How to Reduce Workplace Conflict with a Personality Assessment

‘They’re driving me up the wall.’ ‘They always do this.’ ‘They never understand.’ ‘They’re the only person in our team who doesn’t perform’. We’ve all had those encounters at work, whether it’s with a colleague, an employer, or an employee.

Everyone’s personalities are different and therefore we all have different and ways of working. Sometimes those differences can cause friction and misunderstandings. They can impact the bottom line. Conflict is a natural part of life. However, when someone is making things difficult at work, you can’t just walk away and never talk to them again. What’s more, you might not be aware, but you could well be driving them up the wall, too.

Research shows that 60-80% of all difficulties in organisations come from strained relationships between employees. Workplace conflict costs UK businesses a whopping £33 billion every year, and drains entire teams of energy and morale. It can lead to 50% less productivity, missed deadlines, and a toxic environment for everyone. 46% of people even consider quitting. It also takes up 25-40% of a manager’s time—that’s one to two days of every working week. That’s a serious loss of time, budget and profit.

If You Want the Strongest Business, You Need the Strongest Teams

There’s no room for unregulated workplace conflict when your focus is on developing agile working styles and organisational development. Most conflict stems from poor communication, change, or trouble regulating one’s emotions. Ignored, it’ll just fester into resentment and cause irreparable damage. From the senior board, to junior roles and everything in-between. Conflict resolution comes down to understanding one another having a deepened self-awareness.

It’s important to view workplace conflict as an opportunity for growth and self-exploration. Those organisations that do will benefit from cost reduction, reduced staff turnover, higher levels of productivity, mitigated risks, and a more positive, low-stress culture. The first step? Understanding how we—and each other—work.

Everyone has a Unique Collection of Strengths

Personality matters. Our research shows that it can account for up to 18% of the variance in job performance. However, teamwork flourishes when we value each other’s differences. Learning to work with your psychological opposite is crucial. Opposite personalities provide a fresh perspective on situations you might not be able to solve yourself. Their strengths can counteract your weaknesses.

However, different individuals require different approaches. We all think our way is best. But adaptability and agile learning are important skills for teams to be able to identify and play to each other’s personalities. Understanding each other reduces the amount of time spent butting heads. It helps employees know how to listen and when to act.

At Lumina Learning, our methodology embraces a more 21^st Century philosophy, honouring inclusion and diversity as powerful drivers for organisational productivity. Unlike other tools, our personalised solutions show more than just ‘types’ of person. These ‘types’ aren’t really that predictive of how someone will perform in the workplace. No one can be reduced to simply a ‘thinker’ or a ‘feeler’. We all have many qualities that combine and interact to form our own unique personalities.

Our integrated suite of new-generation digital personality assessments combines cutting-edge technology with years of psychological research into personality and performance. It helps people to understand and work with their whole dynamic personality, which does shift on occasion. Lumina Spark celebrates the room for growth and change.

Our innovative personality assessment, Lumina Spark, empowers organisations to ensure that everyone is helping each other to build on their individual strengths and identifying areas for improvement. Also, that they are putting forward their best ideas and moving in the same direction. With every new employee, organisations know exactly who they are hiring, how they will fit, and can develop them from day one, using one consistent model and language—that last beyond the workshop.

Conflict Resolution: An Essential Step in Leadership Development

Retaining the best talent is definitely a huge issue for businesses today. When it comes to leadership development, organisations need to equip every manager with the skills and knowledge necessary for effective conflict resolution. Essential to this is a high level of self-awareness and an understanding of how employees work.

Spark takes a granular approach and measures traits individually. This allows people to have deep conversations that are truly bespoke to those in the dialogue, rather than applying an unhealthy one-size-fits-all approach to individuals with different qualities.

It helps to show people who they really are and build bridges between colleagues. To identify things—both good and bad—that might have been misunderstood or overlooked. Spark also measures the three personas in every person. So, conversations go beyond the version of you who shows up on the day, discussing the full individual instead. Organisations can understand the pros, cons and risks that each individual brings to the team on any given day or in any situation.

The Language of Personality

A personality assessment such as Spark helps to create an open, nurturing, trusting environment where everyone can fulfil their potential and make better decisions. It gives teams a shared language with precise and non-judgemental meaning. One that reduces workplace conflict and makes difficult conversations more comfortable to have, in a way that everyone understands. It puts an end to tension and second guessing.

With Lumina Spark, businesses can boost productivity, reduce costs and drive sustainable organisational development. They can transform themselves by transforming their people.