Most CEOs would love office dramas to be just another story plot on their favorite Netflix drama series in which they could just press the off button on the remote and the problem magically just disappears. Just think how entertaining it would be to have David Copperfield perform such acts!  Unfortunately, it is not that easy, considering the fact that workplace conflict can stem from the most trivial of offenses.  “It often starts out really small,” says Anne McSorley, partner with WorkBest Consulting LLC and a trained psychotherapist.  “But in a small business it can become viral.”  In a larger company, the conflict may be contained to a workgroup.  But in a small business, it’s everyone’s problem.  The problem with most management teams is the fact they are not seeing what’s happening until they get the letter and then the response is simply, “How can we make this not go to court?”

The CPP study found that the primary causes of workplace conflict are related to personality clashes, followed by stress and workload.  “We know that people who are similar get along better, but that leads to other problems, like groupthink,” says Rich Thompson, director of research for CPP.  While every small business owner knows that such workplace conflicts affect productivity and morale, the actual tangible money drain of office drama is not as obvious.  When CPP Incorporated publishers of the Myers-Briggs Assessment and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument commissioned a study on workplace conflict, they found that in 2008, U.S. employees spent 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict.  This amounts to approximately $359 billion in paid hours(based on average hourly earnings of $17.95), or the equivalent of 385 million working days.  For example, 25 percent of employees said that avoiding conflict led to sickness or absence from work.  Equally alarming, nearly 10 percent reported that workplace conflict led to project failure and more than one-third said that conflict resulted in someone leaving the company, either through firing or quitting.  Those types of statistics equivocate into real financial losses especially for small businesses.  They also prove that leaders aren’t stepping in or staying out of it when they should.  While some level of conflict is healthy in the workplace, leadership needs to intervene if it becomes serious or has gone on too long.   So as a manager, you may ask what is too long? Here are some warning signs which indicate you need to intervene: (the typical manager spends 25-40 percent of her time dealing with workplace conflicts…. how much productivity is being wasted!)

• A sudden change in employee behavior
• A sudden change in employee body language or verbal tone
• Increased absences
• A noticeable reduction in productivity
• Increased palpable stress levels

The leadership in your organization should always consider the cost of employee turnover.   For example, consider the costs of filling a vacant position, recruitment costs (placing ads, hiring headhunters), training the new hire, paying other employees involved in the hiring and training process, paying severance, and the lost investment you made in the previous employee (including their knowledge).  Smart leaders know that replacing an employee will cost you 150 to 200 percent more than that employee’s salary and benefits.  This simply means even a mid-level employee making $30,000 a year could cost your company $70,000 or more to replace.  For instance, I can recall one of my mentors Lafayette Gatling, Sr (founder/former CEO of Gatling Funeral Home located in Chicago, IL), boasted on how he never had to fire an employee and values an extremely low employee turnover rate, despite having to manage 200-300 employees. Mr. Gatlings results were most likely due to his Servant leadership style coupled with the willingness to invest in employees since the inception of the business. Perhaps, even more reason to put your reading glasses on and focus on ways on how to resolve workplace conflict immediately.  Not to mention, the fact how it eventually affects your business image and customers.  Furthermore, finding ways to remove the employee or employees causing the high employee turnover due to conflicts would be definitely worth the expense.  Personally, I have seen management overlook the fact that maybe one or two persons are actually the ones causing multiple employees to leave.  Moreover, the employees who resigned due to office drama are usually your most valuable because nine times out of ten they were seen as a threat by an insecure co-worker or manager.  Remember employees or managers that run people away from your business are not an asset for the business as a whole!

Ultimately, finding ways to deal with conflict comes down to the leadership of an organization, says Ralph Kilmann, an expert in the field of conflict management and one of the authors of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.  “Change is possible if senior leadership is absolutely committed to changing the culture,” says Kilmann.  “But, you have to have real conversations about desired cultural norms and how to take advantage of people’s differences.”

References:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/85broads/2014/05/15/conflict-resolution-when-should-leaders-step-in/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207196

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Why does Emotional Intelligence Matter?

By Joyce Barnes 

Many of the bad things that happen in companies are a function of impulsive behavior.  Recent studies clearly show that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership.  Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he or she still will not make a great leader.  So what is emotional intelligence?  Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you.  For instance, people with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.  After all, most people want a leader that can stay in control of his or her team by calmly assessing the situation instead of a temper tantrum or shouting match.  Moreover, when it comes to Intelligence quotient (IQ) this can be defined as a value that indicates a person’s ability to learn, understand, and apply information and skills in a meaningful way.                                      

Interestingly enough, people with high EQ do not have to have a high IQ to succeed because social skills in the workplace and in everyday life are constantly being utilized.  For instance, according to a recent Forbes article “Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and the ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead.  Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge.”  Therefore, even though high IQ could enhance the chance of a successful life, the EQ is the essential ingredient of happiness.

According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularize EQ, there are five main elements of emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness (ability to recognize & understand your moods, emotions and effects on others)
2. Self-regulation (the ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods..think before acting)
3. Motivation (a passion to work for reasons that go beyond money or status)
4. Empathy (the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people)
5. Social skills (proficiency in managing relationships and building networks)

So what test, if any, are available to gauge potential candidates for EQ competencies?

According to an article by Stephen Blakesley, a Vistage International speaker, the MSCEIT developed by Mayer, Salovey, and David Caruso, was the first EQ test, then a more updated version was developed by Reuven Bar-On, a psychologist who in fact coined the term “emotional quotient.” (Bar-On model is more widely used and validated than the MSCEIT)

Unfortunately, far too many training programs that intend to build leadership skills including emotional intelligence are a waste of time and money.  And the problem is quite simple—they focus on the wrong part of the brain!  Just think of all major companies that have been tackling emotional intelligence and still wonder why their leaders are not developing like predicted.  Perhaps, this is because they fail to go deep sea fishing for the answer that lies in the neurotransmitters of the brain’s limbic system, which governs feelings, impulses, and drives.  Research indicates that the limbic system learns best through motivation, extended practice, and feedback.  Now compare this with the kind of learning that goes on in the neocortex, which governs analytical and technical ability.  For example, this is the part of the brain that figures out how to use a computer.  Not surprisingly, it is also the part of the brain targeted by most training programs aimed at enhancing emotional intelligence.  Therefore, organizations must refocus their training to include the limbic system and help people break old behavioral habits.

All in all, it is important to emphasize that building one’s emotional intelligence cannot and will not happen without sincere desire and concerted effort. This basically means a brief seminar won’t help; nor can one buy a how-to-manual.  After all, when it comes to running a first class organization no one wants to be known as a hothead when the boss is known for his or her calm approach.  Guess what?–fewer bad moods at the top mean fewer throughout the organization.

References

http://www.Fernley.com/bestpractices/industry

https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chip-conley/the-top-10-emotionallyint

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_45.htim

http://www.ted.com/conversations/21687/emotional_intelligence?vs_inte.html

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