The Art of Workplace Mediation: From Conflict to ... · The Presentation to the Hellas EAP – 4th EAP Forum: Athens, Greece 10th September 2014 by Tony Buon Nature of WorkplaceConflict

Presentation to the Hellas EAP – 4th EAP Forum: Athens, Greece 10th September 2014 by Tony Buon

Presentation to the Hellas EAP – 4th EAP Forum: Athens, Greece 10th September 2014

The Art of Workplace Mediation: From Conflict to Engagement Tony Buon

Introduction

Mediation is an intervention in a negotiation or conflict of an acceptable third party who has limited on no authoritative decision‐making power, who assists the involved parties to voluntarily reach a mutually acceptable settlement of the issues in a dispute (Moore, 2003).

Essentially, Mediation is a dialogue or negotiation with the involvement of a third party. A Mediator is a third party, a party not normally directly involved in the conflict: it is this independence and neutrality that is central to the process.

Workplace Mediation can decrease the tension in the working environment; workplace mediation is a shift away from conflict based employee relations to a collaborative and problem‐solving approach. It is also a proven informal approach that avoids expensive litigation and resolves issues fast and efficiently.

Conflict

Generic meaning: opposition, hostilities, fight, struggle, contradictory, incompatible (Oxford English Ref. Dict. 1995).

Conflict can occur any time there is: a high level of interdependence, differences of values or beliefs, resources or rewards are scarce, people are under a great deal of stress, or when they face an uncertain environment.

Perceptions of Workplace Conflict

If asked to describe what constitutes workplace conflict, most of us would initially associate the word ‘conflict’ with experiences in our present or past working life that were negative, stressful or distressing. We would no doubt also be able to recall positive experiences of open communication where we felt heard and understood in the process of resolving our conflicts at work. These positive experiences of conflict would be characterised by a sense of shared power, trust and mutual respect, even though we may not always have achieved our preferred outcome.

In this sense, our experience of workplace conflict is not unlike our experience of conflict in our personal and family lives, in that whilst we do have significant and rewarding experiences of being able to work through our conflicts with each other; we still tend to have an over‐riding perception of conflict as something undesirable, negative and difficult to deal with (Buon, 2008).


The Nature of Workplace Conflict

In reality, an employee’s experience of workplace conflict can be both negative and positive and the factors that contribute to whether it is one or the other or a mixed experience are complex and multifaceted.

The following diagram (Weeks, 1994) summarises the levels of conflict that can be experienced starting with discomfort where nothing overt has occurred but the person concerned has a feeling that something is not right. The next level can be described as an incident where an outward clash occurs but as yet, the person concerned does not feel any significant internal emotional response to the situation.

Figure 1: Level of Conflict (Based on Weeks, 1994)

Once a conflict reaches the next level of misunderstanding one or more of the parties to a conflict have begun to hold negative images of the other, but it is still relatively easy to resolve this level of conflict through information sharing and open communication. However, when a conflict reaches the level of tensions, one or more of the parties have started to form fixed beliefs and positions about the other person, and it becomes increasingly more difficult to resolve the conflict at this level (Buon, 2008).

At the final level of crisis, the conflict may affect the behaviour of one or more of the parties, and extreme gestures are contemplated or executed which further erodes trust and the opportunity to restore a healthy working relationship between the parties.

Clearly not all conflicts start at the lowest level of intensity and move their way up to a crisis as a conflict may stay at one level indefinitely and never escalate, or it may de‐escalate and improve. Alternately, because of the nature of what has occurred it may start at a very intense level and escalate very quickly into a crisis.

In general terms, however, we can describe the way in which a conflict occurs over time as a continuum of conflict as can be seen in Figure 2 (Tidwell, 1998).

On the vertical axis is the degree of negotiability or opportunity to negotiate a resolution and on the horizontal axis is the amount of time that has elapsed with the level of intensity increasing over time

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the longer the conflict has continued to exist. What can be seen is that situations become more intense over time, and so have a lesser degree of negotiability.

