The CBI estimates that ‘conflict costs UK businesses £33 billion per year and time lost equates to 60 million hours every week.’
Many people try their best to avoid conflict in daily work or home life, however, of those surveyed via CBI 25% of workers said that “conflict in their workplace is a common occurrence,” so it is not a topic that can be swept under the carpet.
Every organisation experiences some form of conflict it’s inevitable and those that deny it’s happening, are either not aware that it is occurring or are choosing to ignore it. Many people don’t know how to participate in and manage work conflict in a positive way. People have to work with certain people every single day, so they are afraid conflict will harm these necessary ongoing relationships, but avoidance or mis-management of the situation can make the situation worse in the long-term. According to the ‘University of Colorado Faculty and Staff Assistance Programme ’Managers spend a minimum of 25% of their time settling conflict in the workplace’ so no wonder its stated as the number one leadership challenge and an essential skill to master in order to drive a successful organisation.
Conflict can be differentiated into ‘Destructive’ conflict which is unhealthy for an organisation and Productive conflict which is healthy for an organisation to experience. Effects of destructive conflict include poor company reputation, low employee morale, damaged business relationships, loss of customers, increased staff turnover, decrease in productivity, loss of good talent and missed opportunities, all contributing to loss of revenue.
Productive Conflict may sound like a contradiction, but in fact research has shown that healthy conflict creates successful organisations. Conflict is necessary for effective problem solving and for effective interpersonal relationships. When people can disagree with each other and lobby for different ideas, your organisation is healthier, as disagreements often result in a more thorough study of options and better decisions and direction. Productive conflict can provide increased learning development, increased employee retention through collaboration, decreased employee absenteeism and produce creativity and innovation which all contributes to an increase in work performance.
Modern organisations are realising the benefits of engaging in productive conflict, instead of stifling employee opinions and portioning blame and investing in upskilling those line managers who lack confidence and competence to deal with conflict situations effectively. As HR professionals are only too aware, resolving conflict is a tricky skill to master.
The Solution is Everything DiSC!
The Everything DiSC psychometric profiles, inspire, energise, empower and transform entire workforces by helping people understand and adapt to one another whether they are a leader or apprentice. DiSC provides everyone with a map of human behaviour and a common language enabling people to navigate the complexities of human behaviour and conflict and find the best way forward!
A variety of specialist DiSC profiles are available, they all have multiple benefits from recruiting and retaining employees, building effective teams, developing effective managers and leaders, supporting performance management and appraisals and career development and coaching and professional development to name a few. The Productive Conflict DiSC profile provides you with the opportunity to not only differentiate your organisation’s conflict scenarios between good and bad, but also become better equipped to motivate and engage your team in productive conflict, instead of shying aware from it.
Everything DiSC Productive Conflict Profile and Programme: How does it work?
There are many causes of conflict, but two of the main causes, can be attributed to poor communication, this can result in a difference in communication styles or a failure to communicate and also differences in personalities. The CBI study also found that ‘nearly half of the conflicts occurring were a result of differences in personality’, as employees fail to understand the differences in their colleagues.
The DiSC Productive Conflict profile addresses both of these issues. A fast, efficient, online assessment- based solution is undertaken by each individual and a wealth of information is then instantly obtained instantly in an easy to read Productive Conflict DiSC profile report. The respondent’s DiSC behaviour, personality and workplace priorities are identified from this assessment. In addition to learning about your own thoughts and behaviours in how you would typically react to conflict, your unique DiSC profile will also help you understand other people’s DiSC personality styles and how they may differ from your own. For example, someone with a forceful personality categorised as a ‘D’ style within a profile, may speak their mind in a blunt manner and someone with a more reserved ‘C’ personality make be offended and not understand why their co-worker would be so rude and be extremely offended, hence causing conflict. By sharing this information with your colleagues, you can learn to understand other peoples’ motivators, you can reframe your thoughts, which can help choose how you react to their style and reduce or prevent destructive conflict scenarios arising. The tool will also help you build a strategy to encourage productive conflict to increase your workplace effectiveness with each individual DiSC style you may work with.
New Productive Conflict Facilitation kit launching soon
Due to the popularity of this profile, Wiley will shortly be launching a Productive Conflict Facilitation kit. This kit delivered on a handy USB, contains everything you need to facilitate a half-day session on productive conflict, including:
- Facilitator’s guide
- PowerPoint presentation and participant handouts (all customisable to suit your needs)
- Research reports and white papers – scientific basis in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Sample comparison reports and templates
- Product conflict videos
- Free interaction guides and productive conflict reference guide
- Step by step instructions and FAQs section
This facilitation kit will enable you to get up and running to manage workplace conflict easily and quickly within your organisation, or for your clients.
Please feel free to contact us for further information on the Productive Conflict profiles.
If you would like to learn more about how you can harness the power of Productive Conflict, visit us at the Wiley Showcase, taking place in Birmingham 12th June. Registration is simple, just follow the link below and select ‘Guest of Authorised Partner’ in the registration type and add ‘The Fruitful Toolbox’:
Register to attend here
