20 May 2009

This article was written by the CIPD’s Employee Relations Adviser, Mike Emmott and appeared in the May 2009 edition of CIPD Impact. Mike Emmott also endorsed the widely-acclaimed ‘The definitive guide to workplace mediation and managing conflict at work’ written by Globis Founder and MD, Clive Lewis and published in January 2009. 

Those seeking to build the business case for mediation in the workplace should not overlook its role in supporting performance.

The business case for mediation is generally framed in terms of reducing costs – either the cost of conflict, or the cost of alternative methods of conflict resolution. Conflict is a reality in most workplaces, reflected for example in the number of days lost through stress and other sickness absence, and cases of bullying and harassment. Research shows that managers spend many days a year handling discipline and grievance issues, and still more responding to subsequent tribunal claims.

But the real impact of mediation is best seen in terms, not of costs, but of importance. Conflict is damaging to performance since it undermines employee relations and individual motivation. The need to manage conflict also distracts managers from focussing on the business of keeping customers happy. People who are thinking of leaving the organisation, perhaps as a result of issues that have not been recognised or effectively tackled, are unlikely to be advocates for their organisation, or go the extra mile.

Conflict management has traditionally been seens as establishing procedures to help avoid and settle disagreements. The assumption is that employer and employee interests will differ, and procedures are needed to reconcile them when relations break down. But mediation goes beyond that in seeking to rebuild broken relationships and create a firmer basis for working together. it assumes that open and honest communication is capable of correcting mistaken perceptions about the behaviour motives of others and establishing a solid foundation for the future.

Mediation is about looking for solutions. It’s about problem solving. it’s about working towards a more constructive future. Mediation offers an alternative mindset to one based on ‘compliance’ with regulation. If we believe that workplace relations are based essentially on the psychological contract or unspoken deal between employer and employee, mediation is a way in which that contract can be restored after suffering conflict-induced damage.

Employee engagement depends to a great extent on effective communications, in both an upward and downward direction but, in the absence of trust, communication breaks down and is replaced by scepticism, disbelief or denial. Mediation focuses on repairing broken relationships between individuals, and helping to restore a sense of trust and fairness that is fundamental to achieving performance.

Employee engagement is also influenced by the degree of respect that people feel they encounter in their dealings with the organisation – by the extent to which people believe that they are being treated as individuals and that their opinions count. Mediation is a voluntary process in which individuals are invited to share their feelings about what they have experienced and the way they have treated or been treated by others. It is not about guilt and innocence but about opening up people’s minds to other perspectives.

Mediation is generally used to tackle problems between individuals: it’s about personal relationships. But there is also a parallel with the way the different departments do or don’t get on within the same organisation. The familiar ‘silo’ effect is produced when people in one department don’t talk to those in another, seeing them as incompetent, misguided and possibly malicious. These judgements are often based on misperceptions that can only be cleared up by a team-building process aimed at opening up communications.

Mediation can be undertaken either in-house, by a person or people trained for the job, or by an independent external mediator. Either can be effective, but the performance effect of in-house mediation can be reinforced by its wider impact on the organisation’s culture. Adopting a policyof sorting out problems by a process of in-house mediation makes a statement that the organisation is committed to maintaining positive relationships with its workforce and is willing to invest in acquiring the skills to make that happen. There is a parallel here with coaching, which can give a message about the kind of line management skills the organisation wants to foster.

But if we accept the argument that mediation is a performance issue, how do we know it works?  A CIPD survey in 2008 found that employers saw mediation as a highly effective method of resolving conflict, second only to informal discussion between those affected. Major organisations, including NHS trusts and BT, have recently moved to set up their own in-house mediation services and have no doubts about their value and effectiveness. Success rates of up to 100% are reported in disposing of issues remitted to mediation.

Looking at the impact of mediation on well-being, nearly three-quarters of respondents to the CIPD survey saw mediation as reducing or eliminating the stress involved in using more formal procedures. Two in three saw it as a means of retaining valuable employees. Over one half said they used mediation to develop an organisational culture that focused on managing and developing people. It’s time mediation was taken out of its box and seen, not as a technical intervention for dealing with a small minority of workplace issues, but as a tool for transforming cultures and building high-performing organisations. Why wouldn’t HR professionals want to take ownership of a process that seeks solutions based on trust, fairness and respect?

The survey report Workplace mediation: how employers do it is free to download from www.cipd.co.uk/surveys