Figure 2: Continuum of Conflict ‐ Source: Modified from Tidwell (1988)

It is also important to appreciate that the point at which a given individual will feel a particular intensity of internal response to the conflict will vary. A conflict situation or issue that appears as trivial or inconsequential to one person may evoke intense feelings of anger, betrayal, injustice or hurt in another person. It is also very common for one party to feel distressed by something that is happening and for the other person to be unaware of this (Buon, 2008).

Whilst individual responses to a given situation vary considerably, in general terms it is known that situations involving inherent human needs such as individual and group identity, recognition or developmental needs tend to evoke powerful emotions, and it is these unmet or unrecognised human needs that underpin intensely felt conflict situations. At the core of such conflicts, a person may experience a sense of threat to their identity and begin to experience significant symptoms of distress or stress.

Metamorphosis of Conflict

Building on the above idea of the evolution and escalation of conflict over time is the concept of a ‘continuum of behaviours.' In Figure 3, it can be seen that there is a whole range of behaviours that may contribute to the evolution of workplace conflict.

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In any work group or team such behaviours will always arise and will vary in intensity and duration depending upon; the nature of the conflict, the make‐up of the individuals, the collective history of the group or team and the skills and experience of the managers and the wider culture of the organisation.

Whilst a conflict may start at one end of this continuum involving behaviours that are seemingly minor or can reasonably be regarded as just a normal part of day to day working life, minor conflict situations have the potential to change or ‘metamorphose’ (Fortado, 2001) into far more serious conflicts involving behaviours such as bullying or harassment and acts of retaliation, sabotage, physical assault or violence. If a conflict is not handled through effective early intervention or is mishandled then the potential for this type of metamorphosis to occur increases especially where the conflict centres on unmet human needs and a high level of emotional intensity for one or more of the individuals is present (Buon, 2008).

In the diagram, a wavy line is shown indicating that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to pinpoint or predict the tipping point at which this change will occur.

Figure 3: Continuum of Behaviour Source: Buon (2008)

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The Cost of Workplace Conflict

Conflict in the workplace can result in:

Poor morale and disengagement

Absenteeism, turnover

Low productivity

Poor decision making

Communication problems

Workers’ compensation claims

Complaints and grievances

Violence

Litigation and expensive lawsuits

Stress‐related medical conditions

It is estimated that workplace conflict costs UK business £24billion a year. A study done by CPP Inc in 2008, found that, on average, each employee in the US spends 2.1 hours every week – approximately one day a month dealing with conflict in some way (being involved in a disagreement, managing conflict between co‐workers, etc.).

The typical manager spends 25‐40% of his or her time dealing with workplace conflicts. That is one to two days of every work week. (Washington Business Journal, May 2005).

Conflict leads to turnover, and the cost of turnover in the workplace is enormous. Ernst & Young reports that the cost of losing and replacing an employee may be as high as 150% of the departing employee’s annual salary. (Workforce.com)

Responses to Conflict

It is suggested that in order to respond more effectively to conflict we need to re‐frame our definition of workplace conflict so that it is neither negative nor positive but neutral. Workplace conflict is instead viewed as an ‘outgrowth of diversity and differences and is a natural process of communication’ (Weeks, 1994).

In accepting the inherently neutral nature of conflict, we can then start to move the focus away from what is often experienced as a disempowering pathology at the core of most conflicts. We can also stop investing energy in avoiding the potential negative consequences of entering into conflict with others or in intervening in a conflict and instead focus on how we can respond effectively and positively to those conflicts both at an individual and organisational level. In this sense, it is not a conflict in and of itself that is negative, but the negative or positive aspects of individual behaviours and the way in which we respond to those behaviours that determine whether that conflict is a constructive or negative experience.

The key question then is whether or not the conflict being experienced can be seen as functional or dysfunctional. In other words what can this conflict situation tell me about myself, my working relationships, my team or my organisation? Whilst the answer to this question is ultimately subjective, and value‐laden it is suggested that in asking it of ourselves and each other we begin to improve our level of self‐awareness and therefore our capacity to respond more effectively.

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Resources for Responding to Conflict

An individual’s or organisation’s capacity to respond effectively and positively to conflict is dependent upon the internal, personal and organisational resources available to create and support that response.

