For employers and managers, it can be difficult to distinguish whether a behaviour is related to harassment or conflict. It is an important distinction to make, as your response will likely be vastly different. In this week’s blog we will define and help you distinguish between the two workplace phenomena.
 
Harassment
 
As defined by the Canadian Human Rights Commission, harassment is a form of discrimination which includes any unwanted physical or verbal behaviour that offends or humiliates someone. Generally, it is a behaviour that persists over time; however, some serious one-time incidents can also be considered harassment.
 
Harassment occurs when someone:
-Makes unwelcome remarks or jokes about someone’s race, religion, sex, age, disability or any other of the grounds of discrimination
-Threatens or intimidates you because of someone’s race, religion, sex, age, disability, or any of the other grounds of discrimination
-Makes unwelcome physical contact with another person, such as touching, patting, or pinching
 
Harassment often involves an imbalance of power, intense and personal attacks and it may be unidirectional, repeating and escalate over time.
 
Workplace Conflict
 
In contrast, conflict involves two or more people who perceive that another person is getting in the way of their needs being met.
 
As Mayer (2012) describes, conflict appears on three dimensions – perception, feeling and action.
-Perception: the belief or understanding that our own needs, interests, wants or values are incompatible with someone else’s
-Feeling: conflict is often experienced as an emotional reaction to a situation or interaction
-Action (behaviour): the actions people take to express their feelings, articulate their perceptions, and get their needs met. This is especially noticeable when the behaviour has the potential to interfere with another person’s needs.
 
For employers and managers, when conflict is expressed along the action or behaviour dimension, some actions or behaviours may be similar to those involved in harassment. However, there are important distinctions.
 
What sets harassment apart from conflict
 
Unique characteristics of harassment include:
-Unidirectional and involves repeated, escalating episodes
-Intense and personal attacks
-Intentional infliction of harm on someone else
-Time loss – the target may miss time at work (this may also happen with conflict for either or both of the parties)
-Imbalance of power
-Open broadcasting – bully openly telling others about their disdain for the other
 
In contrast, when people are in conflict in the workplace, they are likely to keep it quiet, and it is most likely to involve a two-way or multi-way exchange. The legal definition of harassment is a very serious standard, and it takes a lot to meet the threshold. Although some behaviours don’t meet the legal definition of harassment, they can still have an impact on those receiving the behaviour and lead to problematic outcomes for the organization.
 
Feeling lost about how to deal with harassment or conflict in your workplace? We can help with that – contact us for a consultation today.

Although mediation typically takes place only between 2 parties, when conducted in a workplace environment, its effects can be far reaching. The systemic impacts of mediation can benefit organizations in a multitude of subtle and obvious ways.
 
Maintain and Improve Relationships
 
Conflict often impacts the quality of relationships. Disputing parties can end up with severely damaged relationships and lines of communication. Mediation can help mend relationships by dealing with issues and repairing harm. Mediation has also been shown to improve relationships for the future. Just by going through the process parties can improve their communication and feel accomplished, like they have conquered a challenge together.
 
Skill Building
 
All parts of the organization can benefit from the improved skills that mediation participants may leave with. From communication skills like listening to increased self-awareness, participants’ teams, clients and even families may see more positive interactions. These skills are also applicable in more than just conflict situations, as skills like communication can be helpful in a multitude of workplace situations.
 
Healthy Team Functioning
 
Mediation can help not only the two individuals involved in mediation to work better together but may impact the rest of the team as well. Having the stress of conflict melt away, combined with improved skills, productivity may increase and lead to improved collaboration and teamwork.
 
Psychological Safety
 
Workplace mediation can have a positive impact on psychological safety in the organization. By resolving conflict and dealing with underlying issues organizations can demonstrate to their people that management cares enough to create a safe environment. This in turn can lower rates of leave and staff turnover.
 
Workplace mediation is an important piece of any organization’s conflict tool kit. Interested in how a mediator may benefit your team? Contact us today!