Literature has examined conflict management strategies as avoidance, accommodation, forcing, collaboration and compromising.  In order for employees to cooperate they need to collaborate and have the conversation about differences and disagreements.  Disagreements can be resolved through negotiation.  It is important to consider what is being negotiated, where to negotiate and how to do it.  Moreover, it is also important to consider the psychological aspects of people in the negotiation process.

Psychological aspects of negotiation may include heuristics and biases.  The heuristics and biases may influence the perception of what is being negotiated and influence the outcome.  Research has identified 21 biases that can influence decision making in the negotiation process.  For example, the bias of loss aversion may influence how an increase in pay would seem.  The company may see it as a loss and the employee may see it as a gain.  Another bias is the compatibility bias where the negotiators assume that the issue is not compatible with the opponents leading to increased conflict.  A third party may be required to assist with managing the bias.  Mood and culture affect bias which may be unconscious and require a third party to identify and manage.  

Strategies to negotiate include the Warner’s style of negotiation where the negotiator’s style may include feeling powerful (bullying or confidently promoting ideas) or gentle (carefully suggesting ideas and quietly manipulating), while being coercive and persuasive.  The Warner’s style of negotiating can have strengths and weakness but can provide a framework on how to negotiate. Moreover, the interest-based model describes the negotiation skill of trust as an essential element.  Trust is needed to manage risk as people negotiating need faith in the ability to solve the problem.  Moreover, leadership that is empowering and trustworthy can provide psychological safety when managing conflict.  The interest-based model of negotiation also includes motivation to negotiate, the exchange of information and appropriate language.  There needs to be time to explore each other’s interest and space for creative invention of innovative ideas.  People negotiating need to understand the dynamics of integrative negotiation and be provided with a moderator to assist. When communicating a moderator would need to ensure that each party understands there is equal involvement.

Communication skills when negotiating include the ability to reveal only what is required to be negotiated and close the gap of differences, be flexible but realistic, have the ability to relate well with others, empathy and analytical ability.  The vision of the outcome, stakeholders involved, and a plan would also need to be identified before negotiation starts.  While negotiations take place, it is important that all parties understand the value of remaining until the end.  A representative such as a HRM will manage the negotiations and ensure that both parties feel heard.

The opening phase will involve not committing to an outcome, observing all questions and listening attentively to each other’s strengths and weakness and challenging each side’s position. The representative will encourage each party to challenge the other, while each will listen and ask appropriate questions.  The bargaining phase will enable each party to narrow the gap of differences by concealing and revealing information within their argument.  If a person decides to use tactics such as coercion, then it would not be treated as disrespectful but as a legitimate tool to negotiate.  However, trust and honesty need to be encouraged when exchanging information, the effort the resolve the conflict, negotiation is in good faith, and there is limited opportunism as the exchange is in the best interest of all parties.  Both parties are to seek a common interest when negotiating and a win-win collaborative approach.

Trust also involves that each person negotiating including the representative respecting each person’s view.  However, there are times when viewpoints within the negotiation process does not converge and a decision to end the conflict may be required if parties are not willing to negotiate. To improve the negotiation process, the representative’s role include ensuring the conversation stays on track, each party has equal say and an outcome in the best interest of each party is achieved.  The negotiation will be closed where there is an agreement to do something in the future.  An agreement may mean one party does not get what they want due to viewpoints not converging.  However, a collaborative approach is recommended where information is exchanged to focus on common interest rather than self-interest.  Policies and procedures would be developed to guide the negotiation process, so it remains collaborative and supportive and training developed to teach staff the process.  

Performance management includes ongoing performance development and managing underperformance.  Underperformance may occur when an employee loses motivation in their work role, not being challenged enough, bullying and a low wage.  Underperformance may also occur due to unclear work expectations, personal issues and external factors such as challenges within the industry.  

