Just about everything is new at work these days—shifts in the world economy, different skills, new technologies—the list is endless. There are many changes that have the potential for creating conflict in the workplace. Consider:
- New leadership—Consider when a new CEO or executive director is named to an organization. No matter how hard he/she tries to instill confidence and to let the existing staff get to know him or her, this change can bring conflict out in the open.
- Change in reporting relationships—What happens when an employee, who has reported to one manager for 10 years suddenly is moved to another team?
- New team member—A new hire is introduced to a group of people who’ve worked together for a long time; they don’t know this person and he or she doesn’t know them
- New technology/system—New software is introduced by your great IT team.
- Organizations purchased or merged with international firms—This creates a need for employees to adapt to new ways of doing business.
- Managers were just getting used to dealing with four generations in the workplace when along came the next one.
- Office redesign/relocation
- New responsibilities—Even when the employee is excited about a promotion or additional responsibilities, it can be a time of high stress, which can create conflict.
- Colleague/friend resignation—Employees, especially Millennials, want to have a good friend at work, so consider what can happen when the best friend resigns or, even worse, is terminated.
While changes present major challenges, the interesting thing about change in the workplace is that each of us has a choice as to how to approach it. Different people respond to major changes in different ways. Consider the following positions people take toward change:
The innovators/change agents are people who embrace change as an opportunity, seeking answers to questions, looking for ways to move change forward, and easily adapting. Approximately 20 percent of employees fall into this category. They are often the first ones to get involved and may end up leading the change effort.
The pragmatics take a wait-and-see approach. They do whatever is possible to stay out of sight and out of harm’s way, keeping quiet and waiting to see who wins. Pragmatics withhold their sponsorship and energy. Approximately half of an organization’s employees are pragmatics.
The skeptics/traditionalists are the ones who resist change, actively or passively, and significantly affect the organization’s ability to move forward. They have a huge impact on morale. Approximately 30 percent of an organization’s employees are skeptics.
Resisting change can be futile, and often results in conflict in the workplace. Consider the manager whose inability to move forward created huge conflicts in the organization since he was a key player. He didn’t see that his resistance to change was creating major conflicts between him and those on his team who had already adapted to the new way of doing things required by the acquiring organization. He decided to leave the organization rather than adapt to the necessary changes—which is a drastic step to take. While this did resolve the conflicts created by his inability to modify his behavior, the firm lost a valued employee who took a great deal of institutional knowledge with him.
Helping employees understand the stance they take is important because it helps them to frame their actions. While change is uncomfortable for many people, it also can bring a whole new energy level to the organization. As soon as employees get on board with the change, things can happen that move the group/team/department forward. The issue is how to get through the change and the conflicts that arise because of the change process and get on the other side! Managers must be on the lookout for conflicts that result from the desired changes to ensure the conflicts positively drive the changes the organization is seeking.
When people are open to the possibilities the change may bring, and they believe they share some of the responsibility for making change successful, they will select observable data, draw conclusions, and take action to support the change.
However, if people are not sure what is happening, and do not feel responsible for the outcome, they will select data that reinforces their belief, leading to actions that actively or passively resist the change.
Even the innovators need to understand how the change will affect them. Everyone needs help making sense of the situation. They need to know where they fit. For example,
- What are the business drivers?
- What are the job expectations? Have they changed?
- How have roles and responsibilities changed?
Navigating change is similar to experienced river guides approaching whitewater. They rely on their experiences but are prepared for the unexpected, like the appearance of previously submerged rocks. Based on their experience, they know how to approach difficult sections of the river, have the tools and techniques to guide their rafts, and work with the water’s movement and dynamics.
What can managers do to support employees during periods of major change?
- Provide them with honest feedback.
- Help them find answers to their questions.
- Be clear in communicating expectations.
- Encourage them to connect, inquire, and perform. In other words, take positive action.
What can organizations do to support these efforts? Prepare your managers so they can be champions of change—the innovators/change agents. When change occurs in any organization, managers must actively listen to what is being said about the change and do their best to understand where the root causes of the resistance to change are coming from. You can support their skills development with training initiatives, such as
- Communication skills (listening, speaking, business writing, presentation skills)
- Conflict management skills
- Critical conversation skills
- Harassment prevention skills
- Diversity and inclusion skills
- Delegation skills
- Counseling skills
- Coaching skills
- Conducting an effective meeting
- Teambuilding skills
- Change management skills
Change will occur in your organization. The steps that you take to mitigate the effects of that change will determine the number and types of conflict that occur, and whether conflict is a constructive or destructive force for your organization.
Excerpt from THE ESSENTIAL WORKPLACE CONFLICT HANDBOOK: A Quick and Handy Resource for Any Manager, Team Leader, HR Professional, or Anyone Who Wants to Resolve Disputes and Increase Productivity by Cornelia Gamlem, SPHR, and Barbara Mitchell (Career Press, September 2015).
Barbara Mitchell is an author, speaker, human resources consultant, and coauthor of “The Big Book of HR” and “The Essential HR Handbook.” Most of her HR career was spent with Marriott International. She is now managing partner of The Mitchell Group, helping clients successfully hire, develop, engage, and retain the best talent available.
Cornelia Gamlem, SPHR, is president of The GEMS Group Ltd. She consults, speaks, and writes on human resource and management issues. An expert in employee relations and HR, she coauthored “The Big Book of HR” and “Roadmap to Success: 5 Steps to Putting Action Into Your Affirmative Action Plan.”
