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Conflict in the WorkplaceJared KlenschUniversity of KentuckyAbstractConflict in the workplace is inevitable. While conflict always arises at some point in our lives, it is in the best interest of all parties involved to make concerted efforts to eliminate conflict in the workplace to achieve workplace harmony. Workplace harmony is incredibly important and can help increase productivity and general well being. Friction between coworkers can make completing even the simplest of work-related tasks incredibly difficult. If workplace conflict is not solved in a healthy, orderly manner there can be serious negative consequences for those involved including serious health consequences.Conflict in the WorkplaceConflict is something that all humans forced to endure at some point in their lifetime. There is no way to escape it because it is simply a part human life. One of the most difficult forms of conflict to deal with is conflict in the workplace. Many people look at workplace conflict as a simple dispute among workers in the same place. While simple disputes are one type of workplace conflict there is also aggression, bullying and sexual harassment. How human beings learn to prevent and resolve conflict can be an incredibly important factor in their success in their respective career fields. For most of our lives we are able to avoid conflict simply by avoiding the people with whom we are having a misunderstanding. In the event of a conflict in the workplace, we cannot use this method. Workers have to see their colleagues on a regular basis and learn to deal with them in order to achieve workplace harmony. Workplace conflict can occur simply because of a bad clash of polar opposite personalities or because of a dispute or grudge. It is incredibly important that we learn to deal with all forms of conflict to better understand how we can prevent it from happening again in the future. It is proven that effective communication between coworkers can often lead to a higher self-confidence, and a healthier lifestyle (Rospenda, Richman, Ehmke, & Zlatoper, 2005). Failure of employees to unify and coexist peacefully isn’t only bad for the company bad for each individual involved.Consequences of Workplace AggressionWhen workplace conflict is not addressed or handled in the right way there can be many different negative consequences. Besides the obvious inability to communicate properly, workplace conflicts can also include violence or aggression. While the most frequent displays of workplace aggression are spreading rumors about coworkers and shouting, there also can be more drastic examples of this behavior (Leblanc & Barling, 2004). Workplace aggression can be exhibited in many different ways such as expression of hostility, obstructionism, and overt aggression (LeBlanc & Barling, 2004). Overt aggression is without question of the most severe. There are many ways that overt aggression can be displayed but perhaps the most common is violence. In 2000, an employee at Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts named Michael McDermott shot and killed seven of his employees (LeBlanc & Barling, 2004). This massacre came as a direct result of ongoing disputes with co-workers and bosses. While these scenarios are not easily preventable, they are without question preventable if action is taken soon enough. There are many predictors or clues of workplace aggression or violence and if the right steps are taken then there is no reason that these horrific tragedies can be reduced or even eliminated all together. Many different studies suggest that workplace surveillance can increase feelings of aggression in violent worker and that alcohol dependent workers are more likely to commit violent acts against others (LeBlanc & Barling, 2004). Those who see signs of this kind of behavior should make colleagues or superiors aware of it in order to prevent these tragedies from occurring in the future. Aggression and violence are not the only ways that harm can be done, however.Health Complications Associated With Workplace ConflictAside from conflict such as aggression and violence in the workplace, there is also a great deal of bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace. Many people choose to accept harassment or bullying as a part of their life and convince themselves that it will simply go away over time. The fact of the matter is that there is a significant amount of research that shows that bullying and sexual harassment are incredibly detrimental to human health and the odds of injury, assault and illness greatly increases (Rospenda et al, 2005). Some of these illnesses include clinical depression, anxiety and even post-traumatic stress disorder (Rospenda et al, 2005). In 2005, the Journal of Business and Psychology defined sexual harassment as, “unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favor and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature” (p. 96). This kind of behavior will surely hinder workplace productivity because employees may be intimidated or have other feelings of resentment towards fellow workers. Workplace bullying is just as dangerous. At least 1 out of every 10 employees reports being bullied at some point during their career (Ayoko, Callan, & H?rtel, 2003). This statistic is incredibly alarming considering the facts already presented about the health risks