By
STEVE TOBAK /
MONEYWATCH/ June 8, 2012, 7:50 AM
Workplace conflict is a
management problem
(MoneyWatch) COMMENTARY Why can't we all just get along? Because we
can't. Welcome to the Petrie dish of human dysfunction called planet Earth.
And yes, you really are welcome. Misery loves company.
Conflict is as natural for people as it is for animals. As long as territory, food,
mates, and in the case of humans, money, are limited, there's conflict. It is
what it is.
Not only that, but as environments go, the workplace is a relatively small,
closed system. Talk about a zero-sum game. There are limited raises,
promotions, recognition, resources -- everything's limited. It's surprising
anything gets done at all. Really.
So, despite the best management and organizational systems, conflict
happens, right? Well, yes and no. While it's convenient to blame employee
conflict on differences in personality and style or folks just behaving badly, in
reality, that doesn't cover it. Not even close.
In my experience, many - if not most - workplace conflicts are a function of
management problems. It's true at just about every level in the organization.
And when management conflict is chronic, that's almost always a sign of
executive dysfunction.
7 signs of a dysfunctional company
7 signs of a dysfunctional boss
Don't believe me? Here are 7 examples of leadership or organizational issues
that create breeding grounds for employee conflict.
Shared, split or unclear responsibility. When responsibility is shared or isn't
clearly defined, that's a recipe for disaster. That's why I don't believe so-called
"two in a box" management works unless the functions are discretely divided.
Even then, there are conflicts. I see it time and again at all levels.
Centralized organizational functions. Whenever you have centralized
organizational functions like HR, IT, marketing or sales, for example, there's
serious potential for conflict between people fighting over resources. Happens
all the time. It's a resolvable matrix management issue, but it isn't easy and
not every company gets it right.
Ineffective compensation and review systems. Nothing breeds employee-level
conflict more than when compensation or review systems are dysfunctional.
For example when criteria isn't well-defined, there are more exceptions than
rules, or promotions and raises are done by tenure instead of merit.
Up and coming stars thwarted by "the system." The opposite of the above is
when review and compensation systems aren't flexible enough to allow for
certain individuals with star potential to be identified and offered an
accelerated path.
Lack of accountability. When executive or management bonus and
compensation programs aren't well constructed -- usually when objectives or
metrics are fuzzy or poorly aligned between groups -- that causes a lack of
accountability, finger-pointing, back-stabbing, and of course, the blame game.
Poor or nonexistent processes. Conflict is often a sign of growth pains because a
company has outgrown its processes and its scalability is limited. Whether it's
annual operating planning, budgeting, forecasting, or product development
phase reviews, when these or other processes are nonexistent or break down,
that creates conflict.
The Peter Principle. Ever get stuck working under an incompetent boss who
doesn't deserve to be in his job? Or have to work alongside a peer who likewise
isn't cutting it? I bet we all have. In every case I've seen, it creates conflict
between individuals.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are certainly times when people just don't get
along. But in my experience, the best run companies train their managers
from the top down to ask lots of questions before determining the cause of
conflict-related issues. On the other hand, when conflicts are chronic, that's
nearly always a sign of executive dysfunction.
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