About 20 years ago, I spent two days surrounded by belts and ties. It was there that I learned a valuable lesson about business and one of the biggest threats to workplace productivity.
At the time, I was working?as an office temp in a department store. Extra help was brought in to help prepare the store for a big sale. I was stationed in the men’s department, charged with bringing order to a pile of belts and ties.
Although sorting colors, patterns, and sizes can be a challenge, the job didn’t require my full attention. This gave me a chance to observe some conflict in the Men’s Department.
A woman named, Claire, was in charge of the department. An older man, Henry, was in charge of men’s suits. It was clear that the two of them did not get along. I don’t know if it was a case of a older employee not working well with a younger supervisor, a battle over turf, or a disagreement over pleats. I noticed that the pair had no problems interacting with other employees.
Late one day, while starting at a blue polka dot tie, I heard and argument erupt between Claire and Henry. At first I thought someone was having a heart attack. But I realized that this was a shouting match. I couldn’t make out most of it but Henry was kind enough to shout a little louder for his final comment to Claire.
“You treat me like a dog!” he yelled as he drew out the syllables of the word, “dog.”
The pair then separated and the fight was over. During a break, I tried to find out the scoop but none of the other workers said anything other than the two never got along. There appeared to be no consequences for the public argument.
Looking back at the incident, a few points come to mind:
- When employees argue in front of customers, they’re not thinking about your business.
- Most arguments on the job are the product of the accumulation of small perceived injustices.
- Ignoring conflict between employee will not make it go away.
In many organizations, employees are taught the mechanics of their jobs but they don’t learn how to communicate with one another. Maybe you’re fine with letting them spend a good chunk of their time plotting revenge on their nemesis. Or perhaps you could clearly define a company culture of acceptable behavior and quickly make a course corrections when conflict arises.
