When a conflict at work is on the verge of becoming a formal grievance or a tribunal case, a workplace mediator is there to put out the metaphorical office fire. They are an independent, neutral party who won’t take sides or tell you what to do. Their job is to steer a conversation in a way that lets both the employer and the employee be heard, get to the bottom of the problem, and come to a better working arrangement.
More and more companies are turning to mediation as an early fix because it’s simply faster and less acrimonious than going through the motions of a disciplinary or legal process.
We spoke to Effective Dispute Solutions Limited’s, Mr Bhurji a workplace mediator of twenty four years, a leading UK mediation firm. Who are based in Birmingham but have a national reach.
“Our mediators have their hands in all sorts of workplace and employment disputes.” Typical examples of what we have mediated vary, but generally a dispute between two or more colleagues where trust has eroded and the employees / team is on edge.
Bullying or harassment complaints make up the bulk of our workplace mediation practice, however, if the employees work with us, are willing to be open and honest there is always a way to settle their differences.
Then there’s the manager-employee dynamic: clashing over how things are done, a performance review gone wrong, or a relationship that’s been put under a microscope after a restructure.
Playing favourites , issues such as discrimination, return-to-work friction, or even the new wrinkle of hybrid working and role boundaries. That said, if we’re talking about a serious safeguarding matter or something with criminal overtones, mediation isn’t the right tool; such issues need to be dealt with through more appropriate channels.
The thing about a good mediator is that they are in the business of repair, not apportioning blame. A formal grievance will put you in a box and ask who was in the right and who was in the wrong. Workplace mediation is more like, “What happened, why did this fall apart, and how do we make it so you can be in the same room again?”
In a place where you have to keep working with each other, that’s worth its weight in gold. And because it’s confidential and you don’t have to be there, people put down their guard and talk more freely than they would in a former hearing. Whereby with a bit of luck you end up with a sturdier and workable result.
It’s also a lot quicker. HR can tie you up for weeks or months with statements and appeals. A mediator can be in the room in a matter of days, before any hard feelings set in. Unresolved conflict is bad for business – it shows up in the form of sick days, staff walking out the door, and managers having to put their heads down to put out fires instead of running the company.
As for the cost, it’s variable. An external specialist in the UK could run you from a few hundred for a short session to £1,000 or £2,500 a day for the more involved cases. Some larger firms have in-house mediators to keep the bill down. But put it up against the price of a tribunal, legal fees, or the productivity you lose when someone is out, and it’s a no-brainer. One open wound of a dispute can be far more expensive than the mediation.
Take a common scenario: a manager and a direct report who have been at odds since a reorganisation. The employee feels they’re being made a fool of or micromanaged; the manager thinks they’re dealing with a difficult, uncooperative type. Tensions rise in meetings, the tone in emails gets cold, and a grievance is filed.
In a mediated setting, you let them have their say. It’s usually not about one thing but a string of miscommunications and unvoiced grievances. With some guidance, you can put together a plan: some ground rules for how to talk, regular one-on-ones, an understanding that you won’t be put on the spot in front of the team. It’s a way to move past the emotion and have something you can actually work with.
So you need a workplace mediator? There are a few ways to go about it. For most, the first port of call is HR or the employee relations side of the house; they’ll be on top of any in-house mediators or have a list of vetted outside firms.
But if you want to go straight to an independent, you can put in a word with the likes of the Civil Mediation Council, CEDR or Effective Dispute Solutions. They all have up-to-date lists of who’s accredited in the UK. Your employment solicitor or an HR consultant will also be able to put you in touch with someone who knows their way around these kinds of disputes. HR in fact would probably be the best department to reach out to an accredited external mediator.
Ensure when you are appointing your mediator they have actually been in the trenches with real experience of workplace disputes. Do not appoint a general commercial mediator with experience in business and company disputes.
Put simply, a good workplace mediator is there to put an end to an employment dispute in a manner that is as unobtrusive as it is effective. Whether it’s a falling out between colleagues, a bullying allegation, or some friction with management, they can handle it.
You can get it done quickly and much more cost effective, with a level of discretion you won’t find in a formal process, and without riling up the working relationship in the process. For a lot of people, it’s not the easy way out. It’s the sensible one.
