“A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed” - Eric Hoffer

Did you know according to a survey by My Perfect Resume, 80% of remote professionals have experienced workplace conflict?

In general, employee grievance refers to an employee's dissatisfaction with the company and its management. A corporation or employer is expected to offer a safe workplace, clear understanding of job tasks, adequate salary, respect, and other benefits to its employees. Employee grievance, on the other hand, occurs when there is disconnect between the employee's expectation and what the company delivers.

Certainly, there are positive and negative types of conflict. Some conflict can lead to new ideas and innovation while others won’t. Fortunately, companies can learn how to manage conflict with training effectively.

Employers need to manage grievances with prudence since it demonstrates that you are listening to their problems, following a transparent method, and taking the required measures to address them. Failing to do so might result in low staff morale, which can eventually lead to a high turnover rate and, in certain cases, legal ramifications. Interestingly, gender usually do not play much of a role in work conflict engagement.

Ways To Identify Employee Grievance

There are various ways we can identify employee grievances. Some of them are stated below:

 1. Direct Observations:

By their negligence, absence, wastage of resources, or destroying instruments, a supervisor or management may typically foresee the expected. Supervisors are often stationed near the action. As a result, they can quickly detect anomalous worker behaviour and intervene.

2. Complaint Boxes:

The boxes are installed in convenient locations for the most of the company's employees. Workforces can use these boxes to anonymously express their complaints. Because of the anonymity, there is no risk of disciplinary action from management. Furthermore, management's concern is limited to employees' free and fair opinions.

3. Grievance Procedure:

The best way to emphasise employee concerns at different strata is to use a structured grievance strategy. To this objective, management must encourage staffs to use it anytime they have something to add. Lack of such a mechanism, leads to frustrations build up and eventually explode in violent form.

4. Open Door Policy:

This is the most democratic approach by nature, and it is the most widely espoused. However, in the absence of a proper grievance mechanism, this strategy will be more useful; otherwise, the organisation would benefit from having one. Employees, especially those at the lowest levels, should have direct access to the Leader to have their issues addressed.

5. Exit Interview:

Every company has an issue with high staff turnover. Employees depart for a variety of reasons, including discontent or better opportunities. Exit interviews should be undertaken to determine why a person left a position. Exit interviews done correctly can reveal a lot about a company's strengths and limitations, as well as pave the way for bettering the company's management practises for its employees.

What Causes Conflict at Work?

There are numerous reasons due to which employees address their concerns. Following are the most common reasons:

• Perks and compensation.
• Harassment or bullying.
• Workplace circumstances.
• Workload.
• Poor leadership.
• Unclear roles.
• Clashing values.
• Forbidden topics, such as inappropriate relationships.
   

As a manager, you've certainly must have at least one employee complain about their compensation. Your employee might have said something like:

• They're looking for a raise in pay.
• They believe they should be paid the same as someone else in the company doing a similar job.
• They may be attempting to obtain reimbursement for expenditures, such as their transportation.
   

Also, it's unavoidable that some of your co-workers will not get along. That does not, however, imply that you should tolerate workplace harassment. A zero-tolerance policy is required. Make sure everyone is aware of your anti-harassment guidelines, and send any updates or adjustments via email.

No-one really wants to give up on a qualified resource due to issues with their working environment. You may consider the following:

• On the workplace floors, cleanliness is essential
• Desk ethics
• Bathroom Hygiene
• Concerns regarding health and safety
   

Regularly conduct workplace risk evaluation to identify any potential hazards. Install fire extinguishers in your workplace. Other obvious necessities include trash cans near desks and around obvious areas such as a cafeteria. Toilet paper and hand soap/sanitizer should not be forgotten.

Work stress is frequently a correlation between employee complaints about their high workload and compensation and perk concerns. The following are some examples of situations that can lead to employee dissatisfaction:

• Increasing your employee's burden rather than hiring a replacement when another employee leaves.
• Increasing an employee's burden because you've laid off other employees to save money.
   

We understand the fact that the data or the information may be higher than reported, because they could occur in private. In any case, leader discrepancies can have huge effects on the culture of the whole association.