Assessing Employees’ Perception of Conflict Management in the Banking Industry-A Survey of Selected Banks in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

Conflict is an inevitable part of organizational life. Its outcomes could either energize and improve the performance and productivity of individuals and organizations or create frustrations and impediments to the pursuit of individual and corporate objectives. Opinions of employees of banks about conflict management would be diverse in view of their perceptual differences which might influence their judgement and attitudes towards the phenomenon. This study investigated employees’ perceptions of conflict management in relation to the causes, types, effects and strategies for managing conflict among staff of selected banks in Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana. Data was collected through content validated questionnaires from 60 employees who had worked in the selected banks for at least one year. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data in order to address the research questions. The results of the study indicate that staff of the selected banks perceive that conflict is real and occurs at their workplaces. The findings have significant implications for individual employees and management of the banks with respect to training, motivation, task assignment, and provision of resources for effective performance. A major recommendation is that staff of the banks concerned be provided with training opportunities to enable them acquire useful communication and diversity skills to improve on their ability to ameliorate the negative effects of conflict.

Keywords: Conflict, perception, employees, banks, strategies