THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON MANAGERS’ SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CONFLICT KNOWLEDGE
THE IMPACT OF CONFLICT MANAGEMENT TRAINING ON MANAGERS’ SELF-ASSESSMENT OF THEIR CONFLICT KNOWLEDGE

Summary/Abstract: Training is considered as the most powerful tool for successfully dealing with workplace conflict. The benefits of training of managers are visible – conflict is a less common occurrence, employees feel confident raising issues about conflict, managers help team members to resolve conflict quickly and effectively and build healthy team relationships. Conflict management training may increase managers‘ confidence in their ability to deal with workplace conflict. The purpose of the paper is to present the results from a study on the impact of conflict management training on managers‘ self-assessment of their conflict knowledge. The survey questioned 300 Bulgarian managers from different organizations. Respondents were asked to indicate on a dichotomous scale (0 – ―no‖ and 1 - ―yes‖) if they have received conflict management training in the organization they work in. Managers were also asked to assess their knowledge of conflict. For the purpose of the study ten key areas that conflict management training should be focused on were identified. The respondents were asked to evaluate on a five-point scale (1 – to a small extent or not at all, 2 – to some extent, 3 – to а moderate extent, 4 - to a great extent, 5 - to a very great extent) to what extent they feel prepared in each of the ten areas of conflict knowledge. Findings showed a significant lack of investment in conflict management training for managers. Less than a fifth of managers (14%) had received training provided by the organization they work in. Significant differences were found according to the organizational size and the type of settlement. Findings showed that there was a significant relationship between managers‘ self-assessment in nine of the areas of conflict knowledge and conflict management training in organizations. These results support the hypothesis that the confidence of managers in their conflict knowledge is significantly related to the conflict management training provided by the organization. The present study has several implications for organizations. First, it was shown that training is the key point to manage conflict effectively. Organizations need to invest in conflict management training to support managers in their management role. Second, when determining the areas that conflict management training should be focused on, organizations can use the defined key areas of conflict knowledge. The present study contributes to the literature of conflict in organizations by examining the relationship between conflict management training and managers‘ confidence in their conflict knowledge.

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