Strategies; Hashing it Out

May 30, 2008

Brock School of Business Contact: Kara Kennedy, Director of External Affairs, 205-726-4070, kkennedy@samford.edu

Strategies
Hashing it out
Conflict among co-workers can add stress to any workplace. Experts recommend duking it out through old-fashioned communication
Birmingham Business Journal

Jimmy Debutts

 Call it a time out or a cooling off period, but sometimes a momentary separation is needed when frustration and tension builds between co-workers.

That's the lesson a local software developer and his manager learned after their once-strong relationship began crumbling during the implementation of a new program.
The developer devoted all his energy into the project. He stayed late but nothing seemed to satisfy his manager. The manager picked the developer because he consistently delivered quality work. As the project's timeframe was continually extended, a rift between the manager and developer surfaced. The manager felt stressed because his goals were not being met. The developer's stress level intensified because he wasn't able to satisfy his supervisor's deadlines.

Friction in the office rose until one day they compared their data. The manager pulled his data using one method; the developer's data came from another source. The developer believed his efforts resulted in a 100 percent improvement over the previous system. When his manager saw the results, the tension evaporated.

Communication breakdowns produced elevated stress levels for both. It could have been avoided with just a pause that allowed both to get back on the same page, said Performance Health President Cathy C. Urquhart. "It relieved everybody's stress once they pulled the numbers differently," Urquhart said. "They needed to step back, look at the goals and the process."

When interoffice confrontations erupt and tensions rise, employers better have a plan to defuse tempers and encourage teamwork, human resource experts say. Deadline pressures and personality clashes can produce destructive stress levels, but simple remedies can diffuse potential problems, Urquhart said.

Work-related stress can shorten patience and ignite tempers. The key for employers is recognizing stress warning signs and educating employees on their options for stress relief, she said.

It's important because stress is a contributing factor to chronic illness and those chronic illnesses cost the United States' economy $1.1 trillion in lost production annually and $277 billion in treatment costs, she said.

In Alabama, chronic illnesses sap companies with $18.6 billion in lost production and $4.7 billion in treatment costs each year.

What can companies do to curb it? While some would say yoga, green tea and a mandatory naptime, in the real world many human resource offices provide stress management training and programs to assist workers who might be experiencing work-family related stresses, many of which are financial and personal.

Breaking news to bosses who don't see it as a problem: Stress often negatively impacts employee production and eats at the business' bottom line, Behavioral Health Systems Director of Employee Assistance Judi Braswell said.

Companies want to offer those services because they lose billions annually to stress-related ailments, lost productivity and absenteeism.
Braswell suggests allowing employees to telecommute, give them flex time, job share and provide professional financial, health and family services.

Urquhart and Braswell said managers should avoid trying to diagnose an employee's problems - after all, few bosses double as psychologists - but they shouldn't ignore warning signs either. If a problem is percolating, they suggest explaining what services are available to employees.

Ignoring the problem is not an acceptable option, Braswell said. "It's not just personal - it impacts the business' bottom line," Braswell said. "Anything they are able to do to help the employee feel valued (should be done). If they have that work-home balance they will be satisfied. Satisfied employees are productive employees."

One option when employees are fighting: temporarily remove them from the situation to give the clashing co-workers a cool-down period. Once the tension passes, they can work together to formulate a solution, Urquhart said.

"Step back and take a deep breath. Address the issue and not the person," she recommends. "It's hard but important because it is the issue that needs to be resolved. You want to interact so you can problem solve. You've got to find a way to solve it. If you don't, it will escalate."

By minimizing stress, Urquhart said employees are more likely to be productive, motivated and innovative. Stressed employees are less inclined to participate in projects and shy away from teamwork.

Behavioral Health trains human resource personnel and supervisors to recognize problems that could lead to serious workplace problems. Managers are not trained to not address personal problems or try to figure them out but to pay attention to their employees' habits, Braswell said. But there are red flags that say there's something wrong at home, such as tardiness or excessive absences, Braswell said. Supervisors are trained to encourage employees to use employer supplied assistance services.

Some companies bring in on-site therapists during anticipated high-stress times.
Workplace-generated stress can escalate into unhealthy areas if left unchecked, said Chad Carson, assistant professor at Samford University's department of entrepreneurship management and marketing. Employers must be aware of the causes and implement strategies to stem inter-office tension, Carson said.

"Stress in the workplace costs employees a ton of time off and absenteeism," Carson said. "A lot of that stress can originate from supervisors. It's important for employers to be up-front with the expectations and challenges of the job. When you don't do that and that stressful time comes, they look around saying, 'No one told me it would be like this.'"