The Cost Of Negativity And Conflict In $$$

What is the cost of negativity and conflict? The math is simple.

Besides just being a bummer to be around, did you know conflict and negativity carry a real cost? This cost can be quantified in dollar signs. How much time each day do you think an average person in your workplace stops working and starts gossiping about co-workers, or complaining about their managers and all the changes happening at work? Let’s say it’s one hour per day. And, let’s add another hour of lost productivity for the person to whom they are gossiping and complaining. Let’s say they each earn $20 per hour. 2 people gossiping and complaining for 1 hour per day is 2 hours of lost productivity per day. It's also lost money.

2 hours x $20 per hour = $40 per day

5 days a week x $40 per day = $200/week

52 weeks in a year minus 2 weeks of vacation = 50 weeks

50 weeks x $200/week = $10K/year

500 hours per year of gossiping and complaining, at a cost of $10,000. That’s just for 2 people. How many people in your workplace are doing the same? Keep doing the math. This cost doesn’t take into account how much negativity slows them and others down and decreases the quality of the work that is getting done when it’s getting done. How about the person who takes time every day to craft that perfect passive aggressive email to co-workers? How much does that cost? You can now do the math. High performing, positive people won’t tolerate a toxic workplace culture for long. Experts calculate the cost of turnover to be at 40% of the salary of the position. So, losing that high performer (if also at $20/hour) could cost over $16K. How is conflict, negativity, and resistance to change affecting employees’ well-being not to mention the company’s bottom line? The math is simple.