Underperformance can be managed in various ways such as identify the cause of the issue rather than seeing the employee as the problem.  Management may also include regular check ins without micromanaging, supporting the employee with external counselling if personal issues are the cause, review the culture of the workplace and offer mentoring. A last resort usually includes a Performance Improvement Plan.  

Effective policies and procedures need to guide performance management and dismissal if no change occurs to avoid legal action including unfair dismissal claims. 

With all the changes in industries especially in financial planning how do you encourage staff to have a passion for learning, especially when work demands are high and life stressors have increased.  

Passion for learning may include learning more about the self and being curious when life does not go well, relationships are a struggle or fail and when feeling  emotionally unwell.  Passion for learning also includes professionally developing when staff are satisfied with their career and feel settled, meaning if they don't professionally develop anymore who would notice? 

Developing professionally and creating a passion for learning can be challenging especially when there is no time, when people don't need to, when finances are low and when there are many life constraints in the way.  However at a systems level, professionally developing staff can create a dynamic workplace, a culture for learning and enhance performance.  Performance management is a strategy which includes non-monetary and monetary rewards.  Self-determination theory suggests that intrinsic motivation is more effective than external motivation however you still need both.  Intrinsic motivation may include the benefits learning has on the staff member such as they may be able to apply it in their personal and work life and can use the information to build relationships such as being up to date in their field would help with developing intelligent, meaningful conversations with their peers.  

Learning can be conducted online, or through round tables.  It can also be conducted when out for coffee or drip fed through emails.  Following up on the learning by finding out how staff applied it can help develop intrinsic motivation and management receive feedback on the learning material. 

The process may include finding out the constraints of learning, doing a gap analysis to identify what topics to teach and identifying which platforms to use. 

Ensuring staff have a passion for learning will improve your branding and maintain high performance employees.  It would also ensure staff would not feel redundant if they seek employment elsewhere or talk with their peers. 

I have been watching The Perfect Storm and up to the scene where the actors decides to continue fishing even though there were signs of danger and the crew were warned of the risk through verbal and visual form.  They were also advised that the best option was to  turn back home.  It made me think of the decisions we choose to make even though we are told of the risk and of the times we know our options but decide on the risk.  While studying financial planning I learned about risk tolerance and often use this concept in my work in psychology.  I look at my client's level of risk tolerance to help understand their decision making process.  I have also been interested in Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely's work on decision making.   Daniel Kahneman focuses on cognitive bias and how we need to manage both systems one and two.  System one is unconscious and if we don't think about our actions or choices enough we won't make rational decisions with systems two.  However Dan Ariley talks about emotions and how they often drive our decisions.  For example Dan Ariely in his book Predictably Irrational discusses the process he went through to buy a car.  Firstly he completed a questionnaire online to make a logical decision to buy the right car for him but then went back and altered his responses to suite his initial preference that he desired.  He said his heart and mind were in conflict.  How often do we go back into our thought process, fudge our memories to get the answer we prefer so it can match our feelings which often sits in our heart space.  Dan talks about going with our gut feelings rather than making long rational thought provoking choices.  He also says that sometimes we need to acknowledge how we feel and then make the rational choice that Daniel Kahneman mentions.  As in The Perfect Storm movie, the actors followed their desire to get what they needed and wanted.  The actor's decision created victory, hardship then loss. How many times do we do the same?  Only to find that the joy was a moment in time that ended up in grief and loss.

There are strategies we can follow to make the right choices.  One is to acknowledge how you feel and then step back to think about alternatives.  In your decision making process consider your feelings and include them in the pros and cons.  If you do make a rational choice and still find your feelings are pulling you in the risky direction you make decide to take the risk however also acknowledge the consequences.  

