News: Performance Management
Management training 'essential' for dealing with workplace conflict
16 October 2008
Too few British business leaders are equipped with the skills to handle conflict in the workplace, a situation the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says warrants significant management training.
According to a report from the CIPD and business psychology firm OPP, entitled Fight, Flight or Face It, poorly managed conflicts could actually be "crippling" the country's firms in terms of the time wasted dealing with disagreements.
Robert McHenry, OPP's chief executive, believes such situations can be "managed professionally" with the aid of appropriate training.
An added benefit of such training would be the generation of "creative solutions" and new ways of working, he suggests.
In the context of the current economic downturn, businesses could see "steep rises in conflict" in the face on increasing workloads shrinking budgets and rising stress levels, he adds.
"The fact that there are too few managers in British business with the insight to handle it effectively could cost us dearly," Mr McHenry concludes.
Positive outcomes from conflict are far more common in enterprises where training is prevalent, the CIPD/OPP's research reveals.
Thousands of employees in nine countries across three continents were interviewed for the report, in addition to 660 human resources professionals in the UK.
