What does workplace conflict cost your business?

Posted 4 years ago

£28.5 billion. That is the total overall cost of workplace conflict to employers each year, as estimated by a new report from ACAS.

The report highlights the fact that business leaders cannot completely remove conflict from the workplace, but through the use of practical steps, can ensure that it is effectively managed and resolved.

Additionally, it is worth noting that the report is based on findings from before the COVID-19 pandemic, which means the statistics are likely underestimating the impact of today’s climate causing further workplace conflict.

So, we know that the cost of conflict to employers is huge, but how much does it cost your business each year?

The report estimates that, on average, conflict costs £1,000 for every employee in the UK each year. However, it costs £3,000 annually for each individual involved in conflict. Evidently, it is massively beneficial for organisations to understand how to properly deal with conflict at work.

Conflict doesn’t just harm the company in terms of finances either. The report also found that almost 10 million employees experienced conflict at work, of which, over 50% of them suffered from stress, anxiety, or depression. Finally, as a result:

Almost 900,000 employees took time off work
Nearly 500,000 employees resigned
Over 300,000 employees were dismissed

What is beyond doubt is that conflict, and its effective management, is a critical issue for organisations in maximising productivity and efficiency. More fundamentally it underlines the link between employee wellbeing and organisational effectiveness.

Estimating the costs of workplace conflict, ACAS report

With that said, the findings from this report stress the importance of organisations having a strong understanding of how to deal with conflict at work, and how to minimise the amount of times it occurs.

Online training to manage workplace conflict

Here at iHasco, we offer a number of online training courses that can help employers and employees understand how to manage workplace conflict effectively.

Some of our most relevant courses include:

If you are interested in how we can help you handle conflict in the workplace through the use of our training courses, please get in touch so we can find out more about your training needs! Alternatively, you can claim a free, no-obligation trial to any of the courses today and see the quality of our training courses for yourself!