Mediating employee conflicts a fifth of manager time 21 November, 2007 By eChannelline staff

The polls include responses from 100 Canadian and 150 U.S. senior executives, including those from human resources, finance and marketing departments. They were conducted by an independent research firm and developed by Accountemps.

Danielle Bomben, branch manager for Accountemps' Toronto location, said that there are many common steps that an employer can take to resolve and prevent conflicts, regardless of sector.

The first is to deal with a problem the moment it arises. Bomben recommended that managers keep a " temperature gauge of your corporate culture."

"Be in tune with what's happening within the office, especially if you're a manager who works within a closed office environment," she said.

She also said that spending time with employees is a good way to head off any conflicts before they become a problem. Having an open door policy is also a good idea according to Bomben.

"I think people respond best to management that they know can trust and approach at any time," she said. "I also think that mitigates issues within the office."

She also said that rewarding positive behaviour can help to create a positive work environment and most importantly, let employees know what the standards of workplace behaviour are and letting them know what's expected of them.

Should a conflict arise, the proper channels to deal with the problem should be in place, such as having the human resources department document incidents as they arise and letting "repeat offenders" know if they continue with their behaviour, they may face termination.

With Halloween this week, the company released a humorous list of common problem employees, or "workplace goblins", and the best methods for dealing with them.

"The Laughing Hyena"; this personality type finds everything funny, especially their own jokes. They are not aware that their voice carries and can be heard many cubicles away. Encourage employees to try to keep their voices down during conversations and find a conference room for meetings where speakerphones are used.

"The Ghost Employee"; there's nothing quite as frustrating as a staff member you can never find. Whether out on official business or not, some people seem perpetually away from the office and turn up only rarely for meetings and group events. These ghostlike characters may not realize they have this reputation -- and are certainly not prone to correcting it -- unless managers regularly remind the entire staff of the importance of being accessible.

"The Witch's Brewer"; It's hard for people to concentrate on their work when they're overcome by the smell of someone's microwave popcorn or reheated dinner. You don't need to single out offenders, but mention in team meetings that it's inconsiderate for staff to eat especially pungent foods at their desks.

"The Office Spook"; this type relishes scaring co-workers --especially new ones --about the hardships of working at your business. "If you think we've had it tough so far, just wait 'til the spring season," he may be heard to say. Painting the boss as a fire-breathing ogre and spreading other tales of woe are this person's specialty. The Office Spook may be someone you have to approach individually to turn around his pessimism.

Bodden also listed another couple of problem employees, though she admitted that she didn't have a creative name for them.

Another one is the attention seeker. A possible nickname might be "The Attention Vampire" because of their ability to drain a manager's time by demanding by that they pay attention to their every achievement.

She also said that someone who complains often falls into the same category as "The Office Spook".