For an organisation to believe that the conflict in question will simply disappear is not being realistic and can ultimately have a negative and costly impact.
This can result in decreased productivity, increased stress among employees and absenteeism, as well as the hidden cost of damaging a company’s reputation.
Organisations dealing with employment or safeguarding issues have identified that it is becoming more complex as the weight of case law and European legislation increases.
The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) estimates that conflict in the work-place costs UK business £33 billion per year, taking up 20% of leadership time and potentially losing up to 370 million working days.
Legislation requires that "reasonable" investigations are conducted and these have to be seen to be unbiased and conducted thoroughly and efficiently. It can therefore pay to have a professional independent service that acts independently from the organisation and offers a service that is efficient, fair and in accordance with the organisation's procedures, legislation and good practice. Being independent to the organisation, its service is seen as unbiased and credible by the employer, employee and any other parties associated with the matter.
Len Burns (pictured, left, with co-director, Steve Cave), director at Newcastle upon Tyne-based firm, Assure Independent Investigation, explains "A public sector organisation contacted us about two grievances, which already had been investigated internally, involving a mid-level manager and the head of department. Our investigation concluded that while some fault lay with the management in that the behaviour of the manager had been considered unacceptable, no-one had ever challenged the manager, who had a reputation for being intolerant of others and lacking empathy. Our report was submitted and discussions took place with the organisation and manager and resulted in a compromise agreement for the manager to leave the organisation."