RETHINKING CONFLICT MANAGEMENT – FAIRNESS, JUSTICE AND CAPABILITY

PROFESSOR RICHARD SAUNDRY

PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS AND WORK (POW) RESEARCH GROUP, ISPER, UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH

Conflict matters… Employers spend an average of 18 days in

management time on each disciplinary case, and 14 days on each grievance (CIPD, 2011)

Employees in the UK spend 370 million working days each year dealing with conflict (OPP, 2008)

Bullying and harassment in the NHS alone costs the taxpayer £2.28Bn per year

92% of workplace HR managers spent time dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues in 2011 (Van Wanrooy et al., 2013)

The holy grail of early resolution

More streamlined disciplinary and grievance processes – greater emphasis on informal resolution

Mediation referred to/provided for in two-thirds of disputes procedures

24% and 32% of employers reported increased use of in-house and external mediation respectively

Almost 4 in 10 organisations expanded the development and use of mediation skills in 2015

Acas model of conflict resolution

The case for conflict management

More holistic approach – targets all forms of discontent

Potential to improve workplace relationships and deepen engagement rather than just reduce the cost of conflict

Key elements Conflict competence – recruitment and development

Systems approach – multiple and flexible interventions

Open cultures – high trust relationships

Integrated conflict management systems

But…

‘the rhetoric of early resolution does not appear to have transferred to the reality of managerial practice. Instead, our findings suggest that conflict management and dispute resolution in British workplaces are increasingly dominated by notions of procedural compliance’ (Saundry et al., 2016:46)

Conflict, what conflict?

Conflict management has an image problem The UKs system of dispute resolution provides

little incentive for organisations to invest in conflict management

The gradual erosion of trade unions has reduced the potential for visible manifestations of conflict

Conflict is difficult to define and effective conflict management is even harder to see

The HR perspective - just ‘day-to-day stuff’

Conflict management and employment relations characterised as ‘day-to- day’ and transactional

Separated out from ‘strategic’ work – not seen as part of HRBP role

‘…we [HR advisors] do all the day to day operational work…under the previous structure, it was thought that the HR business partners were picking up quite a lot of the operational work …Under the new structure we’re going to try to move away from that, so they’re solely just dealing with the strategic elements, and the HR advisors are dealing with all the day to day operational work and advising the managers on how to deal with any difficulties within their teams…’

Changing the direction of the debate?

The right key for the right door – different triggers for investment in conflict managementBullying and harassment a key driver in the NHS

Potential to lead to piecemeal adoption of disparate range of approaches

Deconstructing conflict management Focus on managerial competence Fairness and organisational justice

Managerial capability – the missing piece of the puzzle?

‘…there is a statistically significant link between the quality of firms’ management processes and practices and their productivity. And the effect is large. A one standard deviation improvement in the quality of management raises productivity by, on average, around 10%. This suggests potentially high returns to policies which improve the quality of management within companies.’Andrew G Haldane, Chief Economist, Bank of England

The future of work is relational…

‘…human and creative skills, such as those that Frey and Osborne list as “assisting and caring for others”, “persuasion”, “negotiation”, “social perceptiveness”, “fine arts” and “originality” are likely to become increasingly valued in the workforce across multiple sectors, as they are the hardest skills for computers to replicate (Frey and Osborne 2013)’Patrick Brione, Head of Research, IPA in Acas Research Paper, ‘Mind Over Machines: New technology and employment relations’, 2017.

Fairness and organisational justice

Fairness side-lined by a desire for resolution at all costs

Debate over good work foregrounds fairness Organisational justice underpins trust and

promotes employee engagement Is fairness a fundamental part of the role and

identity of HR practitioners?‘the legal and compliance side of it comes second to me personally. Because I want to promote fairness for fairness…Because I don’t want the unfair and unequal treatment to have a knock on effect for the rest of the team’ (HR Practitioner)

Competence, resolution and performance

Conclusions and implications A central aspect of conflict management is managerial

capability: negotiation, communication, influencing and persuasion

Building managerial capability is key to solving the productivity puzzle

New technology and automation are likely to increase the emphasis on these skills

Developing managerial competence provides a critical strategic role for HR

Confident and capable managers will be less reliant on HR, leaving them space to act as advocates of fairness

���Conflict matters…The holy grail of early resolution Acas model of conflict resolutionThe case for conflict managementIntegrated conflict management systemsBut…Conflict, what conflict?The HR perspective - just ‘day-to-day stuff’Changing the direction of the debate?Managerial capability – the missing piece of the puzzle?The future of work is relational…Fairness and organisational justiceCompetence, resolution and performanceConclusions and implications