Gosport workplace coach urges business to tackle resentment between furloughed and working staff

Workplace mediator and conflict coach Emma Jenkings said that although the furlough scheme was beneficial to some businesses or individuals, it has also brought with it a significant amount of change, and led to distinct differences in working arrangements.

Official figures from the Office of National Statistics show that, at its peak in May, 30 per cent of the workforce across the UK was furloughed.

Emma said that how this time is handled by business leaders has the potential to either create a greater feeling of unity in an organisation, or to be the cause of further disruption.

Emma, from Gosport, said: ‘I spend my working life resolving conflict and helping businesses prevent unnecessary conflict occurring within their organisation.

‘I am concerned that bigger issues will develop, if organisations are not equipped to handle the transition of furloughed staff returning, of different staff members now being furloughed, or if they don’t have essential conversations now to work through questions or frustrations about how furlough decisions are made and managed.

‘Those who were furloughed may have found the previous lockdown extremely challenging. To have another one shortly after may be extremely concerning to them.

‘Staff who were not previously furloughed, but now are experiencing it for themselves may feel apprehensive about what it will be like.

‘Whereas those who were not furloughed may have unresolved resentment about having to carry on working – maybe taking on additional responsibilities - while their co-workers were being paid a large proportion of their wages to not work.

‘The situation happening again may build on previous frustrations or resentment towards their furloughed colleagues.’

Emma, 33, has been a mediator with her business, Mosaic Mediation, since 2016 and previously worked at the Employment Tribunal.

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She said businesses that provide an open line of communication and that attempt to resolve issues while they are minor tend to need to spend less time resolving conflict between colleagues.

She added: ‘Genuine conversations, that seek to understand the other person’s perspective, are required to address such issues and to ensure that colleagues can work in unity with each other.’

She also advised that for particularly sensitive or challenging issues, it may be better to have a neutral third party to facilitate conversations.

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