How to battle infighting

When managers fight, it's employees with the least power who tend to get bruised.

A few years ago, a 26-year-old employee was asked by a senior manager of a technology company to secretly tape a conversation with another manager.

The senior manager would provide the questions; all the employee had to do was push 'record' on a hidden dictaphone and ask them. When the employee refused, the manager expressed his disappointment and the disillusioned employee later resigned.

More recently, Ben, a transport worker, caught his manager trawling through the call records on his personal mobile phone. When challenged, the manager admitted he was looking for proof of calls made between Ben and another manager whom he had issues with. When Ben protested the manager suspended him. An employment lawyer was called and the rival managers were forced to sort out their dispute. Ben ended up with an apology, but is still demoralised by the incident.

Dr Todd Bridgman, a senior lecturer at the Victoria University School of Management, says rivalry and in-fighting between managers is surprisingly common and can cause a great deal of damage to an employment brand and to staff morale.

"By far the greatest detriment to business productivity and efficiency is organisational politics. In-fighting not only sets a bad example to junior staff and affects their motivation and commitment; it can damage organisational culture," says Bridgman. "Senior managers have a lot of say, so any unprofessional and unethical behaviour can have a big impact."

Lynlee Wilson, organisational psychologist for The People Group, says international research into recruitment and retention reveals that managers' behaviour is a key factor in determining the extent to which people like or don't like their job.

"Employees are more likely to stay in a job if the manager is living the stated values of the company. And the number one reason people have for leaving a job is dissatisfaction with their manager," says Wilson.

She says manager in-fighting can harm an employment brand remarkably quickly.

"It's as simple as a group of people sitting around a dinner party table saying 'at company XYZ all the managers are against each other and it is really very difficult to work there'."

Ambition

Bridgman says ambition is a common cause of in-fighting between managers, driving them to engage in political tactics to portray themselves in a better light.

Examples include tying up resources to make it more difficult for another manager to perform; making disparaging remarks about another's management abilities to customers - even heading off to the golf club to get to know the chair of the board better.

John Butters, principal consultant for Right Management Consultants, says he knows of a production manager who became the golfing buddy of the chairman of the board of the company he worked for. When they played golf, the production manager gave the chairman an update on the business and the chairman gave the production manager instructions on what to do in particular situations. This inevitably caused in-fighting between the production manager, other middle managers, and the senior management of the company.

Butters says this happens "a lot" in New Zealand and is more about small population and management dysfunction than bad behaviour. He says manager conflicts also occur between managing directors and middle managers when the managing director is the former owner of the business.

"So the MD is also the founder. He brings in new managers, but instead of managing them, he continues to act like the owner," says Butters.

Bridgman says while politicking can be creative and a positive force for change, it often deteriorates into in-fighting. Ideally, ethics should triumph and personal conflicts be sorted out without junior staff being involved.

"I remember an incident where two senior managers competing for the position of CEO had an argument via email and CC'd the entire organisation in on each email they sent between them. Eventually the organisation appointed a CEO from the outside," says Bridgman.

Wilson says in-fighting obviously has the potential to damage a management career. Warring managers can be sidelined, prevented from working on external accounts, and perceived as purely political rather than aligned to the organisation's values and objectives, she says.

"When you are plotting and scheming how to 'do in' a fellow manager down the corridor by withholding information and human resources; that's a lot of energy that's not going into the business," says Wilson.

Butters says some companies foster rivalry, wittingly or unwittingly, by the way performance measurement and manager targets are structured. If a manager is expected to make a business unit perform well compared with another business unit - and if there is competition for resources - then one manager will usually desire to get ahead of another, he says. This may result in healthy competition or dissolve into in-fighting; but the latter can be avoided if the organisation restructures performance measures towards group targets rather than departmental targets.

Wilson says some organisations reward political activity and managers get caught up without realising it. When the succession of an individual is weighted towards status and visibility rather than performance, then managers learn to be loud and ensure they are visible, she says.

When managers slip up, he suggests they be honest about the rivalry or conflict.

While dismissal may be on the cards for errant managers the consultants say more often one manager will resign voluntarily and look at other career options. If not, an employer may still be able to avoid taking disciplinary action by engaging a management coach or behavioral consultant. If the managers involved are willing to unlock their thinking, truce-like outcomes and even positive relationships are then possible.

"A lot of senior managers become too familiar with their middle managers. If managers are not getting on, the senior manager should be asking 'is there some process, system or method of communication of mine that could be the reason? Is it what I say in combined meetings? Am I somehow adding to this?'," says Wilson. If senior management is not the problem, she says peer feedback may make fighting managers realise the negative effect of their actions on the organisation and others.

"Often they're not aware of the impact they're having. When they are, some will want help and coaching."

Caught in the crossfire?

* Be aware of the contents of your employment agreement; they should tell you how to proceed if you have an employment issue

* If you can't approach senior management about manager in-fighting or unethical behaviour, contact the Department of Labour for advice

* If you are inadvertently caught up in the middle of a dispute between managers, calmly appeal to the professionalism of the managers and point out the effects of their behaviour on you personally

* If manager in-fighting leads to you being bullied, harassed, or if there is an expectation for you to act unethically, contact the HR manager, an independent HR consultant, or an employment lawyer for advice