Social Capital
"Social Capital" is the "value of the interactions between people that affects; trust, mutual understanding, and cooperation".
Conflicts at organisational, process, and role levels affect "Social Capital" and can be reflected in employee engagement, complaints, and increased stress.
Organisational Conflict Management
1. Conflict can be healthy or unhealthy.
Organisational conflict affects both Organisational Performance and Employee /Group Development.
Conflict occurs where people interact and there are many organisational "interfaces" where this can happen such as with customers; between employees; sections; work groups, at union negotiations, between departments (e.g. silo mentalities); and during mergers/acquisitions/restructures.
Conflict is often associated with negative outcomes; with threatening behaviour; and violence. However, contemporary models of conflict describe conflict as varying on a "bell" curve from unhealthy, such as suppressed conflict and "group think" to coercive and aggressive conflicts (at either end of the bell shaped graph), with healthy - collaborative problem solving - conflict (in the middle/top of the curve). Refer to the Conflict model.
Reasons why unhealthy conflicts happen include:
- Lack of shared information to redress misunderstandings;
- Focusing on facts and reason, or using position power, that overrides the values and needs of others;
- Not respecting others feelings or treating them insensitively;
- "Leaping into Battle" and reacting to differences rather than managing them proactively;
- Avoiding issues (conflict rarely disappears though it may be hidden);
- "Labelling" the personality faults of others (e.g. difficult, stupid) rather than addressing the issues.
The trick is to keep conflict healthy and proactively addressing unhealthy conflict. Common keys to achieve this are: Taking a collaborative approach, and working to "reframe" differences to achieve agreement and commitment to a way forward.
2. Complaints Management.
Complaints can be managed either by a:
- Focus on "rights" through formal complaints/dispute processes which can leave underlying conflict issues to recur in other ways.
- Focus on "Substantive" and "Relationship" issues.
There is a tendency for formal complaint management processes to focus on the employment "rights" of the parties rather than identifying the underlying causes of a conflict, which, if not addressed, can result in further complaints arising. This is exampled in the Systemic Unfairness Diagram.
A Conflict Analysis is a good starting point in understanding the causes of conflict. A Conflict Analysis is:
a process of analysing and diagnosing a conflict and developing a plan for resolving the conflict.
Without the use of an adequate conflict analysis methodology conflict resolution is often ineffective and fails.
An Organisational Justice Model can be used as a way of undertaking a Conflict Analysis.
A Better Complaints Management PowerPoint slide show is provided for futher explanation. Please click on the Better Complaints Management Information Button.