Think of a strategy when making a decision and develop a checklist.  A strategy can manage impulsive behaviour. For example you may look at the Worry Tree if an individual or have a strategic plan if an organisation. Decisions are usually best made with a group of people who agree and disagree with you as you need healthy conflict to reach an outcome and overcome cognitive bias. We are not always the best at acknowledging our own cognitive bias but in a group it can be challenged and reviewed.  Take time to consider your process and stay with your uncomfortable feelings if you are being challenged.  If you are using one anchor (piece of information) and think of an alternative one to challenge your thoughts and overcome the bias.   Be mindful that when you seek alternative viewpoints you are not unconsciously seeking people who share the same view as your own and following the herd.  Be open to listen to information that goes against your beliefs.  Remain respectful and realise that everyone has their own journey that may not align with your own.  Think of worst case scenarios.  Be ready to review your belief and that the choice you need to make may not be aligned with what you wanted.  Also be mindful that you will need to be detached of the outcome as success is not guaranteed.   Risk can be managed but not avoided. 

Making healthy decisions takes time and seeking information from sources that may challenge your beliefs require you to be aware of and manage cognitive dissonance.  Keep reviewing your decision making process to make healthier choices. 

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Resilience is about being adaptable to challenges and/or change whether it is new people or companies merging.  It allows the individual to remain positive, motivated and interdependent because they know their strengths and ability and will be able to cope through challenges.

Improving resilience is not only about considering how the individual functions but also how the workplace functions as environment and individual interact.

The really good news is that after discussing your needs, we will identify what is causing a lack of resilience in your staff through simple but effective auditing.  We  will then customise a solution that will be designed to your own needs to achieve your goals.  It’s simple.  Leave it to our qualified experts as we have a full range of ideas and skills gained from over 10 years of experience.

The result you get from our professional service is an effective and enthusiastic workplace with staff who can adapt to change.  

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Employees have a tendency to ride the wave of external employment opportunities creating low retention rates for organisations and extra cost in seeking new staff.  Strategies can be put in place to help with staff retention such as helping current staff work on a career plan, incentives such as providing wellbeing days, making sure they work with their strengths, review their work role and offer opportunities so they can grow.   Another change that can improve staff retention is improved leadership style that is engaging, supportive and can see the potential in the people they manage.  A workshop or group sessions can be designed where the leader and team members talk about  hopes, fears, shared goals and behaviour so each is aligned within individual, group, culture and organisation. 

We can help you design such a workshop or group sessions and implement to make sure your workplace functions at its best and keep valuable staff for longer.  

While most psychopaths are thought to be in prison, there are a majority in corporate and political sectors.  Psychopaths can be charming, confident, fearless, bold, interpersonally dominant, have low anxiety, reckless and dishonest.  Psychopaths' central features are manipulation, deceitfulness and being dishonest.  

Personality has been found to be an important predictor of work performance and other work-related outcomes, and there is a positive relationship between personality and workplace outcomes and  experience.  As such, there has been a shift to discussing transformational leadership and employee engagement  at work to dark leadership at work.  Psychopaths at work has been linked to fraud, undertaking unethical decision-making, put-down and abuse coworkers, and have insatiable desire for rewards and status meaning that they will go at anything to get it including lying about their qualification and work history. 

Dark leadership includes personalities within the dark triad which includes Machiavellian (are cynical, detached emotionally, strategic long term planning, manipulative, exploits others and deceptive), narcissism (inflated sense of self-view, believes they are successful and seeks admiration, wants to have their self-love reinforced by others, fantasies control), and psychopaths (charismatic, emotionally shallow, lacks remorse or concern for others). 

While people who have the dark personalities may be risk takers, are strategic, great communicators and thrive for power, status and success even though if it is at the expense of others and workplace cohesion, may become counterproductive, are only great communicators to manipulate others and when they don't get what they want become abusive, and sabotage whey they can't control or gets in their way.  Moreover, while Machiavellian personalities are recruited for high power positions due to their strong personality and assertiveness, they ultimately will become cynical to others, unreliable, unpredictable, have a disregard for standards, and threatening. 

People with dark personalities in the workplace can have positive qualities when things go their way however may become destructive when they don't.  Therefore, personality and workplace outcomes are important to measure when hiring people and understanding productive workplace behaviours. 




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