The following list provides a brief overview of some of the key resources that are utilised in response to workplace conflict.

1. Self‐Awareness 2. Resilience 3. Social and Interpersonal Process Skills 4. Communication Processes 5. Third Party Interventions including Internal and External Mediation 6. Policies and Procedures 7. Management Intervention 8. Training, Development and Coaching 9. First Contact or Harassment Contact Schemes 10. Employee Assistance or Welfare Support 11. Informal Communication and Problem Solving Processes 12. Arbitration

Most grievance procedures will contain an informal stage, however in our experience a minority of organisations provide any indication as to how this informal stage should work and whilst more employers are beginning to introduce some form of Workplace Mediation or informal processes for resolving conflict before it progresses to a formal grievance, this is not yet recognised as a mainstream approach but it is gaining momentum.

In the face of an increasing number of protected categories of employment rights and in an effort to get it right and avoid potential risks, many managers may feel lacking in confidence or skills to even attempt to intervene in workplace conflict and so would rather have the matter dealt with on a formal basis. The danger is that this response to the legislative framework will lead to an over‐reliance on a ‘compliance approach’ in managing workplace conflict

However, the most‐effective way of preventing the incidence and escalation of conflict and in empowering employees to find their solutions is to develop and utilise good informal and problem‐solving processes and interpersonal process skills. We need to get past the fear of ‘walking on eggshells’ with respect to our differences with each other at work and past the fear of making a mistake as managers and accept that being good at responding to conflict means being open to learning about ourselves and our organisations.

It also means being given the opportunity to assess our strengths, weaknesses and competencies and identify areas for change within our organisations. We have to have the opportunity to make judgement calls and learn what works and so become good self‐managers and interveners in conflict.

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Figure 4: Conflict Resolution Continuum (Raider et al., 2000)

Ideally, Mediation is best‐attempted early in the conflict before the parties become fixed in their positions, behaviours and beliefs about each other. In the UK this view was echoed by Michael Gibbons in his Review of Employment Dispute Resolution in Britain (March 2007), in which he states that ‘the Government should challenge all employer and employee organisations to commit to implementing and promoting early dispute resolution, e.g. through greater use of in‐house Mediation, early neutral evaluation, and provisions in contracts of employment.'

denial or escape needs & interests

rights power

…and your focus will be on…

arbitrate or pursue

grievance

avoid the conflict

mediate litigate fight or wage war

negotiate

then the method you will choose will be to…

avoidance assertion aggression

If your general strategy is…

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Buon Consultancy ‐ Workplace Mediation Framework

Buon Consultancy has developed a framework for the conduct of Workplace Mediation that incorporates the elements of process, technique and dynamics. Whilst the core process of Mediation is very similar irrespective of the setting, the workplace setting presents some unique challenges and requirements that do not apply to other forms of Mediation such as family Mediation or community Mediation.

So what are the factors that set Mediation in the workplace apart from other settings?

Legal Framework

Conduct and practice within the workplace is subject to a vast amount of legislation and common law including Health and Safety legislation, anti‐Discrimination and anti‐Harassment legislation, human rights legislation, flexible working regulations, paternity leave regulations and dispute resolution regulations to name just a few.

Employment Contracts and Working Conditions

Employees and employers also enter into employment contracts with each other that cover a range of matters including conditions and terms of employment. Employers also enter into national and/or local agreements with trade unions or professional employee associations and are subject to rules and regulations governing consultation with such bodies.

On‐going Working Relationships

Unlike in family or community mediation people who work together very rarely have the option of resolving conflict by choosing not to associate with the person they are experiencing conflict. In fact in most cases none of the parties to a workplace conflict can elect to be transferred to another post or request that someone else be relocated in order to avoid contact with that person or bring about a resolution to the conflict as they are constrained by operational factors, the business needs of the employing organization and laws relating to the equal and fair treatment of employees.

Agreements and Resolution

All of the above factors also constrain the parties involved in Workplace Mediation and prevent them from arriving at agreements, or resolution of their conflict that may impinge on their employment rights, or those of another person or that may have a significant impact on the employer’s business needs or operational requirements.

