Workplace conflict is inevitable. But the damage it causes, the stress, the time, the cost, and the human toll, is largely avoidable. In this episode, Anna is joined by Pete Colby, founder of Pragmatism and a workplace mediator, trainer, and employee relations specialist with four decades of experience spanning the steel, food, and aerospace industries. Pete is allergic to grievances, as he puts it, and has spent his career helping organisations understand why the answer to conflict is almost never a formal process.

Pete explains why the root cause of most workplace disputes comes back to the same thing: a lack of confidence to have honest, human conversations early. He shares what happens when small tensions go unaddressed, how quickly emails replace conversation and positions harden, and why the most common thing people say in mediation is that they wish someone had simply asked how they were doing, often years earlier.

Anna and Pete explore the pressure managers face when they feel ill-equipped to navigate difficult conversations, particularly around topics like mental health, menopause, or race, and why the fear of saying the wrong thing so often leads to saying nothing at all. Pete shares a compelling real-world example of how a single word triggered a discrimination allegation, and how a skilled conversation turned it into one of the most productive outcomes either party could have imagined.

They also challenge the reflex to reach straight for the grievance policy, and make the case for building a culture where formal processes gather dust because they are simply never needed.

This is part one of a three-part conversation with Pete. Part two moves into mediation itself: what it is, what it is not, and how it supports people when working relationships have become truly stuck.

Find out more about Pete's work at pragmatism-uk.co.uk

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Got a question or a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Anna would love to hear from you.

Find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit The People Expert to find out more about her work supporting line managers and HR professionals.

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