Conflicts in the workplace are inevitable, but should managers get involved in inter-personal disagreements among employees?

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an organization of human resource professionals from more than 120 countries. Its 2024 report of over 5,000 workers in the U.K. revealed several significant insights:

• Top management tends to think of conflict management in terms of formal resolution procedures, which they believe to be effective.

• In reality, very few employees actually escalate conflicts to any formal resolution procedure.

• In fact, the most common response to conflict by almost half of respondents was simply to “let it go” unresolved.

•. Those who “let conflicts go” unresolved reported feeling much less satisfied with their job plus negative impacts on their mental and physical health.

•. Approximately 10% said they were looking for another job because of conflicts in the workplace.

There is no reason to believe the results would be significantly different in the U.S. and Canada.

A landmark study of workers commissioned some 16 years earlier by CPP, Inc., in the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, asked what managers could do to resolve conflicts. Fewer than 10 felt managers should do nothing. More than 40% agreed managers should “have more informal one-to-one conversations with people they manage” and “act as mediators when conflict develops.”

According to a report by the Alabama Daily News earlier this year, state senator Rodger Smitherman introduced a bill that requires high school students learn about violence prevention, conflict resolution, and mediation before graduation. The bill also directs the state’s Department of Education to develop standards and provide teacher training.

If passed, the requirement would begin in 2026 with ninth grade students receiving instruction in the following:

• Responsible decision-making.

• The causes and effects of school violence and harassment, cultural diversity, and non-violent methods for resolving conflict, including peer mediation.

• The consequences of violent behavior.

• The causes of violent reactions to conflict.

• Nonviolent conflict resolution techniques.

• The relationship between drugs, alcohol and violence.

• The implementation of voluntary peer mediation programs and the integration of conflict resolution models in classrooms.

Smitherman also introduced another bill requiring couples getting married to complete a conflict resolution class.

No doubt communities across the nation are searching for ways to address discord and violence. Previously not widely recognized, conflict resolution programs are now present in many schools. It’s estimated that approximately 25% of schools have implemented peer mediation programs. While most of the programs are small, they have been shown to reduce conflicts on campuses.

There is every reason to grow these programs so that all students receive conflict resolution education.