7‐Stage Mediation Process

The 7‐Stage Mediation Process developed by Buon Consultancy takes account of these factors and is presented in summary below. This Model was developed by Tony Buon and Caitlin Buon and their colleagues over many years of professional practice.

7‐Stage Mediation Process

1. Pre‐Mediation 2. Mediation starts 3. Opening statements 4. Identify issues 5. Negotiation 6. Agreements 7. Follow‐up

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Stage 1: Pre‐Mediation

The Mediation process commences with an individual pre‐Mediation session with each of the parties. Each session would take between 45‐90 minutes depending upon the nature and complexity of the issues and the parties involved.

The pre‐Mediation stage provides an opportunity for the Mediators to meet alone initially with each party in order to assess the suitability of the issues and the readiness of the parties to participate in Mediation. This minimises the potential distress of bringing the parties together in the first instance or a further escalation of the conflict especially where the Mediators make an assessment that Mediation is not recommended or where one party decides not to proceed. The pre‐Mediation stage also provides an opportunity for the Mediator or co‐Mediators to map the conflict prior to the conduct of the joint sessions and consider the potential areas of agreement or barriers to agreement.

Stage 2: Mediation Starts

The Mediation is always conducted using two separate rooms (or more if there are multiple parties) and each party is met with again privately in separate rooms following the pre‐Mediation stage prior to bringing them together into the same room. This may occur on the same day as Stage 1 or at an agreed time following the pre‐Mediation meetings. These private sessions may take between 5 ‐20 minutes.

Stage 3: Opening Statements

Once the parties have been brought together in the same room, the Mediators welcome the parties to the joint session and explain what will happen. Each person is then invited to make an opening statement and is provided with an uninterrupted period within which to raise their issues with the other person.

If at any time during this or any subsequent stage of the Mediation, the Mediators wish to speak privately with one of the parties they may take that person into the other room and then bring them back together again. A private session may be called to talk in private about a person’s concerns, confront a person about their behaviour or talk through options. It can also be called so that the Mediators can meet privately to discuss what to do next.

The use of private sessions or ‘caucus’ sessions as they are sometimes referred to is the key to conducting a successful Mediation and in our view constitute a mandatory element of Workplace Mediation.

Stage 4: Identify Issues

Following the opening statements, the parties will then be invited to enter into an open exchange with each other. They will want to respond at this point to what has been said during openings statements. They will have substantive issues they want to talk about, and they will also have some emotions they want to express about how they feel the other person’s actions or behaviour has affected them. They will also want to make statements about how they think the situation needs to be resolved. At this stage, the parties are still polarised and have ‘fixed positions.'

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This is all about telling their ‘story’ and being heard. The Mediators will ensure that each person feels heard and that each person feels comfortable and safe. The parties are then encouraged to begin the process of identifying the key issues and to begin to prioritise them.

The Mediators will then begin the process of ‘reframing’ the parties’ fixed positions into the more neutral language of needs and interests so that they can start to move closer towards an exploration of how they can move forward.

Stage 5: Negotiation

Once the issues have been identified, prioritised and reframed the parties are then facilitated to enter into a negotiation process with each other about options for resolution and how they can move forward. This will involve brainstorming, more reframing, weighing up and evaluation of the options, reality checking assumptions and expectations and a detailed exploration of the initial resolution offers made by each party.

Stage 6: Agreements

If after negotiating each priority issue, the parties are able to reach a mutually acceptable way forward they are then facilitated to begin the process of preparing their agreement with each other. All parties sign a handwritten copy of the Mediation agreement that each party takes away at the end of the Mediation session. A typed copy of the agreement is then forwarded to the parties within one working day of the Mediation.

As part of the agreement stage, the Mediators explore with the parties how they will make their agreement work once they return to work. Agreement is also sought about whether the parties wish to disclose their written agreement to their line managers, HR or others and whether there is any other information they wish the Mediators to disclose either formally or informally to others as part of the implementation process of the agreement. The Mediators thank the parties for their participation, review what has been achieved, cover what will happen next and wish the parties every success in making their agreement work and resolving any difficulties with each other in the future.

