Sometimes a conflict resists every reasonable intervention. You’ve had the conversations, tried to mediate, made structural changes, adjusted roles and responsibilities, but the tension keeps resurfacing. When that happens, it’s usually a sign that the thing you’re treating isn’t the thing that’s actually driving the conflict. A workplace assessment exists to find what is.
In our experience, entrenched workplace conflict is rarely about the incident everyone is pointing at. What we see is that the incident often becomes the symbol for a much deeper set of unresolved issues, including broken trust, unclear expectations, perceived unfairness, poor communication, role confusion, leadership gaps, or long-standing patterns of avoidance.
By the time a conflict reaches the point where outside support is needed, people are often no longer responding only to the current event. They are responding to accumulated frustration, past experiences, perceived patterns, and the stories they have developed about one another’s intentions. For this reason, effective conflict resolution requires more than addressing the immediate incident. It requires understanding the broader conditions that allowed the conflict to take hold and persist.
What is a workplace conflict assessment?
A workplace conflict assessment identifies the root causes of conflict that has become entrenched and unrelenting despite your best intervention strategies, and recommends concrete, realistic remedies. It replaces guesswork with clarity of causation and a defined path forward.
Signs you need an assessment
- The same conflict keeps returning under different names.
- Interventions produce short-lived calm, then relapse.
- People describe the problem completely differently depending on who you ask.
- Turnover, grievances, complaints, or sick leave are climbing for no obvious reason.
- Gossip and triangulation have increased.
- Conflict has spread across the group.
- Morale issues exist.
- There are allegations of favouritism, exclusion, bullying, inequity, or inconsistent decision-making.
- Productivity is going down.
- Leadership needs a clearer understanding of what is happening before deciding what to do next.
How our assessment process works
We follow a structured six-step process, available virtually or in-person.
- Designing the process. We leverage leaders and employees to determine the best step for gathering lived experiences of the workplace.
- Interview/survey/address all necessary parties. Engaging with every relevant perspective, confidentially.
- Touring the worksite. Seeing the actual environment where the conflict lives.
- Reviewing related documentation. Grounding findings in the record.
- Analyzing the root cause(s). Distinguishing symptoms from drivers.
- Remedying the root cause(s). Recommending concrete, realistic remedies you can act on.
What you receive
Not a vague report, nor a restatement of what you already know. We provide verbal/written reports that outline process, causation and concrete, realistic remedies. You finish the assessment knowing why the conflict persists and what to do about it.
A unionized healthcare organization reached out for a workplace assessment, stating that the leader needed assistance in determining what was going wrong and how to address it. The Client stated that people appeared disengaged, that sick leave had increased, and that some projects seemed to have stalled. The Client stated that leadership had attempted to determine what was going on, but employees were not willing to talk about it. The workplace consisted of 35 employees.
I met with all participants to introduce myself, outline the purpose of the assessment, what they could expect from me, the extent and limits of confidentiality, and answer any questions they had. This first meeting resulted in each interview being at least 15 minutes shorter, saving the Client money, and participants were much better prepared to share their workplace experiences. I conducted a survey to determine how participants preferred to provide feedback and what could impede it. Based on an analysis of their feedback, I designed the process to include a choice between one-to-one confidential conversations with me and small-group conversations. In addition, participants could bring a support person of their choosing. It was evident from their feedback that some participants felt traumatized and that many simply did not trust their employer, and by extension, this process. Using online software, I set up a system where participants could sign up confidentially to meet with me. I also met with the union prior to beginning any data-collection interviews to address any questions they might have.
I engaged in 25 one-to-one meetings and 2 small-group sessions. Participants spoke freely and openly, providing rich data and clarity on the issues at hand. I then analyzed the data for themes and attached remedies. What emerged was a picture of new leadership that made sweeping changes to people’s roles and responsibilities within a 3-month period, fired three beloved leaders, laid off various employees, and engaged in communication practices that left participants feeling belittled and humiliated. This was a drastic change in the organization’s culture, with no change management or support strategy in place. Existing employees were gravely concerned about losing their jobs and therefore became disengaged, while new hires were seen as favourites of the new leadership, causing various conflicts. The changes were necessary; however, the timeframe in which they were implemented, by leaders who had not yet cultivated trusting relationships, and the lack of transparency and support for remaining employees resulted in a workplace of fear and trepidation.
Remedies included restorative processes for the entire department, communication coaching and strategic support for new leadership, the implementation of a change management strategy, relationship-building retreats and strategies, in-house mediation of various conflicts, closer oversight and support for the department by the Vice President, and messaging from leadership that they understood the harm caused and their plans to remedy it. Although leadership could not state why they had fired people due to confidentiality, they could speak to the impact of these decisions on the organization. Various other recommendations were also made for specific individuals who had overstepped or not behaved in alignment with existing organizational policies and procedures.
I conducted a follow-up review 6 months later, to find a workplace that had continued on the path towards strategic change, but this time with empathic leadership and transparent processes, with a people-centric approach.
Frequently asked questions
It identifies the root causes of conflict that has become entrenched despite your best intervention strategies, then recommends concrete, realistic remedies.
Six steps: Designing the process, collecting feedback from all necessary parties, touring the worksite, reviewing related documentation, analyzing the root cause(s), and remedying the root cause(s).
Clarity of causation and concrete, realistic remedies that are data-driven solutions rather than guesswork.
Yes. Assessments are available virtually or in-person.
Stop treating symptoms
If you’ve tried everything and the conflict keeps coming back, the missing piece is usually an accurate diagnosis. We can help you get one.
Contact Turning Point Resolutions or learn more about our assessment services.
Related reading: Workplace Mediation in Canada · Workplace investigations: a practical guide
About the author
Dr. Raj Dhasi is the President of Turning Point Resolutions Inc. and a faculty member at the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s Centre for Conflict Resolution. She holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Conflict Analysis and Management and a Doctorate in Social Sciences, with over 25 years of experience supporting workplaces, school systems, and communities through complex conflict. LinkedIn