and robust relationships can be established or the cause of the of their disintegration (Carozzo & Stirpe, 2017). With this realization, the manager undertook to influence how people related, group dynamics, and general organization culture. The most critical thing that the HR did was to organize personal and interdepartmental personal development training around the themes of communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, and stress management. From these training programs, the manager felt that they would gradually influence how people resolved conflicts.
During the training sessions, the facilitators emphasized that conflicts will be part of the organization, but it was upon individuals to amicably find solutions. However, how people addressed them was the determinant of the cohesiveness of the whole workforce. Ay et al. (2019) note that peer training programs are a vital way of changing how employees solve issues. However, in this research, the authors noted that such programs do not help reduce conflicts, but they are vital in lowering obliging and avoiding behaviors. Employees need not avoid or accept that they are in the wrong but engage dialogue and other mechanisms to find solutions to their issues. With these, the manager was able to positively influence how people related to each other. I observed that after the training programs, people could objectively address their differences, and where it was impossible, they sought a third-party to help resolve the conflict.
The other strategy that the HR manager implemented was bringing a change in how the management helped resolve conflicts. As mentioned above, the leadership’s conflict management was more inclined to help the two parties involved. What I noticed is that though two employees could be having differences, others always took sides. According to Başoğul and Özgür (2016), emotional intelligence is a critical factor that enables managers to balance the needs of the employees and those of the organization. Emotional intelligence helps leaders to be able to influence workers to collaborate and be accommodative. The HR understood that the needs of the company superseded those for individual workers. Hence, in the conflict situation, the solution had to revolve the objectives of the organization. Managers had to find sways to help workers collaborate and accommodate each other’s views.
The two approaches can be used in other organizations, including my current one. Employees need to be trained on how to deal with the diversity of ideas and opinions. They must realize that without deliberate efforts to approach conflict scenarios objectively, they cannot have fulfilling solutions. Recognizing the diversity of one another is a crucial step in conflict resolution. Managers must realize that cultivating strong emotional intelligence is critical in helping employees become accommodative and collaborative. The primary method to achieve this is to organize training programs for workers and managers on conflict resolutions with the latter group having seminars on emotional intelligence.
In summary, I learned that training programs on diversity and conflict resolution work to inculcate a culture of objectivity and soberness in solving differences among workers. The HR manager showed that conflict can be between two people but destabilize the entire organization. Thus when resolving a conflict, a leader must approach it from the organization perspective. Also, it was evident that emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in conflict management, and leaders must conscientiously develop this vital trait. With emotional intelligence, a leader will be able to bring conflicting parties to collaborate and accommodate each other’s differences.
References
Ay, S. Ç., Keskin, H. K., & Akilli, M. (2019). Examining the Effects of Negotiation and Peer Mediation on Students' Conflict Resolution and Problem-Solving Skills. International Journal of Instruction , 12 (3), 717-730.
Başoğul, C., & Özgür, G. (2016). Role of emotional intelligence in conflict management strategies of nurses. Asian nursing research , 10 (3), 228-233.
Carozzo Todaro, M. E., & Stirpe, L. (2017). Teams in small technology-based firms: The roles of diversity and conflict management. Journal of technology management & innovation , 12 (2), 11-17.
Lawless, J., & Trif, A. (2016). Managing interpersonal conflicts at work by line managers. The Irish Journal of Management , 35 (1), 74-87.
