How to resolve conflict between two employees
Handling conflict isn’t how you want to spend your time or energy.
Two employees aren’t getting on. It’s awkward, distracting and pulling you into something you didn’t create and don’t particularly want to referee.
It can be really tempting to turn a blind eye and hope that these situations will settle down on their own.
Here’s why that isn’t a good idea and how you can nip things in the bud before they escalate.
What conflict usually looks like before it blows up
Workplace conflict isn’t always obvious.
It often starts small:
tension in meetings
short or dismissive comments
people avoiding each other
emails going unanswered
someone feeling undermined or excluded
It’s often these low-level behaviours that cause the most damage if they’re left unaddressed.
Over time, they can escalate into grievances, absence, resignations or formal complaints that are much harder to deal with.
Why this is so frustrating as a business owner
You’re rarely dealing with one clear “right” and one clear “wrong”.
More often, you’ve got:
two very different versions of the same situation
emotions running high
pressure to fix it quickly
and a business that still needs to run
Staying neutral is harder than it sounds, especially when you know the people involved or work closely with them.
When conflict becomes something more serious
Not all conflict is the same.
Some situations cross into bullying or harassment. Others sit in a grey area but still cause real harm if ignored.
You don’t need to label it straight away to act. What matters is recognising when behaviour is undermining, humiliating, excluding or creating ongoing tension and stepping in early.
Why early, informal action matters
One thing is very clear: conflict is much easier to resolve earlier rather than later.
Early action doesn’t mean jumping straight into formal procedures. In fact, informal conversations are often far more effective at
stopping behaviour from escalating
protecting working relationships
avoiding grievances and disciplinary processes
keeping the rest of the team out of the fallout
Left too long, informal issues often turn into formal ones, which are more stressful, more disruptive and more expensive for everyone involved.
Why hoping it will resolve itself is the riskiest option
Conflict that’s ignored doesn’t disappear.
It usually:
resurfaces in a more serious form
spreads to other team members
affects morale and productivity
and takes far more time and cost to resolve later
Waiting for a formal complaint usually makes things harder, not easier, which is why acting early matters.
Why this is harder to handle than it looks (and why external support often helps)
Handling conflict yourself is really difficult in most situations. When you're inside the business:
you usually know both people involved
you may feel closer to one than the other
you’re under pressure to “just fix it” and move on
staying neutral is harder than it feels
It’s also not uncommon for managers to unintentionally add to conflict, simply through how situations are handled or perceived. That’s not about doing a bad job, it’s about being too close to the situation.
This is where external support often works better.
An independent HR professional can:
remain genuinely impartial
give both people a safe space to be heard
spot when behaviour is tipping into bullying or harassment
guide conversations calmly and fairly
reduce the risk of escalation or formal action
Most importantly, it takes you out of the middle.
That protects you, the people involved and the wider team, and often leads to a quicker, calmer resolution than trying to referee it yourself.
Are you dealing with conflict in your business?
If you’ve got tension between employees and it’s starting to affect the business, acting early is usually the simplest option.
That doesn’t mean overreacting. It means recognising that this isn’t something you have to referee alone.
If you want a fair, external view and support handling the situation properly, we can help.