A Conflict Resilient Workplace is not a workplace without conflict. Instead, it is a place where real people come to work. These people have real issues in their lives and real disagreements on the job.

What makes this workplace special is that leadership and staff demonstrate a unique set of traits which create a completely different working experience. The people in this workplace demonstrate Valor, Authenticity, Humility and Compassion.

They are brave enough to have difficult conversations and to care about others even when they feel threatened. They are authentic enough to focus more on addressing real issues; rather than trying to hide. There is enough humility that they are able to grow, stay curious and acknowledge mistakes. They are Compassionate enough to care about the well-being and success of others.

Creating a Conflict Resilient Workplace is a process of culture change. It is a deep level change that addresses not only how conflict is managed; but how it is experienced and understood.

Here are seven steps that will allow you to create a workplace where conflict is a creative force that builds relationships – not a destructive force that destroys trust and confidence. You can’t fake it. Only leaders who genuinely want it can create it.

1. Establish Leadership Buy-In: Core leadership needs to be committed to doing what it takes. They need to be clear on what makes conflict resiliency worth it for themselves and their organization. They need to be evangelists for doing things differently.

2. Get the Right People & Give Them the Right Jobs: Recruit people that reflect your values. Clearly define what is expected from them. Clearly define how decisions are made and who they report to.

3. Align Structure: Review policies, procedures and practices to ensure that your ‘way of doing things’, at a minimum, doesn’t create confusion and conflict. Ideally, your ‘way of doing things’ should help create more understanding and guide decision-making. Examples of this are: hiring practices matching job needs, marketing matching user experience, contract and policy creation for preserving relationships rather than for limiting liability.

4. Demonstrate How: Leaders will need to demonstrate a style of leadership that allows for engagement and healthy conflict. Different situations have different leadership needs – so one size never fits all. However, leadership that demonstrates the ability to listen, understand the perspective others, emotional control, respect and problem solving is useful in all situations.

5. Train and Coach How: Most people don’t know how to have difficult conversations well. There are strong life-earned tendencies to hide and avoid the topic; or, to go on the offensive and try to win. Effective leaders must be able to coach and train their staff to handle situations differently. This must be reinforced through actual experiences; until, enough of the core staff have become accustomed to healthy conflict. Once accustomed, they will help pass it on to others and it will become a part of culture.

6. Create Clear Alternatives for Resolution: Employees in the best workplaces know there is usually more than one way to solve a problem. Unfortunately, most grievance policies are very linear and ineffective. People should be trained to handle most disagreements themselves; and then, given clear options for where to get support if a conflict is too big to handle. This can often be as simple as providing resources that are both internal and external to the organization.

7. Measure results: Expect and measure results. Through creating changes similar to what is described in this post, Motorola reported a 75% reduction in litigation expenses, Coca-Cola reported a savings of 700% of the cost of their investment to change company practices, NCR reported a 90% reduction in lawsuits.

Which results matter to you? Financial? Employee retention? Improved customer service? Accomplishing your mission? All of these are directly impacted by how well your people relate and work together.