Dana Measure of Conflict Cost

CLICK-THIS # 1: Deadline for Washington DC, February 24 CLICK-THIS # 2: Certifications: Tampa, Washington DC, Chicago, Knoxville, Houston, Switzerland ... more CLICK-THIS # 3: On-line certification, no travel CLICK-THIS # 4: Mediation-at-Sea, 9th Annual MTI Cruise

Prevention and Early Resolution of Workplace Conflict
“Unmanaged conflict is the largest reducible cost in organizations today,
and the least recognized.“ — Dan Dana (quoted 1988 ... 2012)

Established in 1985, MTI is the foremost provider of training, certification,
licensing, and consulting in workplace conflict management and mediation.

Click for more info about training without traveling

The Dana Measure of Financial Cost of Conflict
Discovering the hidden cost of preventable conflicts in your organization

The Dana Measure, in the form of this on-line calculator, is one of the two benchmarking instruments of the MTI Training System, a cafeteria plan for strategic conflict management. (The other instrument is the Dana Survey of Conflict Management Strategies.)

The public version of the Dana Measure produces an estimate of the hidden cost of a particular workplace conflict known to the respondent.

A restricted version of the Dana Measure is used in combination with statistical sampling techniques to benchmark the current cost of preventable conflict being incurred by the client organization.

Following implementation of training and optional additional components of the MediationWorks Training System, the Dana Measure is again completed. A comparison of pre- and post-implementation measures provide a concrete estimate of the financial savings resulting from training in the core competencies for management workplace conflict and other support activities.

Attend a Certification Conference in Managing Workplace Conflict and receive unrestricted access to these on-line instruments for conducting benchmarking and reassessment for program evaluation, comparative analysis between organizational units, underperformance diagnosis, and other purposes.

This on-line calculator contains revised formulas based on recent research and up-to-date industry averages. Earlier text versions of the underlying methodology may be found in Dr. Dana's books, Managing Differences, and Conflict Resolution.

Instructions

Think of one particular conflict in your workplace that you know very well, perhaps one that you are or have been personally involved in. Keep that specific conflict scenario steadily in mind as you enter the variables in the calculator.

Enter your numeric estimates in the boxes below. For currency variables, you may enter values in US dollars, Canadian dollars, Euros, or any other currency.

Enter numeric values as whole numbers (no decimals). Do not use commas or other non-numeric characters.

It is recommended that you enter conservative estimates. Inflating or exaggerating these variables is not necessary to produce disquieting awareness of the financial resources currently being wasted by preventable organizational conflict.

Data Entry Section

Regarding the hourly employees involved in the conflict:
(If none, scroll down for "professional and managerial" employees.)

	Number of individuals. Calculations assume full-time employment.
	Average number of hours per week each individual spends involved in unproductive participation in conflict, including time distracted from productive work by thinking about or worrying about the conflict.
$	Average annual wage of the hourly individuals involved in the conflict
%	Estimate (as a percentage) of reduction in employees' job motivation, enthusiasm, and company loyalty resulting from the unresolved conflict
	Number of unscheduled personal days taken off work by the individuals involved during the period of conflict.
	Were any decisions affecting the business made by any of the hourly employees that may have been influenced by the conflict? (Yes = "1", No = "0")
	Number of hourly employees who were involuntarily terminated, at least in part due to the conflict. Enter zero (the numeral "0") if none.
	Number of hourly employees who voluntarily terminated their employment during or shortly following the period of conflict. Enter zero (the numeral "0") if none.

Regarding the professional and/or managerial employees involved in the conflict:

	Number of individuals. Calculations assume full-time employment.
	Average number of hours per week each individual spends involved in unproductive participation in conflict, including time distracted from productive work by thinking about or worrying about the conflict.
$	Average annual salary of the professional/managerial employees involved in the conflict
%	Estimate of reduction (as a percentage) in employees' job motivation, enthusiasm, and company loyalty resulting from the unresolved conflict
	Number of unscheduled personal days taken off work by the individuals involved during the period of conflict.
	Were any decisions affecting the business made by any of the professional/managerial employees that may have been influenced by the conflict? (Yes = "1", No = "0")
	Number of professional/managerial employees who were involuntarily terminated, at least in part due to the conflict. Enter zero (the numeral "0") if none.
	Number of professional/managerial employees who voluntarily terminated their employment during or shortly following the period of conflict. Enter zero (the numeral "0") if none.

Other variables regarding the conflict:

	Duration of the conflict in weeks per year (minimum 1, maximum 52) - REQUIRED FIELD
	Were work flow, job design, reporting relationships, or other otherwise unnecessary structural changes made to accommodate the individuals in conflict? (Yes = "1", No = "0")

Default values:
The following default values are based on cited published research, known industry averages, or other reliable sources. These values may be altered by the respondent if known to vary from default values. However, unless the respondent's knowledge is certain, it is recommended that these default values be retained.

	Length of ordinary work week, in hours
	Number of working days per year, considering holidays and two-week annual vacation.
%	Incremental cost (as a percentage) of fringe benefits over base wage of hourly employees
%	Incremental cost of (as a percentage) fringe benefits over base salary of professional/managerial employees
%	Cost of replacing an hourly employee as percentage of annual compensation
%	Cost of replacing a professional/managerial employee as percentage of annual compensation
%	Percentage impact of unresolved conflict on decision to terminate employment voluntarily
%	Percentage impact of unresolved conflict on decision to terminate employment involuntarily
%	ROI (return on investment) of employer's investment in labor
%	Cost of conflict-incited theft, sabotage, and equipment damage by employees as a percentage of their expected contribution to corporate profitability.
%	Cost in inefficiency of work flow resulting from otherwise unnecessary restructuring as a percentage of combined salaries/wages of employees in conflict.
%	Increased cost of health insurance premiums and other health care-related expenses to the employer as a result of stress-related (psychogenic) illnesses and accidents as a percentage of combined salaries/wages of employees in conflict.
$	Employer's monthly cost of employee health plan.