When there are employee relations issues in your company, it creates an uncomfortable situation for everyone in the office. Your employee dread coming into work each day and your management team begins to feel more like referees than managers. Conflicts form and begin to interfere with the production of your product line or delivery of your service. As the friction continues within the office environment, productivity declines and your revenue begins to decrease as well.
You can take action to restore the cohesive balance to your office once more. It starts with everyone that has a part in the conflict willingly addressing the problem and working together to reach a resolution. That opens the door for conflict resolution. However, there are a few more things you can do to make sure the office remains a friendly environment.
Cooperation is Vital
Work to create an environment where employees and management understand that the success of the company starts with everyone working together to achieve a common goal. That goal can be increasing productivity, maintaining customer satisfaction levels or another goal that you present. Explain to your staff that it takes the work of everyone to accomplish that goal and that competition just does not exist within the office structure. Consider hosting team building exercises or events that will help boost the cooperation level in the office. These exercises or events can include some of the following items.
- Seminars
- Workshops
- Training Programs
- Office Lunch Outings
Each of these activities or events will reinforce the necessary skills that your staff needs to work as one cohesive unit. When that begins to happen, productivity returns to your office which impacts how revenue responds.
Be a Source of Employee Inspiration
Now is the time to set a positive example for your employees and management team. Announce to the staff that you are implementing an incentive program that centers on goals you want the office to achieve together. These items need to include company-wide goals and departmental goals. Add incentive rewards that employees and management can earn with the completion of each goal. Start by setting a goal for yourself, make it something that has been on your to-do list for awhile and set the incentive as a company-wide reward when you achieve that goal. Offer incentive rewards for employee and management goal achievement as well. Examples of incentive rewards for your goal accomplishment and the departmental achievements can include the following items.
- Casual Dress Day
- Gift Cards
- Financial Bonuses
- Catered Lunches at the Office
When employees and management have a common goal to work towards and know there is an incentive waiting when that happens, they will find ways to work together as a solid unit. It erases negative feelings that have previously been present and begins to restore balance to the office.
Listen to Feedback
When employees feel as if their thoughts and opinions do not have value in the office, relations start to take a negative turn. As employees continue to feel as if they have no impact on the company, their willingness to focus on productivity begins to decline. Your revenue starts to decrease, and office morale drops as well.
An excellent way to fix a situation like this is to seek the advice of employees when you are making changes to a product line or a service. Ask your employees what they think about pending department changes in work production and take the time to listen to the feedback they provide. Your staff may give insight into the issue that you have been unable to see. It can lead to a resolution that your team creates together.
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Engage in Rational Conflict Resolution
There are going to be moments of conflict between your employees, management team or both. That is a natural part of bringing different personalities together to work under one roof. Your job as the company owner is to handle conflict situations in a manner that does not diminish how another person feels and leads towards a positive resolution.
Conflict resolution starts by taking the time to listen to all of the parties that are in a situation. Avoid jumping to conclusions or taking one side over another side. That will just increase the level of conflict in the office and prolong the creation of a resolution. Understand that miscommunication is a leading factor in most conflict situations. Inquire as to whether an attempt to clear up the miscommunication had taken place before the situation came to your attention. Knowing what stage the miscommunication situation is at can help you formulate a plan to reach an amicable solution.
Your employees and management team spend a significant amount of time working in your office together. When relations take a turn for the worst, everyone dreads coming to work each day. These tips can help you work to improve employee relations and maintain a steady stream of revenue generation for the life of your business.
