Why We Need to Learn to Disagree Well in the Workplace?

August 11, 2024

By David Liddle

Political discourse and debate across Europe – indeed across the world – has become increasingly entrenched, divisive and disrespectful thanks, in part, to a rise in populism.

As views have become increasingly polarised, where rhetoric and hyperbole have replaced healthy discourse, the political landscape has become volatile and unstable.

But it’s not just in politics where we are seeing entrenched opinions and an unwillingness to listen to opposing views. This inability to disagree well on the political stage is leaking into the workplace too, and is having a detrimental impact on organisations’ ability to perform at peak.

Just how bad is the problem and what are the risks to organisations? How can we stop this behaviour becoming normalised and create workplace climates where dignity and respect rule and where people can resolve their differences collaboratively and compassionately?

A rising tide of conflict

Workplace conflict is an inevitable part of working life. Relationships break down between managers and their direct reports, often because of miscommunication and misunderstandings. Teams become fractured because of disagreements over how projects should be managed or resources allocated. Employees are increasingly voicing their personal views and beliefs at work and often find themselves on a collision course with leaders or colleagues who might not share the same convictions.

The extent of the problem is highlighted by the 2024 CIPD Good Work Index, which showed a quarter of UK employees (an estimated 8 million people) have experienced workplace conflict in the last year.

When workplace conflict is left unaddressed, it festers underneath the surface. Warring factions take up intractable positions, dialogue becomes combative and incivility sets in. I refer to this as the ZONC. The zone of negative conflict. In the ZONC, there is a direct impact on employee engagement, wellbeing and job satisfaction. The CIPD survey found that only half of those who reported conflict are satisfied with their job, and that it is twice as common for employees who have experienced conflict to say they are likely to leave their job in the next 12 months.

If organisations want to create happy, healthy, harmonious and productive workplaces where everyone can perform to the best of their ability, they need to pay attention to three key areas. They need to lead people to the ZOPA. The zone of possible agreement.

Leading for cohesion

Leaders need to take a deep dive into the state of workplace conflict in their organisation. What are the key causes of dissent and division? How are conflicts, complaints and concerns being managed when they arise? And how much is the resulting disruption and distraction costing the business?

Leaders also need to take a close look in the mirror and examine their own approach to managing division. Are they inadvertently leaning into ‘populist’ styles of communication, which over time will create toxic ‘blame, shame and punish’ cultures? The language of populism is the language of division and fragmentation. What we need to be speaking instead is the language of resolution and restoration – focusing on people-centred, values-driven approaches where the emphasis is on restoring harmony and rebuilding relationships.

Leaders need to work closely with their people and culture (HR) function to develop strategies for resolving conflict quickly and effectively, and for building fair, just, transformational cultures where employees can thrive. And they need to role model the behaviours they want to encourage – acting with transparency and authenticity, keeping their promises, listening to their people, engaging in dialogue and creating the cohesion organisations desperately need.

The management effect

Front-line managers have a critical role to play in creating healthy workplace climates.

The actions, interactions and reactions (AIR) that managers breathe out becomes the AIR that others breathe in. This defines the nature of our relationships, and shapes our experience of the workplace. It sets the tone for workplace behaviours and provides a script or licence for the way people act, interact and react.

Managers often don’t have the skills to manage conflict in their teams effectively. They need training in active listening, coaching, mediation and giving and receiving feedback. The World Health Organisation has recognised the importance of this, recently asking me to run a series of workshops to help their global staff learn how to disagree well.

Providing ongoing support and resources for managers who are dealing with conflict in their teams is also vital. Without help, they are likely to resort to extensive inaction (hoping the conflict will go away), or expensive over-reaction (unnecessarily taking the issue into some kind of formal, punitive process).

Luxury fashion house Burberry has recently set up a Resolution Hub, giving managers access to checklists, videos and coaching that they can draw on whenever they need to.

Reframing formal policies

Many organisations are still wedded to traditional, formal processes for dealing with workplace conflict – namely the ubiquitous disciplinary and grievance, performance management, and bullying and harassment policies that often form the backbone of the employee handbook.

But these formal processes are no longer fit for purpose in the modern workplace. They are damaging and destructive, encourage a binary, right/wrong, win/lose mindset and pit people against each other in drawn out, stressful procedures, where ultimately no-one wins.

HR leaders in forward-looking organisations such as Nationwide, Aviva and the BBC have moved away from this outdated approach in favour of Resolution Frameworks. These frameworks emphasise early resolution of conflict through restorative approaches such as informal dialogue, facilitated conversations and mediation, while retaining the ability to take more serious action in the rare cases where this is necessary.

Anthony Fitzpatrick, Head of Colleague Experience and Employment Policy at Aviva, says the introduction of a resolution framework “changed the whole concept and dynamic of managing conflicts and complaints within the workplace. We aren’t focusing on being aggrieved, we are focusing on resolution, and that is a fundamental difference,” he said.

An imperative to act

With the cost of workplace conflict estimated at £28.5 billion every year, not to mention declining employee engagement across Europe and a crisis in productivity, it is clear that there is an imperative to tackle the issue.

I am concerned at the growing number of attempts by organisations, well documented in the press, to stifle employee voice. Attempting to suppress discussion of ‘taboo’ topics at work will only result in further fragmentation. Instead, we should be creating spaces for big, powerful conversations, which encourage people to engage in civil, courteous and dignified dialogue and to respect each other’s differences. Our workplaces are microcosms of our society – and if we can learn to disagree well at work, this will filter down into our communities too.

Organisations can also no longer afford to take a laissez faire attitude. If managing conflict is not treated as a strategic priority, and the structures for people to disagree well are not in place, disputes that could be nipped in the bud and resolved quickly will turn into crisis situations. When a situation becomes a crisis, it is much harder to manage and becomes costly, time consuming and carries the risk of reputational damage.

Businesses cannot create profit if their workforce is divided, and at the same time they are attempting to sell products and services to a community that is divided. There is a direct relationship between disagreeing well, and a profitable business. It’s good for people, and it’s good for the bottom line.

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