This audio conference was recorded on Friday - April 3, 2009

Credits:

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

Description:

In the average 8 hour workday, guess what your front-line managers and supervisors spend a full 60 to 90 minutes doing, according to recent surveys? Keeping the peace.

From hurtful gossip to co-worker flare-ups, workplace conflicts can quickly drain energy and destroy morale. That means decreased productivity levels among your employees, unnecessary distractions for your supervisors – and higher costs and legal risks for your organization. In today’s stressful economy, your front-line managers must be ready to step in and resolve conflicts when they happen. They’ll have to handle those difficult conversations with workers who may be upset when conflicts erupt. And, they must prevent those disruptions from spilling over and spreading negativity throughout their unit or department.

Order this informative audio conference recording, as our expert – an experienced employment attorney who’s counseled many clients on this issue – shares proven strategies to diagnose and defuse conflicts on the job. Your managers will learn practical techniques for conquering their fear of confronting employees who are causing these conflicts and nipping these disagreements in the bud. Also, they’ll gain a better understanding of when normal give-and-take in the workplace crosses the line into legally risky territory.

Speaker(s):

Bryan D. LeMoine, Esq., is a partner in the St. Louis office of the national law firm Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus, PC. He regularly counsels clients and litigates on a wide range of employment and litigation issues. He has litigated in both federal and state courts, with extensive experience in litigating wage and hour cases, cases involving age, gender, race, and disability discrimination, cases involving claims regarding protected leave, retaliation cases, and trade secret and noncompete litigation. LeMoine writes and speaks extensively on labor and employment law issues, and he served previously as a law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He earned his law degree from the University of Missouri.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• Why it’s important to address workplace conflicts immediately, before they fester into costly legal claims or chase away your best employees
• How to recognize brewing conflicts - and how to initiate those early conversations that can head off trouble before it starts
• What questions you should ask when handling a conflict (and the questions you should never ask)
• How to establish an atmosphere of trust in your unit or department that can mitigate serious conflicts ahead of time
• The do's and don’ts of providing constructive criticism in the workplace
• What you can do to prevent minor disagreements with one or two employees from transforming into major free-for-alls that turn off the rest of your workers
• How to get to the root causes of a conflict (especially if it’s not work-related)