Conflict Resolution and Staff Performance in Ghana Education Service: Evidence from Gomoa Senior High Technical School

Abstract

Conflict is endemic to all social life and seen as inevitable component of living simply because it is in relation to differences in power, role, function and resources. The success or failure of almost every organisation greatly depends on how management or leaders handle misunderstanding between and among conflicting parties in such organisations. Conflict has become a necessary evil to many organisations in recent times. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of conflict resolution on staff performance in Ghana Education Service. The study adopted a descriptive research design to get answers for the research questions formulated. A simple random sampling technique was employed to select and sample the opinions of 74 staff of Ghana Education Service in Gomoa Senior High/Technical School (GSHTS)on the issue. Data collected from the field survey was later processed using SPSS and analyzed. The study pointed out that conflict affects the performance of staff negatively, except few who were indifferent. The study, however, also found that the most common tools used by GES to handle conflict are negotiation, compromise and arbitration. There is a positive relationship between conflict resolution tools and performance except compromising which showed a negative relationship. In view of this, it is recommended that appropriate reward system, effective communication, and good conflict settlement procedure be established.