Stage 7: Follow‐up

It may also be agreed that the Mediators will meet with the parties after an agreed period of time to explore how their agreement is working and facilitate any problem‐solving and provide positive feedback. At this follow‐up session, the agreement may also be modified if needed or the possibility of re‐Mediation can be explored if required.

The Cost Savings from Introducing Workplace Mediation

Many large organisation have embraced workplace mediation as it can significantly reduce the enormous costs involved in a dispute. The Gibbons review suggests that the cost in the UK of defending an individual Employment Tribunal claim in 2005 was around £9000. Given that a mediation normally costs less than £1000, it is easy to see the cost benefit. In the UK, the Royal Mail with over 150,000 staff has run a successful mediation scheme for three years. London Hospital is presently training 150 mediators from their staff as workplace mediators. Over 60% or the top 100 companies in the UK have uses mediation to assist with employee disputes. The Sydney Olympic Games

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Organizing Committee were very advanced thinking, in that they established a mediation service to cover all staff and over 50,000 volunteers.

There has been limited empirical work done on the cost‐benefit or return on investment of workplace mediation. However, the work that has been done has shown impressive results. For example:

1. Studies show that up to 30% of a typical manager's time is spent dealing with conflict (Ford & Slater, 2002)

2. It is estimated that Fortune 500 senior HR executives spend up to 20% of their time in litigation activities (Ford & Slater, 2002)

3. With a success rate of over 90%, workplace mediation is the most cost effective way of resolving workplace disputes (Buon, 2012)

4. The introduction of in‐house mediation can have a transformative effect on workplace relations (Saundry et al. 2011)

5. According to the 2011 CIPD Conflict Management survey report, the main benefit in using mediation is improving relationships between individuals, cited by 80% of respondents, to reduce or eliminate the stress involved in more formal processes (64%) and to avoid the costs involved in defending employment tribunal claims (52%)

6. One organisation using workplace mediation reduced legal bills by over 100,000 Euro’s in one year at a cost of 20,000 Euros (Buon, 2012)

From Conflict to Engagement

Mediation can transform the parties’ perception of the conflict and assist them in finding creative solutions to their issues. The lessons learnt in mediation can then be applied by the parties in the future when they experience similar difficulties.

Employee engagement is a concept that has become an important aim or all workplaces. It is an emotional or psychological commitment an employee feels toward his or her organisation and/or leadership that influences work‐related behaviour. Employers want engaged employees because, as well as being happier, healthier and more fulfilled, they deliver improved business performance (CIPD, 2013).

Introducing informal and early‐intervention measures such as workplace mediation can result in greater employee engagement. Conversely, not having such informal measures for dealing with workplace conflict brings huge risks. As well as productivity losses, organisations may lose their best people and face huge legal expenses.

Successfully introducing workplace mediation requires working with all areas of the business. Employers should especially pay attention to:

Ensuring the early intervention in workplace conflict utilising methods such as workplace mediation

Developing internal mediation teams (if the organisation size warrants) or contracting with organisations such as Hellas EAP to provide external professional mediators

The development of appropriate workplace policy that addresses workplace conflict in an informal and proactive way

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Workplaces that institute workplace mediation are sending the message that they care about conflict, want to help workers resolve it and will provide the tools to allow this to happen. This often has a positive transformative effect on the working relationship.

Biography

Tony Buon Dip. Wel., B.A (Psych), M.A (Hons) M. Litt (eqiv) Dip Med, Grad Edu, CEAP, Cert.Med, MMII

Tony Buon is a very experienced mediator, psychologist, coach and writer. He is a Certified Employee Assistance Professional (CEAP) and a Certified Mediator (MII). Tony has over thirty years’ experience working with some of the world’s leading organisations in over 25 countries.

Tony holds graduate and post‐graduate degrees in psychology, behavioural sciences, and workplace education. Tony has taught Leadership, Psychology and Human Resources Management up to Master’s Level in Universities and Colleges in Australia and the UK and has also taught on an accredited M.B.A. programme. Tony teaches an Accredited Mediation course in the UK and Ireland (MII) and runs in mediation training programmes in the USA, the Middle East and Africa.

