November is a time of reflection: a time to remember those who answered the call even at the potential cost of their life. We have borne witness to the devastation of conflict at a macro scale. Post-conflict, much time, energy and resources are needed to support the re-building process. Regardless of the conflict’s size however, it likely begins at a micro level: with individuals.
Individual actions can trigger or hasten conflict escalation. Left unchecked or unmanaged, conflict situations often affect the climate amongst a team and can begin to deteriorate the culture within. A degraded culture strongly influences individual conflict behaviour as identified by the Conflict Climate Inventory (https://conflictclimate.com). It is this association between the individual and culture that should motivate us to take pause and reflect on our behaviours within the workplace and to what degree they are aligned to one of our organization’s guiding principles: respecting human dignity and the value of every person.
Thus, we should ask ourselves:
Am I treating every person with respect and fairness?
How am I demonstrating that I value diversity?
What am I doing to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace?
How are my behaviours encouraging engagement, collaboration, and respectful communication?
Local CCMS contact number: 613-541-5010 extension 4904
Intranet:
http://intranet.mil.ca/en/organizations/vcds/conflict-management.page
http://intranet.mil.ca/fr/organisations/vcemd/gestion-conflit.page
Internet: