Conflicts are part of every management. According to ALICE Training Institute (2015), close to 700 people are murdered in the various places of work, and between 1992 and 2012, approximately 15,000 cases of violence at the workplace that were recorded were all homicide victims. Several cases of violence at workplaces have led to serious fatalities. Nonfatal cases remain common with the CNN reporting 572,000 cases of nonfatal crimes in 2009 at various workplaces (ALICE Training Institute, 2015).
Largely, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA) put the estimated value to be approximately 2 million cases of workplace violence per annum – ranging from physical and verbal abuses to homicides. Organizations, therefore, have to put in place necessary conflict handling mechanisms to help in averting conflicts from degenerating into violence. Cross-cultural misunderstanding is one key factor that if not well handled can result in workplace violence (Perkins & Arvinen-Muondo, 2013). Various organizations have to make unrelenting efforts to resolve differences considerately while factoring in the cultural considerations.
The cultural difference comes up with communication challenges. Communication is in two distinct forms: verbal and non-verbal communication. Tones of voice, gestures, facial expressions, body language, and posture have an immense impact on communication (Resolve cross-cultural misunderstandings, 2008). The difference in rules across varied cultures affects the ways of communication whether verbal or nonverbal. Notably, the rules are particular to every culture and must not be underestimated. For instance, in some cultures, when a person maintains continuous eye contact in a conversation, he/she is interpreted as being disrespectful. The scenario is the true position for the aboriginal cultures.
In the current global world, organizations first have to appreciate the rules of communication in different cultures before learning how to communicate with employees from other cultures. In addition, the different managements at the workplaces have to be aware of the most common obstacles to effective communication across the different cultures within the workplaces (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety, 2016). This initiative will eliminate instances where one will be highly likely to judge an individual from another culture based on the cultural values, which do not tally with those of the former.
In this manner, cases of workplace violence will be reduced or eliminated. Appreciating the concept of individual differences is another way of preventing violence at the workplaces. By the management explaining to members the strength of having people with varied cultures as well as differences, employees will be in a position to learn to accommodate each other in order to build a strong team (Doherty & Guyler, 2008). In this aspect, the unity and understanding at the workplace will help curb the cases of workplace violence.
Unresolved conflicts or negative conflict resolution at the workplace can have detrimental effects to the emotional and physical health of people given their strong relationship to stress. Stress at work emanates from different avenues: concerns about employee layoffs, overwork, and conflicts. Stress and conflicts if not well managed affect the body, mind, and causes injury rates.
Employees with these challenges, as Lorainne (2004) observes, pay less focus on the requirements of the jobs, and easily make errors that cause injuries. If left unresolved, conflicts intensify and eventually affect a larger group or even the whole workforce. Cultural difference, on its part, can lead to dysfunctional communications, backstabbing, and disrespect among employees as well as with the management. Unresolved conflicts lead to stress that later causes ailments such as ulcers, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases.
Effective conflict resolution mechanisms are important for the sustainable growth of organizations. Organizations should implement policies and procedures that manage conflicting situations. Unresolved conflicts results in long-term stress in workers, which eventually affect the output and productivity of an organization.
References
ALICE Training Institute. (2015). 10 ways to prevent workplace violence. Web.
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety. (2016). Violence in the workplace. Web.
Doherty, N., & Guyler, M. (2008). The essential guide to workplace mediation & conflict resolution: Rebuilding working relationships. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Lorainne, G. (2004). The mind-body connection: Workplace conflict, stress & the risk of injury. Web.
Perkins, S., & Arvinen-Muondo, R. (2013). Organizational behaviour: People, process, work, and human resource management. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Resolve cross-cultural misunderstandings. (2008). Web.