Employers urged to tackle workplace conflict as survey reveals extent of issue in Scotland
“Managers and senior leaders should encourage open and supportive work environments,” says Marek Zemanik, senior public policy adviser at the CIPD.
Scots who experience conflict in the workplace have lower job satisfaction and are more likely to experience poorer mental and physical health, prompting a call for employers to better tackle the issue, according to a new study out today.
More than a quarter of workers north of the Border said they have experienced conflict at work over the past year, the Working Lives Scotland 2024 report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found. The most common forms were being undermined or humiliated in the workplace (48 per cent), verbal abuse or insult (40 per cent), being shouted at or having a heated argument (also 40 per cent), and discriminatory behaviour (20 per cent).
The survey, which polled more than 1,000 workers in Scotland, discovered that of those who experienced workplace conflict in the past 12 months, 49 per cent said they felt work impaired their mental health, compared to just 16 per cent of those who had not experienced any conflict.
Furthermore, under a third said they trusted senior leaders in their organisation to act with integrity, compared with 55 per cent of those who did not experience any conflict at work, and 31 per cent said they were likely to leave their job in the next 12 months, more than double the 14 per cent among those who did not report any conflict. Additionally, incidences of conflict are considerably higher for women (35 per cent compared with only 21 per cent of men), and for disabled employees (39 per cent reported experiencing conflict, compared with 25 per cent of non-disabled peers).
The CIPD, which calls itself the professional body for HR and people-development, said is calling for employers to focus on management training and address the underlying causes of conflict. Marek Zemanik, senior public policy adviser at the organisation, said: “While a healthy level of discussion and debate in a workplace can be valuable, our survey suggests that workplace conflict is often much more than this, harming the job satisfaction and wellbeing of far too many.
“Line management training should be a priority for employers, so managers can foster more positive relationships in their teams and address any conflict early on, before it has a chance to escalate. It’s also important to pinpoint and address the underlying causes of conflict, including excessive workloads, exhaustion, and pressure.
“Our findings show that when conflict does happen, a lot of it is simply let go, which may suggest a lack of confidence in senior staff to address these issues constructively. And so, the cycle of conflict stands to continue.” The research in fact shows that “letting it go” was the most common approach to address conflict at 35 per cent.
Zemanik added: "Managers and senior leaders should encourage open and supportive work environments, where employees feel they have a voice, and line managers feel empowered to have difficult conversations through effective training.”
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