Introducing Workplace Mediation in Your Organisation

Imagine that your organisation is managing a huge lucrative project which includes people from a number of different departments. You’ve made great progress but there is tension between two of the inter-departmental team members. Their former rivalry has just got healthy as they are working together on the same project and now it feels like a full-blown personality clash.

What would you do? They both aren’t talking to each other and you fear that the situation will hinder your project’s success if you don’t take quick action.

A suitable procedure to resolve the dispute is workplace mediation.

Modern workplaces involve employees from diverse backgrounds having different values, opinions, and expectations can make the organisational culture more complex. Provided with their growing needs, they demand more with less resources so it’s not surprising if a workplace conflict occurs quite often in an organisation.

Let’s help you understand how workplace mediation restores working relationships and helps employers achieve better and result-driven outcomes.

Increasing Employee Conflicts in the UK

According to CIPD 2015 report, 38% of the UK employees experience interpersonal conflict at work in an average year. Another study further highlights the significance of workplace mediation elaborating that 60% of employees never received basic conflict management classes or training for resolution in the workplace. If they did, both the organisation and employees would have attained mutual profitable benefits. As proved by the same research, 95% of trained employees stated that the workplace mediation sessions assisted them in positively navigating the organisational conflict and achieving better outcomes.

Introducing Workplace Mediation

While disputes can occur at all levels with managers, colleagues, or within teams, a workplace mediation can be a quick, confidential, and cost-effective method to resolve conflicts. This practice can save the stress and costs of formal actions that can ultimately reduce absenteeism, turnover rate, and conform to the existing best and profitable organisational practices. The mediation procedure focuses on all involved parties’ needs and understand what they want from their work relationships with others. Once the goals are identified, as workplace mediation professionals, we cordially move forward to an agreement that is beneficial for all the involved parties.

Often HR practitioners are responsible in organisations to resolve such employee conflicts. But not all employees are comfortable sharing issues with the HR personnel due to fear of being misjudged, job security are some reasons and wish to maintain absolute confidentiality regarding the matter. Fortunately, workplace mediation allows employees and employers to settle their differences in private, ensuring that the confidential matter is resolved promptly and ensure a friendly and productive work environment with the benefit of a third-party neutral mediator.

The Right Time to Use Workplace Mediation

Employers can use mediation at any point during a conflict. However, the parties involved must agree to do so. Workplace mediation is on a voluntary and consensual basis which will also require the ongoing business procedures to be kept on hold. Generally, mediation is best used when the disagreement arose in the first place. As longer a dispute goes on, the greater the chances of toxic employees’ relationships and work environment which can affect the company culture. Ideally, employees raise a formal grievance, therefore, employers must work to rebuild the relationship when they file for the official dispute.

Precisely, mediation can be used in disagreements between team members and between co-workers involved at different levels of seniority having issues such as:

• Harassment and bullying
• Communication problems
• Relationship breakdowns
• Personality clashes
• Cultural misunderstandings due to the diverse backgrounds
• An alternative to disciplinary and grievance procedure

In the aforementioned cases, employers must ensure that appropriate course of workplace mediation actions are taken to resolve the matter on an urgent basis. It is ideal to take assistance from a credible conflict management and mediation consultancy like Minute Mediation Ltd, as we have a proven track record of settling any type of conflict or dispute occurring in different industry organisations.

Benefits of Hiring an External Mediator

As mentioned above, 90% of the trained employees have positively navigated the organisational conflicts and achieved better outcomes. According to the CPP Inc. report, this has only been possible because the conflict was dealt with through the right expertise. When these conflicts are handled by expert management consultants, like us, a healthy work environment is guaranteed.

Additionally, a credible researcher, Latreille mentions in his study that mediation allows the involved parties to work toward a mutual agreement that benefits them. This way, parties are able to work together collaboratively in a friendly environment. Most importantly, the process opens the lines of communication therefore the issues can be resolved efficiently. It is an independent procedure that is organised promptly as it doesn’t require input from managers, representatives, and witnesses. It is profitable, reducing the cost of long-term absence, staff turnover, and litigation.

Here are a few more benefits for you to choose a reliable external mediator today.

• Employers can focus on ongoing business activities and core operations.
• A professional with years of experience can handle the conflict between the parties and guarantee results.
• Specialists can assist in agreeing to a mutually satisfactory agreement and avoid getting derailed in an argument.
• A number of proven workplace mediation approaches can assist the employers along with multiple options.
• Mediators can ensure a seamless and simple procedure to achieve a friendly work environment.
• Experts can assist any type of business or industry vertical resolve even complex disputes.

So, if you want to minimise the risks around workplace conflict, contact our expert mediator to assist you to resolve the disputes professionally.

Restore Effective Work Relationships by Hiring Minute Mediation Ltd. Today

Considering the workplace and employee conflicts’ are rife in the UK, it is better to consult a professional conflict management consultancy. We specialise in offering unrivalled workplace mediation. With our team of experienced mediators, we have successfully undertaken various types of mediation including property mediation, business mediation, , and online dispute resolutions of different fields.

Having a simple procedure that is expertly coordinated by our dedicated case manager, we first discuss the dispute overview, specific issues, get mediation contracts signed by all parties, speak to every individual separately, then work with the participants for a mutual agreement for all that suit everyone’s interests.

Contact us today and we can send you an experienced mediator in minimal time along with a mediation summary program. If you are tired of dealing with your organisational conflicts, request a free quote today!

 

Who are Minute Mediation?

Minute Mediation is a conflict management and mediation consultancy. We support our clients to settle their disputes amicably with the use of mediation and conflict management tools and training. We are headed by expert mediator, Avinder Laroya.

Avinder, has over two decades of private practice commercial law experience, in particular, commercial property law and she is a MCIArb Arbitrator and a CEDR accredited and CMC registered Mediator for commercial, civil and workplace disputes.

Avinder is passionate about resolving international commercial disputes. Click HERE to book your no obligation 15-minute consultation with Avinder to discuss your dispute concerns.