While it would be nice if all your employees for paid internships and premium entry level jobs could get along in peace, the truth is that often staff members can come into conflict with one another for both personal and professional reasons. Whether you’re dealing with a disagreement about how best to tackle a project or a clash of personalities, even the most professional workers can find themselves in a schoolyard-style dispute that requires your intervention. Not only do these arguments impact employee morale, but they can detract from the effectiveness and profitability of your business. Should any of your staff members enter a dispute, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Accept the problem
One of the biggest challenges facing employers when an employee dispute arises is actually acknowledging the issue. Often, it may seem easier to simply ignore the problem and hope that it goes away. While this may work in some instances, chances are that if such a dispute has come to your attention, it’s past the point of resolving itself. By intervening sooner rather than later, you may avoid the argument festering and developing into a more serious issue.

Mediation
Once you’ve determined that a dispute exists, the next step should involve calling a meeting between the two parties that you will mediate. This is a chance for both (or however many) staff members to present their side of the disagreement in front of a management figure. During the course of this meeting, it’s important for you to reserve judgment until all the facts are known. While you might have some preconceptions about who is culpable or a frequent problem-causer, you never know where the blame (if any) of an individual dispute may lie.

Insist on a resolution
After you’ve heard both arguments, you can begin working to solve the problem. Ideally, it will be an easy fix, but even if the outcome seems complicated, it’s necessary to impress the importance of resolution. Whether or not the employees get along or agree, the real issue is getting back to work. If the argument reveals an area that needs improvement with management or your company’s best practices, take this into consideration for further discussion in the future.


Reproduced from http://www.experience.com/entry-level-jobs/employers/settling-an-ongoing-employee-dispute/