associated with stressors in the workplace like bullying. It is much harder for companies to accomplish the goals they set if there is not a great deal of mutual respect between employees. Employees need to be able to communicate with each other without feelings of fear or anger. Several other studies have shown that stressful events increase the chance of developing a cold when infected with a strand of the common cold virus (Rospenda et al, 2005). This convincing evidence just goes to show that health risks associated with workplace conflict may not be direct, but there is absolutely no question that the dangers are present. Workplace bullying, like sexual harassment, occurs more often than people think and can cause stress that is just as harmful as violence or aggression. This raises questions about what is wrong with how workplaces are handling the subject of workplace conflict and what they can do to improve their methods.The Formal Complaint System is FlawedIt is no surprise that most people do not want to have to go to their superior to report a conflict with another employee. It is only natural that someone would not want to have that kind of reputation. What most of these workers fail to realize is that filing a complaint or going to a superior about a workplace is really in the best interest of the entire establishment. Unfortunately, it is also up to the companies to do their part as well. In many cases these companies are not keeping their end of the bargain. Many companies have human resource departments for situations like this but it often takes weeks for those departments to even address some complaints (Fortado, 2001). These human resource departments often have trained professionals analyze the problem and make suggestions for solutions. Most of the time these companies are only going “by the book” to solve issues in the workplace. The fact of the matter is that the “by the book” route often leaves some serious unfinished business. Not every problem can be solved formally and that is why companies need to further explore how to settle conflict in other ways (Fortado, 2001). The process of filing a complaint and waiting for an expert to propose a remedy is the formal attempt to solve the problem but the informal aspect of solving workplace conflict is still largely unexplored (Fortado, 2001). Problem solving does not have to be one-dimensional because not every strategy works universally for every person. For instance there is a vast difference in how a problem-solver would handle a conflict as apposed to the way a compromiser might handle one (De Dreu, Evers, Kluwer, & Nauta, 2001). It is not fair for workers to have to put up with problems at their workplace and often don't have the peace of mind that their place of work is doing everything in its power to ensure that the problem is resolved.Research EvaluationBecause the problem of workplace conflict is something that is so prevalent in society nowadays, there is a plethora of research on the topic. Much of the research on conflict within the workplace makes it a point to drive home the fact that it will likely happen to each of us at some point. While this is true, there is a lack of research on new methods to make sure it is resolved in a more orderly manner. The world is clearly aware of the problem and yet, there is little research making new suggestions or looking at less conventional methods to help resolve these issues. What companies are doing to resolve these constantly recurring problems is clearly not working and at some point they need to reevaluate their methods to ensure that their employees are provided a safe, productive working environment that they all deserve.ConclusionWorkplace conflict is a recurrent problem all over the world. Contrary to popular belief, it is a serious problem and not simply a phase that all humans must endure in their life. When this kind of conflict is not addressed there can be serious negative consequences for all parties involved. These consequences can be either direct or indirect. Some workers may fall victim to violence or assault while others may fall ill due to the stress occurring as a result of workplace conflicts. There is no reason to treat all kinds of conflict the same if it is so well documented that there are many different kinds. Workplace conflict is multi-dimensional and should handled as such. Workplaces need to take different approaches to conflict resolution because the elimination or reduction of conflict in the workplace can lead to a healthier life and a more productive workplace. ReferencesAyoko, O. B., Callan, V. J., & H?rtel, C. E. J. (2003). Workplace conflict, bullying, and counterproductive behaviors. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 11(4), 283-299.De Dreu, C. K. W., Evers, A., Kluwer, E. S., & Nauta, A. (2001). A theory-based measure of conflict management strategies in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22(6), 645-668Fortado, B. (2001). The metamorphosis of workplace conflict. Human Relations, 54(9), 1189-1221.LeBlanc, M. M., & Barling, J. (2004). Workplace aggression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(1), 9-12.Rospenda, K. M., Richman, J. A., Ehmke, J. L. Z., & Zlatoper, K. W. (2005). Is workplace harassment hazardous to your health? Journal of Business and Psychology, 20(1), 95-110 ................
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