Conflict resolution training that staff rehearse
The disagreement that turns personal, the complaint that turns heated: practised with a partner who reacts, before it happens at work.
The moment
Most conflict at work starts as a conversation
A colleague undermined in a meeting. A shift swap that turns into shouting. A customer complaint that becomes personal. Each turns on what the next person says, and that can be rehearsed, as customer aggression training already is.
The cost
Conflict is common, and expensive
In Great Britain, 44% of workers reported conflict at work in the past year, the highest level ever recorded (Acas).
Among employees who reported at least one form of conflict in the past year.
See the data (value)
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Undermined or humiliated | 48 |
| Shouted at or a heated argument | 35 |
| Verbal abuse or insult | 34 |
| Discriminatory behaviour | 20 |
Source: CIPD, Good Work Index 2024.
What it costs an employer
Acas estimated the cost of conflict to UK organisations at £28.5 billion a year, more than £1,000 for each employee, through resignations, absence and lost output.
In Australia, harassment and workplace bullying caused 33.2% of serious workers’ compensation claims for mental stress (Safe Work Australia).
What the rules ask
Deal with behaviour early, and show how
Different laws, one expectation: an employer manages harmful behaviour at work before it becomes an injury or a claim.
Australia and New Zealand
Australian employers must eliminate or minimise psychosocial risks so far as is reasonably practicable (Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice), and the Fair Work Commission defines bullying as repeated unreasonable behaviour that creates a risk to health and safety. In New Zealand, a person’s behaviour counts as a hazard under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. See psychosocial hazards.
The United Kingdom and the United States
The Acas Code of Practice starts with the informal route: a quiet word is often all that is required. Tribunals can adjust awards by up to 25 per cent when the Code is ignored. In the United States, the EEOC encourages anti-harassment training for managers and employees.
What training changes
Practice changes behaviour; knowledge alone does not
The evidence separates knowing what to do from doing it under pressure.
Relationships reduce conflict
In a cluster randomised trial on psychiatric wards, simple interventions to improve staff relationships with patients cut conflict events by 15% and containment by 26.4%.
Education on its own falls short
A Cochrane review found education and training raised knowledge and attitudes without reliably reducing aggression toward health care workers. Rehearsal is the missing step: the words tried out loud, the reaction faced, the attempt debriefed and repeated.
How it runs
Rehearse the conversation, then debrief it
Staff practise in a VR headset or with an AI roleplay partner in a browser, with a facilitator for the debrief.
Questions
What HR and safety leads ask first
Short answers from the rules and the research.
Who is it for?
Managers who give hard feedback, frontline staff who take complaints, and teams where friction has started to show.
How is it different from a workshop?
Each person rehearses the conversation themselves, against a partner who reacts, and repeats it until it holds.
Where do I start?
Read VR de-escalation training for when conflict turns to aggression.
Planning conflict resolution training?
Sources
The data, the rules and the research, on their own sites.
Estimating the costs of workplace conflict
The cost of conflict to UK organisations.
Workplace conflict puts strain on job quality
The forms conflict takes, charted above.
Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025
Mental stress claims by cause.
What is bullying at work?
The legal definition of bullying at work.
Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures
The informal route first, and the award adjustment.
The Safewards cluster randomised controlled trial
Conflict and containment on acute wards.
Education and training for preventing workplace aggression toward healthcare workers
Knowledge rises; aggression may not fall.