Tony has worked with a number of leading organisations including 3M, ABB, Accor, ADCO, ADGAS, American Express, Amnesty International, Atos, AXA, British Council, BP, BUPA, CIC, CNPC, Chevron Texaco, Coca‐Cola, Continental Tyres, CSR, Diageo, Dolphin Energy, Dublin Airport Authority, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, Fujitsu, Gulf Offshore, Halliburton, Howard Smith, IBM, ICI, ING Group, Inverness College, KNPC, Lend Lease Bovis, London Hospital, Lulu, Marathon Oil, McDonalds, Microsoft, Midlothian Council, NHS, Nigerian Parliament, Oceaneering, Perth College, Pfizer, P&O, PTI Nigeria, Qatar Petroleum, Roche, Royal Bank of Scotland, SABIC, Saudi Aramco, Scottish Police College, Shell, Sonatrach, Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Talisman, University College London.

Tony has published over 100 papers in peer‐reviewed journals and international publications. His latest book, published by Hodder & Stoughton, is The Leadership Coach. His next book The Science of Communication will be released in 2015.

Email: [email protected]

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References Beer & Stief (1997) The Mediator’s Handbook New Society Publishers

Buon, T. (2012) Workplace Mediation Manual. Buon Consultancy, UK

Buon, T (2008) Perspectives on Managing Workplace Conflict. in Employee Well‐being Support: A Workplace Resource (2008) Kinder, A, Hughes, R & Cooper Cary (Eds), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Publisher

Bush, R.A.B and J.P. Folger. (1994). The Promise of Mediation: Responding to conflict through empowerment and recognition. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass Inc.

CIPD (2013). Factsheet: Employee engagement

CIPD (2011) Conflict Management survey report Published March 2011

Costantino, Cathy A. and Christina Sickles Merchant. (1996). Designing Conflict Management Systems: A Guide to Creating Productive and Healthy Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass Publishers.

CPP (2008) CPP Global Human Capital Report: Workplace Conflict and How Businesses Can Harness It to Thrive – July 2008

Crawley, J & Graham, K (2002) Mediation for Managers. 1st Edition Nicholas Brealey Publishing

Deutsch, M & Coleman P.T (Eds). (2000). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. Jossey‐Bass Publishers: San Francisco.

Ford, J & Barnes‐Slater, C (2002) Measuring Conflict: Both the Hidden Costs and the Benefits of Conflict Management Intervention. August 2002 www.mediate.com

Gibbons, M. (2007) A review of employment dispute resolution in Great Britain, London: DTI.

Moore, Christopher W. (1986). The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. San Francisco: Jossey‐Bass Inc.

Mosten, S. F. (2001). Mediation Career Guide. Jossey‐Bass. SF ‐ USA

Rahim M.A. and Mager N.R. (1995). “Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Styles of Handling Interpersonal Conflict: First‐Order Factor Model and Its Invariance across Groups,” Journal of Applied Psychology 80, 1m 122‐132.

Raider, E, Coleman, S & Gerson, J. (2000). Teaching Conflict Resolution Skills in a Workshop. in Deutsch, M & Coleman P.T (Eds). 2000. The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice. Jossey‐Bass Publishers: San Francisco.

Saundry, R., McArdle, L. & Thomas, P. (2011). Transforming Conflict Management in the Public Sector? Mediation, Trade Unions and Partnerships in a Primary Care Trust, ACAS Research Paper, 01/11.

Buon Consultancy 2nd Floor, 145‐157 St John Street, London

EC1V 4PY United Kingdom Phone: 0845 680 4541 Email: [email protected] WWW.BUON.NET

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The Art of Workplace Mediation: From Conflict to

Engagement

Jewish communities in biblical times

Early Christian communities

Islamic cultures – Al‐Hakam الحكمHinduism & Buddhism

Indigenous peoples

Mediation is the intervention in a negotiation or a conflict of an acceptable third party who has limited or no authoritative decision‐making power, who assists the involved parties to voluntarily reach a mutually acceptable settlement of the issues in a dispute (Moore, 2003)

Essentially, mediation is a dialogue or negotiation with the involvement of a third party

A mediator is a third party, a party not normally directly involved in the conflict

