--- title: "Conflict resolution training staff can rehearse" description: "Conflict resolution training for HR, safety and service teams: what workplace conflict costs, what the rules ask, and how staff rehearse it." canonical: https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/conflict-resolution-training --- [XR](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr) # 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/customer-aggression-training) already is. A team leader runs a short huddle. A feedback conversation, rehearsed across the table. A distressed client at a service desk. 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](https://www.acas.org.uk/conflict-at-work-why-it-happens-and-how-people-try-to-resolve-it)). The forms workplace conflict takes, UK employees who reported conflict (percent) Among employees who reported at least one form of conflict in the past year. Undermined or humiliated 48 Shouted at or a heated argument 35 Verbal abuse or insult 34 Discriminatory behaviour 20 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](https://www.cipd.org/en/about/press-releases/workplace-conflict-puts-strain-on-job-quality/). A team leader checks in with a colleague. ### What it costs an employer [Acas](https://www.acas.org.uk/research-and-commentary/estimating-the-costs-of-workplace-conflict/report) 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](https://data.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/insights/key-whs-statistics-australia/latest-release)). 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. A supervisor walks the floor. ### 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](https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/doc/model-code-practice-managing-psychosocial-hazards-work)), and the [Fair Work Commission](https://www.fwc.gov.au/workplace-disputes/bullying/what-bullying-work) 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](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2015/0070/latest/DLM5976895.html). See [psychosocial hazards](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/psychosocial-hazards). A leadership room, rehearsing the hard message. ### The United Kingdom and the United States The [Acas Code of Practice](https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures/html) 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](https://www.eeoc.gov/harassment) 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. A facilitator talks the attempt through. ### Relationships reduce conflict In a [cluster randomised trial on psychiatric wards](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.05.001), simple interventions to improve staff relationships with patients cut conflict events by 15% and containment by 26.4%. A rehearsal partner plays the hard part. ### Education on its own falls short A [Cochrane review](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd011860.pub2) 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/xr/virtual-reality) or with an [AI roleplay partner](https://peopletechrevolution.com/ai/ai-roleplay-practice) in a browser, with a facilitator for the debrief. Raising a hand to try again. Colleagues swap roles in a rehearsal. A review conversation, seen from the chair. Questions ## What HR and safety leads ask first Short answers from the rules and the research. A facilitator beside a practising pair. ### 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](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/vr-de-escalation-training) for when conflict turns to aggression. - [Customer aggression training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/customer-aggression-training) - [VR de-escalation training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/vr-de-escalation-training) - [Psychosocial hazards](https://peopletechrevolution.com/learn/standards/psychosocial-hazards) - [AI roleplay training](https://peopletechrevolution.com/ai/ai-roleplay-practice) Planning conflict resolution training? [Open the contact form](https://peopletechrevolution.com/training/conflict-resolution-training#contact) Ask our CEO Simon Lowe’s Digital Twin a question ## Sources The data, the rules and the research, on their own sites. ### [Estimating the costs of workplace conflict](https://www.acas.org.uk/research-and-commentary/estimating-the-costs-of-workplace-conflict/report) Acas, May 2021 The cost of conflict to UK organisations. ### [Workplace conflict puts strain on job quality](https://www.cipd.org/en/about/press-releases/workplace-conflict-puts-strain-on-job-quality/) CIPD, Good Work Index 2024 The forms conflict takes, charted above. ### [Key Work Health and Safety Statistics Australia 2025](https://data.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/insights/key-whs-statistics-australia/latest-release) Safe Work Australia Mental stress claims by cause. ### [What is bullying at work?](https://www.fwc.gov.au/workplace-disputes/bullying/what-bullying-work) Fair Work Commission The legal definition of bullying at work. ### [Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures](https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures/html) Acas The informal route first, and the award adjustment. ### [The Safewards cluster randomised controlled trial](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.05.001) International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2015 Conflict and containment on acute wards. ### [Education and training for preventing workplace aggression toward healthcare workers](https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd011860.pub2) Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020 Knowledge rises; aggression may not fall.