Two of my employees don't get on. What can I do about this?
Remember:
* You need to have employees working well together, because if they do not your business will suffer.
* Clarifying facts and being objective about problems does not always solve personal conflicts.
You should try an informal approach first. Tell
person A that you must have a happy office and ask him to outline the problems. Tell him you will repeat the process with employee B and then meet both of them. Meet employee B.
Once you have established what the problems are, meet both employees together and discuss the issues as you see them.
In many cases, just by having a third person involved, minor disagreements can be overcome. If the problems are resolved, reward yourself.
If you do not feel qualified to manage a joint meeting, give the Mediation Service a call and tell its staff you have a work place problem.
Ask the service if it can help by sending a mediator to your office.
An advantage of calling in the service is that if you have a more serious problem later, it will be to your advantage to have sought assistance.
If none of the above works, you need to get rough and tough. You will need to repeat the meeting process noted above but in a formal manner.
You may wish to get an employment adviser to assist. At the end of the meetings, if the problems are not solved, you might need to issue written warnings to both employees.
Finally, if the problem remains you will probably have to sack one or both of them. This will require a formal disciplinary process and it will not be easy: get good advice before you start.
* Eddie Mann is an employment relations adviser working in Auckland. E-mail: billdog@ihug.co.nz
