Conflict landmines exist throughout the staffing industry, and the consequences of not dealing with them effectively can result in lost productivity, damage to relationships, lower morale, and harm to your firm’s reputation. But taking a prompt, professional approach to problems that arise—with open communication at the forefront—can be the difference between your failure and success as a recruiter, manager, owner, or anywhere in between.
“Conflict is what helps bring any type of relationship to the next level,” says Ashley Andersen, founder and chief executive officer of EzraSage, a company that offers employee well-being programs. “It’s what helps make it more dynamic and creates growth. Everything we want in terms of our relationships—both personally and professionally—lives on the other side of being able to navigate conflict.”
In the fast moving and always changing staffing industry, conflict can pop up anywhere. A candidate might be disappointed when the role or salary isn’t what they thought; clients might have unreasonable expectations about the available talent pool, costs, or the speed of the hiring process; or you may face internal friction within your staff or team regarding strategy or poor performance.
While every situation is different, successful conflict resolution comes down to several specific strategies: honest and ongoing communication, your preparation for difficult conversations, and your ability to manage expectations in a respectful, professional manner.
Honest feedback delivered with sincerity is always easier than confusion delivered gently,” says Kelly Boykin, founder of Growth Curve. “When you delay tough conversations, they don’t get easier—they just get bigger.”
“Now, when I’m facing conflict or a hard conversation, I always prepare in advance…The goal isn’t to win, but to find ways to move forward productively so the other person has a clear path and understanding of what exactly is expected of them.”
—Sara Luchsinger, CSP, SEEK Careers/Staffing Inc.
Striving for Open, Clear Communication
Jason Leverant, CSP, president and chief operating officer of AtWork Group, says facing conflict when it arises is the best approach—even if it’s not the most comfortable. He says conflicts also must be dealt with in person, or at least over the phone, and not by email or text message.
“Focus on the facts and try to remove the feelings. Address things head-on and don’t let them linger—because if you do, that’s when things will blow up,” says Leverant, whose staffing agency has more than 100 locations and 2,100 clients. “And do your best to assume the positive. Usually, people aren’t out to get one another.”
Boykin, who has worked in the industry for more than two decades, advises staffing firms on ways to build and improve relationships with clients. Potential conflicts can be avoided, she says, by taking the time to have “a lot of small, candid conversations along the way, instead of saving everything for one big, difficult talk.”
“Focus on honesty and finding solutions, and assume positive intent,” Boykin says. “If a client issue comes up, own it quickly, skip the excuses, and move straight into solutions.”
Boykin says clarity, ultimately, is kindness. She starts by stating her intentions for the conversation, explains why she wants to talk, and closes with encouragement and specific feedback. “With customers, be transparent, don’t assign blame, bring issues forward quickly, apologize for the impact, take accountability as a team, and focus on fixing it,” she says.
Preparing for Difficult Conversations
Robert Reid, a principal with Butler Street LLC, says keeping your emotions in check when faced with conflict is critical, and that happens more easily when you have taken the time to prepare for the conversation.
“When I think about tough conversations that didn’t go well, they were usually missing those things,” he says. “They went poorly because I didn’t prepare. I didn’t practice. My emotions got in the way. The feedback wasn’t relevant or timely, and I wasn’t consistent in my communication. So when the conversation finally happened, it felt out of the blue.”
Sara Luchsinger, CSP, is senior vice president of operations for SEEK Careers/Staffing Inc., a company she has worked with for 29 years. As a first-time manager, Luchsinger was faced with an internal employee conflict and called the person into her office. The conversation did not go well because her “frustration with their negative attitude was apparent” and the feedback she gave to the employee was not constructive.
Luchsinger says the employee became defensive and shut down during the conversation, and neither was “emotionally in a state where we were open.” The fallout from the meeting resulted in lost productivity for the staffing firm and hard feelings between Luchsinger and the employee.
“Afterward, I realized I was trying to win the conversation instead of finding a common ground to move forward,” Luchsinger says. “Now, when I’m facing conflict or a hard conversation, I always prepare in advance. I try to be curious, and I work to separate emotion from fact so I can focus on the actual issue. The goal isn’t to win, but to find ways to move forward productively so the other person has a clear path and understanding of what exactly is expected of them.”
Managing Expectations
Andersen recently found herself dealing with a new client whose demands were unrealistic. Her approach: Remain “depersonalized and direct,” with a focus on developing a mutual understanding of goals, processes, and outcomes that can be met.
“As a business owner, this is a vulnerable state to be pushing back. I could have just smiled and nodded and said ‘We’ll take care of it,’ but I knew that wasn’t being honest with the client,” she says. “I didn’t say that their expectations were unrealistic, but instead I said ‘We’re not going to be able to drive that outcome; here’s why and here’s what we can do instead. What are your thoughts on that?’ And that led to a fruitful conversation in which we were able to cocreate something that will work.”
In addition to communication issues, frustrations can build when you have not set clear expectations or have failed to follow up on your promises.
“Typically, when you’re addressing a conflict, you’re looking at something that happened in the past,” Luchsinger says. “Part of resolving the conflict is clarifying expectations, looking at how you’re going to move forward, and then following up. You can’t just have a conversation and let it lie. Whether it’s with a client, a customer, or an employee, you have to follow up.”
Reid, whose company provides sales training and leadership development to staffing firms, uses artificial intelligence to “role practice” before any challenging meeting. (“At Butler Street, we say ‘role practice’ instead of ‘role play’ because it’s not about performing—it’s about getting better,” he says.) He works on active listening skills that allow him to fully focus on the other person, and practices on ways to paraphrase and ask clarifying questions. During the meeting, he makes sure that expectations with clients and employees are clearly outlined. He also documents all agreements and expectations in writing and provides regular updates and opportunities for feedback.
With a previous employer, Boykin’s company misunderstood a portion of an agreement with a customer and owed them “a significant amount of money back as a volume discount.” She was tasked with calling the customer to explain what had happened. “This had gone on for several quarters, and we were lucky that we discovered it before the customer did,” she says. “I reached out right away, explained what happened, apologized for the impact, and made it clear that our focus was on resolving it—not pointing fingers. The customer appreciated the honesty, and it actually strengthened the relationship because they could see our integrity by bringing it to them quickly.”
Finding the Right Outcome
Having challenges in dealing with conflict is natural, Andersen says. Growing up, she believed it was something to be avoided at all costs, and as a new team leader found herself shutting down conversations rather than dealing with the problem at hand.
“You can’t pressure yourself to define success in having difficult conversations as perfection, that every conversation is wrapped up with a bow and sunshine and rainbows are all around it,” Andersen says. “It’s not realistic. Multiple people are involved, and even if you can control your end of things, that doesn’t guarantee any kind of outcome.”
Leverant says he’s always trying to “drive the most optimal outcome for everyone” when working with his team. “Every situation is different. There’s not just one prescriptive formula for every problem that would arise, but conflict resolution, ultimately, is about leading people and helping them get to a solution with guidance instead of mandates,” he says. “Be courteous, professional, and collaborative. If you are always telling them what to do, you’re not resolving the conflict. You may make it deeper in the long run.”
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