The Synthesis of

Conflict Management 

and 

Employee Engagement 

Presenters

Linda Stracke 

Federal Senior Executive/

Executive Leadership Coach

Michael West 

Executive Leadership Coach/

Dispute Resolution Professional
 Understand the concepts of conflict management 

and employee engagement

 Understand the neuroscience of employee 

engagement and conflict 

 Explore how synthesizing conflict management 

and employee engagement can promote 

organizational effectiveness

Objectives
Definitions from Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College Edition

CONFLICT

con•flict’–n. 1. A sharp 

disagreement or collision 

in interests, ideas and/or 

principles... resulting in 

emotional disturbance...

When a person’s sense 

of self-worth is 

perceived to be 

threatened or at risk.

does not 

necessarily 

equal

OPPOSITION

op’po•si’tion–n. 1. 

Resistance, 

contradiction, 

contrast, differences...

Some of the most 

creative ideas come 

from the synergy 

of opposition.

Opposition v. Conflict
Conflict Management

 Conflict management

 Conflict prevention

 Conflict resolution

 Understand the concept of conflict 

preferences
Conflict Management

The practice of recognizing and dealing 

with opposition (and/or conflict) in a 

rational, balanced and effective way. 

Conflict management implemented within 

a business environment usually involves 

effective communications, problem 

resolving abilities and good negotiating 

skills to restore the focus to the 

organization’s overall goals.
Conflict Prevention

“any structural or intercessory means to keep 

tension and disputes from escalating, and to 

progressively reduce the underlying 

problems that produce these issues and 

disputes.”
Conflict Prevention

 Direct prevention

– measures that are aimed at preventing 

short-term, often imminent, escalation 

of a potential conflict

 Structural prevention

– focuses on long-term measures that 

address the underlying causes
Conflict Resolution

Is it more than “mediation”?

 Conciliation

 Conflict Coaching

 Facilitation

 Facilitated dialogue

__________________

__________________
Management Preferences

 Avoid

 Accommodate

 Collaborate

 Compete

 Compromise

 Thomas Kilmann

Conflict Preferences
Employee Engagement

OPM Definition

“The employee’s sense of purpose that is 

evident in their display of dedication, 

persistence and effort in their work or 

overall attachment to their organization 

and mission.” 
The interplay among three factors: 

 purpose

 trust, and 

 discretionary effort and interest in the 

results

 Jan Hills, Founder, Head Heart + Brain

Employee Engagement 
 The engaged brain

 The disengaged 

brain

Neuroscience of Engagement
Relationship with the 

immediate supervisor is 

the strongest of all 

drivers of employee 

engagement

Neuroscience of Engagement 
 Reasoned persuasion alone is seldom 

sufficient to convince a party in conflict of the 

logic of mediating.

 There is no initial neuro-chemical inducement 

to negotiate

 The first response of most people to a real or 

perceived threat is an emotional one, triggered 

neuro chemically in the brain, to either fight, 

flee the situation, or freeze. 

Neuroscience and 

Conflict
“S.C.A.R.F.”

 Status

 Certainty

 Autonomy

 Relatedness

 Fairness 

 
“ ...in agencies where there are more 

employees filing complaints, there may not 

be the same level of engagement that is 

fostered in agencies where employees file 

fewer complaints.”

Source: EEOC Complaint Data, Annual Report on the Federal 

Workforce Fiscal Year 2005
There is “a statistically significant negative 

correlation between the number of 

employees who file an EEO complaint in an 

agency and the agency’s average level of 

employee engagement.”

The higher employee engagement score, the 

fewer number of employees file EEO 

complaints.

 Source: 2008 MSPB Report. The Power 

of Federal Employee Engagement
Commonly Heard

 “I was denied training.” (Q: 47)

 “I don’t feel I am listened to and so I 

filed an EEO complaint.” (Q: 48)

 “It isn’t fair the way I was treated. I don’t 

know why I was treated this way. It 

must be because......” (Q: 49)
7 Levels of Effectiveness

Synchronicity

Innovation

Engagement

Courage

Frustration

Fear

Hopelessness
How often is “relationship” a part of the conflict?

Question?
7 Levels of Effectiveness

Synchronicity

Innovation

Engagement

Courage

Frustration

Fear

Hopelessness
Leader Competencies

Functional

Technical

Relational

Emotional

Conversational
Language relates to conversations and 

relationships.
The quality of language = quality of 

conversations = depth of relationships
Relationships provide the foundation for what 

can be achieved by an organization through 

its people.
Extraordinary results are created by creating 

extraordinary relationships.
Desired 

Outcome 

Employee 

Engagement 

(and/or) 

Conflict 

Management

Implement the 

design

Create 

processes 

and 

systems

Assess or 

diagnose the 

current situation

What We Typically Do
RELATIONSHIPS

The missing – essential component – to engaging the 

employee is: 

Desired 

Outcome

Employee 

Engagement 

(and/or) 

Conflict 

Management

Implement the 

design

Create 

processes 

and 

systems

Assess or 

diagnose the 

current 

situation

Relationships

What Can We Do Instead
 Develop the soft skills with the hard 

skills.

 Know your yourself.

 Know your people.

 Increase the level of dialogue.

 BUILD THE RELATIONSHIPS!

What Are We Suggesting?
What Are We Suggesting?

 Broaden the scope of conflict management 

and employee engagement to the relationship 

level.

 Create a holistic approach to conflict through 

the choice of more than one ADR option.

 Create a support system that links conflict 

management and employee engagement.
“In organizations, real power and energy is 

generated through relationships. The 

patterns of relationships and the capacities to 

form them are more important than tasks, 

functions, roles, and positions." 

 

Margaret Wheatly, "Leadership and the New Science””
Questions/Thoughts?
Five Ways Neuroscience Can Improve Your Engagement Results. Jan 

Hills, Founder, Head Heart + Brain

Language and the Pursuit of Leadership Excellence. Chalmers Brothers 

and Vinay Kumar 

Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World. 

Third Edition. Margaret Wheatly

Neuroscience of Engagement. David Rock

The Seven Levels of Personal, Group and Organizational Effectiveness. 

BEabove Leadership. www.beaboveleadership.com

2008 MSPB Report. The Power of Federal Employee Engagement

References