How to Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress

Chapter Four

Unspoken Reasons, Hidden Realities: Stories That Stick

We dance around in a ring and suppose But the secret sits in the middle and knows.

—Robert Frost

 

Not all behavior is innocent. Addicts of all kinds, con artists, and individuals with mental illness and character disorders are very real. Sometimes people are cooking the books.

Organizations wisely create policies and procedures, including performance management systems, drug testing, written reviews, audits, exit interviews, 360 feedback, EEO policies, expense reports, and written warnings to set standards and hold people to them. If policies or laws are being violated, organizations need to act.

The media is full of stories involving fraud and deception. However, the attention ...