It's never a good idea to openly fight with your coworkers. In one way or another, you deal with these people every single day, and the last thing you need is to disrupt the office environment with awkwardness and unnecessary tension.
This employee, however, got into a rift with multiple colleagues over a valuable corporate perk: annual leave allowances. He says many workmates have complained about him having "too much time off," but his vacation schedule likely gave the wrong impression.
The guy says his peers grew upset, but he believes they are being a bit too self-absorbed. Read his entire rant below, which he shared in the Childfree subreddit.
It's never a good idea to be in conflict with someone like a coworker whom you deal with regularly
Image credits: Annie Spratt / unsplash (not the actual photo)
This employee got into a rift with his colleagues because of their annual leave allowances
Image credits: Maddi Bazzocco / unsplash (not the actual photo)
The guy believes his peers were being too self-absorbed
Image credits: bobcat734
Image credits: Yan Krukau / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Workplace conflicts cost more than it might seem at first
The guy's rift with his colleagues may seem menial and repairable, which could very much be the case. However, such conflicts carry hefty costs.
According to statistics by Pollack Peacebuilding Systems, US-based employees spend around 2.1 hours per week in conflict with a coworker. It amounts to roughly $359 billion in paid hours spent on disputes rather than productivity.
HR staff also have their work cut out, as 51% of their workforce spends up to 5 hours per week resolving these issues. However, their intervention still results in 18% of employees leaving the company due to ongoing office drama.
It also doesn't help that workplaces have a high prevalence of conflict, with 85% of workers admitting they've had some form of bad blood with a colleague.
But what are the usual causes? One is the lack of clarity about accountability, linked to 21% of employee clashes. The Redditor is part of this statistic as his peers feel he may be abusing an employee perk and getting away with it.
According to employee engagement agency ROI, the scarcity of resources is also one of the four reasons for office disputes. The other three are poor communication, a clash of personalities and values, and a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities.
"When companies lack sufficient resources for employees to do their jobs, pressure to compete for those resources can arise, leaving some team members feeling set up for failure," an excerpt from an article by ROI reads.
Image credits: AI25.Studio AI GENERATIVE/ Pexels (not the actual photo)
There are three entities in a conflict, and that's where the focus should lie
According to his story, the guy found himself in a "me vs. them" situation with his colleagues. Workplace expert Amy Gallo says people commonly overlook a third entity: the dynamic between the conflicting parties.
Gallo says this third entity could be as specific as an assignment in which you compete with each other, or as when faced with an important decision. It could also be an ongoing tension, which the author seems to be experiencing.
"Rather than work to change your colleague, try to make progress on that third thing," Gallo wrote in an article for Forbes.
Disputes also cause people to be biased against the person they're at odds with. In the story, the employee had already perceived his colleagues negatively when a misunderstanding arose about the timing of his vacation schedule.
Gallo suggests playing devil’s advocate by questioning your interpretation of what's happening in such cases. If that doesn't work, ask someone you trust for an honest take on the situation.
Letting go of the idea that everyone is against him could help the author find an inner resolution to his workplace drama. From there, he could work on letting go of his negative perceptions and allow himself to see the misunderstanding as a whole.
But if all else fails and things get disruptive, he could escalate the matter to his manager or HR.
Commenters shared their reactions and similar experiences
