BY ANNEMARIE FRANCZYK

The expectation to do more with less these days could be fostering a breeding ground of workplace conflict.

Managers need to be increasingly aware of clashes between workers before the prob-lems disrupt workflow and productivity, Buffalo-area experts say.

“People lose sight of the organization’s goals while fighting for their personal goals,” said Maura Flynn, a human-resources practitioner for 20 years. 

Our panel recommended four strategies for mitigating the damaging effects of workplace conflict.

• Recognize it and step in

While facing conflict is difficult, managers shouldn’t avoid the situation and wait for an employee to self-report, suggests Robyn Brouer, a professor of human resources and organizational behavior at the University at Buffalo. An employee who resorts to such a step could be thinking of taking drastic measures, like resigning, she said.

Joseph Saeli Jr., a labor-law specialist with Saeli & Tollner in Amherst, agrees that man-agers need to rely on their own observation skills and abilities to deal with an uncom-fortable situation. There are the obvious signs when employees aren’t getting along: personality changes, absenteeism, irritability, among them.

 Telling employees to “work it out on your own” is not an option. That will force employ-ees to put their energies into the conflict and not into the job, Saeli says.

Flynn, director of human resources for Hilbert College, suggests writing down tangible examples of behavioral changes, particularly for employees who may be in denial.

“If the worker is truly deep into something,” she says, “they may not realize there is a problem or the impact the problem is having on the workplace.”

A lawyer will want to see documentation, particularly in situations that could result in le-gal action, such as bullying or sexual or racial harassment, Saeli said.

• Meet without emotion

The experts say the parties should meet individually, then together with the manager or in the presence of a neutral party, such as someone from the human-resources depart-ment who may be trained to sort things out.

 Brouer suggests that managers bring the parties together and have each make an XYZ statement, an unemotional, analytical approach to the problem that considers behaviors, their consequences and the feelings generated by the situation. She explains it like this: “When you did X, Y happened and I had Z feelings.”

“It lets them sit down and think about the situation, then agree on the problem and work together to develop a solution that allows them to work together,” she says. “The big key is not to just stop there. Managers need to follow up, stop by the office, send an e-mail.”

• Real solutions

Saeli, practicing labor law for more than 30 years, recalls a company that faced conflict in a department where some employees perceived that others were not carrying a fair share of the workload. Morale dipped; the work atmosphere was bad.

Management turned to weekly meetings where the employees reported on what they had done during the previous week. Employees became accountable to each other and underperformers became more ambitious, Saeli says.

“At least one employee in the department was eventually terminated for performance reasons,” Saeli says. “The end result was that this conflict was eliminated, and morale in the department improved.”

Similarly, a dental practice of about 20 people had a problem with workload perceptions. Brouer, who also consults for local businesses, said there was tension between the front-office administrative staff and back-office dental assistants. A reward system was cre-ated where everybody was encouraged to report when a co-worker did something good for him or her. Entries were included in a weekly drawing for prizes. The result: An envi-ronment of distrust and disagreement was replaced with one of cooperation.

“It encouraged people to be nice,” Brouer says.

• Use the EAP

An employee might approach HR when a manager refuses to intercede in a conflict. But that can be at the employee’s peril, Brouer says.

“That depends on how that department is perceived. Is it a safe place? Or will that de-partment just back up the manager?” she says. “Going above the manager’s head can be risky.”

A safer option is to contact the workplace employee-assistance program, Flynn says. Originally developed to address drinking problems and substance abuse, the plans have expanded to include counseling for a variety of personal and workplace issues, including conflict. Most employers include an EAP in their benefits package. A call is “completely confidential,” Flynn says.

Unionized workers have the ability to be more candid about conflict on an equitable ba-sis because of job security built into their contracts, says Bruce Popper, vice president of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. Labor agreements provide a legal frame-work for grievance procedures and regularly scheduled meetings between management and the workforce.

“It’s a mechanism that brings problems to the fore,” Popper says. “It’s hard to have real workplace conflict resolution without having the security of the union contract behind you.”

Some types of conflict should be welcomed in the workplace, as long as they don’t esca-late into name-calling or other unproductive behavior.

“Some conflict is beneficial,” Brouer says, “such as how to do something to complete a task. From that conflict comes a better way of doing things.”

Freelance writer Annemarie Franczyk is a frequent contributor.