A shift away from conflict‐based employee relations to a collaborative, empowering and problem‐solving approach

A proven informal approach that avoids expensive litigation and resolves issues fast and efficiently

noun /1 a serious disagreement or argument. 2a prolonged armed struggle. 3 an incompatibility between opinions, principles, etc (Oxford English. Dict. 2009)

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Constructive (positive) Conflict

• More creative thinking –conflict is often at the root of creativity

• When people have worked through conflict, you often get greater commitment to any decisions

• Allowing conflict to happen can create a free and open atmosphere

• Better‐quality decisions –there is less ‘groupthink’

• Challenges the status quo

Destructive (negative) Conflict

• Conflict can destroy a group and a sense of ‘we’

• Conflict leads to stalemates – where both sides won’t ‘give an inch’

• Conflict can destroy relationships – even strong, long‐term ones

• Someone wins, but someone loses

• Conflict can result in expensive litigation and major hostilities

It is estimated that workplace conflict costs UK business £24billion a year

A study done by CPP Inc in 2008, found that each employee in the US spends 2.1 hours every week –approximately one day a month dealing with conflict

• Absenteeism, turnover

• Poor morale and disengagement

• Low productivity

• Poor decision making

• Communication problems

• Workers’ compensation claims

• Complaints and grievances

• Violence

• Litigation and expensive lawsuits

• Stress‐related medical conditions

• Increased conflict

• Weakening of the ‘psychological contract’

• Less engagement

• Disrupted ER

• Ill health (physical & mental)

• Turnover, retention & migration

Avoid the conflict

Negotiate

Mediate

Arbitrate or pursue grievance

Litigate

Fight or wage wardenial or escape

needs & interests

rights power

…and your focus will be on…

Source: (Raider et al, 2000)

arbitrate or pursue

grievance

avoid the conflict

mediate litigate fight or wage war

negotiate

…then the method you will choose will be to…

avoidance aggressionassertion

If your general strategy is…

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1. Newest form of mediation

2. Limited form of mediation

3. Legal framework

4. Employment contracts and working conditions

5. On‐going working relationships

6. Agreements and resolutions

1. Basic mediation skills used by Managers & others

2. Internal Peer Based Mediation

3. Professional (internal or external) Mediation

The 7 Stage Process has been designed to specifically meet the needs of the workplace setting for mediation

Legal Framework

Employment Contracts and Working Conditions

On‐going Working Relationships

Agreements and Resolution…

1. Pre‐mediation

2. Mediation starts

3. Opening statements

4. Identify issues

5. Negotiation

6. Agreements

7. Follow‐up

Provides opportunity for mediators to initially meet alone with each party to assess suitability of the issues and the readiness of the parties to participate

Each party is met with again privately in separate rooms following the pre‐mediation stage prior to bringing them together

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Mediators welcome the parties to the joint session and explain processEach person invited to make an opening statement –uninterrupted…

Following opening statements parties are invited to enter into an open exchange

Parties are still polarised and have ‘fixed positions’…

This is all about telling their ‘story’

Parties are encouraged to begin the process of identifying key issues

At any time one or both of the parties may wish to speak privately with the Mediator, the joint session is paused, the party is taken into a second room to talk

Once the issues have been identified, prioritised and reframed the parties are then facilitated to enter into a negotiation process with each other about options for resolution and how they can move forward

If after negotiating each priority issue, the parties are able to reach a mutually acceptable way forward they are then facilitated to begin the process of preparing their agreement

All parties sign a hand written copy of the mediation agreement which each party takes away at the end of the mediation session

It may also be agreed that the mediators will meet with the parties after an agreed period of time to explore how their agreement is working and facilitate any problem‐solving

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1. The mediator does not impose a solution, the solutions belong to the parties

2. Mediation is always voluntary and confidential

3. Mediation is always informal

4. The mediator is always impartial, independent and neutral

5. All the parties need is a willingness to attempt the process in good faith

6. Mediation addresses the substantive issues and allows emotions to be aired

7. Mediation focuses on problem solving and building confidence for the future

The Gibbons review suggests that the cost in the UK of defending an individual Employment Tribunal claim in 2005 was around £9000

