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10 Steps to Managing Employee Conflict
At one point or another, every leader must address employee conflict.
One requirement in maintaining a positive workplace environment is keeping employees motivated and the team working together.
Ideally, leaders should counsel their staff to guide and mentor them as part of an employee development plan. Most likely, however, you reached this page because you are experiencing a situation and you are looking for ways to motivate employees.
Counseling is one of the most important responsibilities for leaders and every leader inevitably must work through an employee conflict. When that time comes, focus on the corrective actions that will lead to improvement, not the individual as a person or their character.
Perhaps a review of what motivates employees is in order, but the idea is conveying the concept of responsibility.
The definition of responsibility is being responsible, i.e., capable of making moral and rational decisions on one’s own and therefore answerable for one’s behavior.
A good leader communicates that it is an employee responsibility to demonstrate reliability and that the employee is capable of being trusted or depended upon.
It is the leader’s responsibility, however, to promote the importance of teamwork and establish an environment in which responsibility for success is shared by all team members.
Motivating employees is all about leadership and leaders who set the example and live the corporate values will be able to convey their message easiest.
Here are some tips for counseling an employee conflict situation.
10 Steps in Counseling
Good leaders know that successful counseling occurs as close to the event as possible.
Perhaps most important is to remember to address the effect of the behavior, action, or performance on the rest of the organization, not the individual as a person or their character.
The leader must:
Explain the purpose of the counseling—what was expected, and how the behavior failed to meet the standard.
Address the unacceptable behavior or action—not the person’s character.
Explain the effect of the behavior, action, or performance on the rest of the organization.
Actively listen to the subordinate’s response.
Remain neutral.
Teach the subordinate how to meet the standard.
Be prepared to do some personal counseling as the behavior or performance may be related to an unresolved personal problem.
Explain to the subordinate how an individual development plan will improve performance and identify specific responsibilities in implementing the plan.
