Feuding and conflicting colleagues account for nearly half (47%) of all grievances raised in the workplace, according to new research.

Nearly four in ten (38%) businesses believe this is down to employees becoming less tolerant, with factors like mental health and stress (24%) and organisational change (24%) also suspected to be contributing to conflict between employees or between employees and line managers. 

The survey of over 350 UK employers found that workplace conflict between colleagues was the primary catalyst and a significantly bigger cause of complaints than dissatisfaction regarding pay (9%), work life balance (9%), and working arrangements including being denied flexible working (5%).

The research also uncovered that over a third (37%) of employers have been experiencing a rise in grievances over the past 12 months, adding to the challenges businesses currently face. 

The findings suggest that businesses which choose to actively improve team members’ interpersonal skills, and equip managers with effective conflict resolution skills, could see a dramatic decline in the number of grievances they have to deal with. 

Sharon Gibson, Senior HR Consultant at WorkNest, said: “Workplace conflicts are often fuelled by differences in communication styles, broken relationships, backlashes from formal processes and managers not fully understanding the remit of their role. 

“There are also many reasons why people may have become less tolerant of each other in recent times. Factors such as company changes, increased workload pressures and personal issues, all of which may be being driven by external factors such as the cost of living crisis, can all contribute to higher levels of stress. This, in turn, is lowering people’s patience and tolerance levels. With shorter tempers and less understanding, gripes that may have been shrugged off previously now escalate into formal complaints, as these issues take on increased significance in the current climate.”

The research found that 30% of grievances specifically concerned conflicts between an employee and their line manager. In 20% of cases, the employee initiated the grievance, and in 10% of cases, it was the manager who lodged the complaint. 17% of grievances involved conflict between two or more employees.

Employers and HR professionals’ main frustration regarding employee grievances was line managers failing to handle issues informally with nearly a quarter (23%) saying this was their biggest bug bear. 

Sharon added: “Managers should proactively address conflict within their teams as soon as it arises. It is extremely important that managers are responsible for their teams and do not rely on HR to handle these matters, unless the workplace conflict is particularly complex or legally sensitive, in which case you may choose to formalise the process to ensure proper documentation and compliance.”

Respondents to the survey also said that the ‘he said, she said’ nature of grievances plus ‘prolific grievance raisers’ are repeat challenges with 13% of companies dealing with repeat grievances from the same person. 

Research by WorkNest*