In the UK, the Royal Mail with over 150,000 staff has run a successful mediation scheme for three years

London Hospital is presently training 150 mediators from their staff as workplace mediators

Over 60% or the top 100 companies in the UK use mediation

The Sydney Olympic Games established a mediation service to cover all staff and over 50,000 volunteers

With a success rate of 85‐90%, workplace mediation is the most cost effective way of resolving workplace disputes

Studies show that up to 30% of a typical manager's time is spent dealing with conflict (Ford & Slater, 2002)

The introduction of in‐house mediation can have a transformative effect on workplace relations (Saundry et al. 2011)

One organisation reduced legal bills by €100,000 in one year at a cost of €20,000 (Buon, 2012)

According to the 2011 CIPD Conflict Management Survey Report, the main benefit in using mediation is:

• improving relationships between individuals, (80%)

• to reduce or eliminate the stress involved in more formal processes (64%) and

• to avoid the costs involved in defending employment tribunal claims (52%)

Conflict is universal but distinct across cultures

Mediation very affective across cultures:

• National• Ethnic, religious• Gender• Occupational, organisational

Important mediators understand culture

Personally used it successfully in Australasia and EMEA….

Employee engagement is a concept that has become an important aim or all workplaces

It is an emotional or psychological commitment an employee feels toward his or her organisation and/or leadership that influences work‐related behaviour

Employers want engaged employees because, as well as being happier, healthier and more fulfilled, they deliver improved business performance (CIPD, 2013)

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Introducing informal and early‐intervention measures such as workplace mediation can result in greater employee engagement

Conversely, not having such informal measures for dealing with workplace conflict brings huge risks

As well as productivity losses, organisations may lose their best people and face huge legal expenses

Ensuring the early intervention in workplace conflict utilising methods such as workplace mediation

Developing internal mediation teams (if the organisation size warrants) or contracting with organisations such as Hellas EAP to provide external professional mediators

The development of appropriate workplace policy that addresses workplace conflict in an informal and proactive way

1. Understand workplace mediation

2. Promote it as an ‘informal’ process

3. Develop policies and procedures

4. Establish appropriate service (external, etc)

5. Acting as service coordinator

6. Provide HR guidance to parties before/after mediation

7. Using mediation ‘skills’ in work and possibly mediating cases (?)

8. Evaluate & monitor

Challenges

1. Positioning appropriately

2. Belief that mediation is always a ‘win‐win’

3. Training – length & cost

4. Need for Government support

5. Need to educate employees

6. Confusing Workplace Mediation with other ADR

Solutions

1. Promote as informal process

2. Understand mediation as negotiation with 3rd party

3. See it as an investment

4. Government to support through policy & legislation

5. Promote through trade unions and other bodies

6. Understand how workplace mediation is different

EAPs are in a great position to promote and support workplace mediation:

• They have similar systems

• They have good understanding of workplaces

• They understand costing

• They can provide training

• EAP staff can be easily trained

Issues are complicated by strong emotional elements

Maintaining a relationship is important

When one party is uncomfortable about approaching another alone

Where parties live or work together and can’t avoid the conflict

Many people involved

One or both parties want to avoid formal proceedings

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Where one person is trying to escalate the dispute by using mediation

Key parties are unwilling to participate

Where one party is too disturbed to negotiate a workable agreement

Where main issue is un‐mediatable (e.g. sexual assault)

Power imbalance makes a fair agreement unlikely

When an issues deserves public attention (environmental danger, racial harassment, etc)

Workplaces that institute workplace mediation are sending the message that they care about conflict, want to help workers resolve it and will provide the tools to allow it

This will have a positive transformative effect on the working relationship

All material, illustrations, examples and slides contained within this presentation are the property of Buon Consultancy or other identified parties and British and International Copyright Provisions ApplyPermission to reprint or use any of the material should be sought in writing to:Buon [email protected]

All Rights Reserved © 2014 Buon Consultancy

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Documents

The Art of Workplace Mediation: From Conflict to ... · The Presentation to the Hellas EAP – 4th EAP Forum: Athens, Greece 10th September 2014 by Tony Buon Nature of WorkplaceConflict