A small business owner came to the office one day to find her employees in an all-out war. She was mad to see her place of business turned into a war zone. The sight was disheartening and unbearable. Their behaviour gave her the green light to be harsh and verbally abusive.
What if this was you, what
would you have done differently?
Let’s just say, you and
your staff have been happily working away growing the business and making happy
customers. Then, imagine you’re coming one morning to work to find your business place in total chaos. There’s
a face-off between the departments. They refuse to work together and there’s a
screaming match between the employees.
Action needs to be taken
before things completely get out of hands. For a moment, you’re overwhelmed. You
look tensed. You felt like pouncing on the employees. Should you resolve this conflict
with loud, angry arguments and put everyone in their place? The tiny voice
in your head asked. No! That would just
make the business environment more chaotic and also negatively impact your
business’s productivity. By the way, “What if a customer walks in to see all of
you shouting?” It would be bad for the
image of the company.
What are you going to do? You need to unscramble some business etiquette that’s totally applicable to resolving conflict between employees especially if you run a small business where there’s no HR department to deal with clashes. Again, I ask, what are you going to do? You must note; problems do not just “happen.” So, the first step is to use your power of good business etiquette to calm the troubled water. Say, you’re sorry for the situation that started the fight. Ask the fighting parties questions so as to identify the underlying problems.
Once you've evaluated the issue, talk to each employee individually
to let them know you're aware of the situation and how they feel about the issue. Then,
set ground rules. Ask all parties to treat each other with respect and to make
an effort to listen and understand others’ views. Then create an environment with
open communication and trust. Encourage resolution among employees
who don’t get along.
Now, you’ve done well.
You’ve managed to avoid a near disaster occurrence in your place of business.
For any incorrect decision
you make when there’s a conflict, difficult employees get power to be evil
within the organization to foil every attempt for a peaceful working
environment leading to valuable employees quitting. A conflict between employees
is a thing that happens everywhere and responding to them rudely can be costly!
So, always handle workplace conflicts and disputes among your employees with
wisdom and respect and the strength of difficult employees will wane.
Now that excessive chaos
is abated in your place of business, you’re ready to get started on the job for
the week.
If you want more help with
handling conflict between your employees, be sure to sign up for a phone, email
or Zoom consultation to get started with training with us. Contact drsetiquetteconsulting@gmail.com.
Want something else? Click here to
browse through the list of our corporate training. Looking forward to working
with you!
Warmly,
Damilola Ogunremi
Etiquette, Image and
Business Coach.
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