Workplace Mediation & Coaching
Why use conflict resolution including mediation in the workplace?
Conflict resolution can benefit individuals and organisations in the following ways:
Assist in meeting legal obligations in providing a safe place of work and mitigating or eliminating psychosocial risk
Improve working relationships
Unclog roadblocks in process improvement from differing viewpoints
Resolve interpersonal conflicts
Decrease probability of unhappy employees taking long term sick leave or lodging workers compensation claims
Increase productivity and morale
Positively impact culture
Improve communication
Reduce stress and turnover
Enhance problem solving
Legal and financial protection for the business in preventing costly disputes
Workplace Mediation
Mediation is a confidential facilitative process, in which the parties to a dispute, with the help of a dispute resolution practitioner (the mediator), endeavour to reach decisions and/or agreements.
Benefits of mediation include that the parties have full control over the outcomes; the discussion is guided by the needs of the parties; it is confidential and voluntary.
Mediations are available for workplace disputes and/or employment/workers compensation disputes.
Mediation can only be used where the parties are willing to seek the assistance of an impartial party to help them resolve the issue. Where a party believes that the problem is the other party and are reluctant or unwilling for self-reflection, the matter is unlikely to be resolved through mediation.
In some instances, where there are allegations of “bullying” like behaviour
Interpersonal differences
Differences of opinion
Inability to communicate, share ideas, have productive discussions
Facilitated Discussions
A facilitated discussion follows a similar structure as mediation however is guided by the facilitator and is not protected by confidentiality.
These discussions can be used for resolving workplace disputes, negotiations and in other matters where an independent facilitator is useful to assist the parties to communicate.
These types of discussions can be used with employees who refuse to participate in mediation where the employer feels that the employees must be able to reconcile their differences. A request from an employer to an employee in this instance would be a reasonable and lawful direction.
Conciliation
In cases of disagreement between parties, a neutral conciliator helps both sides come to an agreement and settle the dispute.
These types of discussions can be used with employees who refuse to participate in mediation or a facilitated discussion and where the employer needs the parties to reach an agreement. Conciliations are also used at the end of employment to reach agreement on terms of an exit.
A request from an employer to an employee in this instance would be a reasonable and lawful direction.
Conflict Coaching
Conflict coaching is a one-on-one process designed to assist individuals in managing and resolving conflicts effectively. Conflict coaching focuses on empowering an individual to navigate conflict situations with confidence and clarity.
The conflict coaching process used is the CINERGY ® model developed by Cinnie Noble. This model achieves results through guiding the individual through their conflict with a focus on key aspects including values, needs, identity and impacts. This provides participants with insights into themselves and the other person and enables them to develop actionable steps to resolve the matter. It assists with identifying the root causes of the conflict, develop effective communication strategies and explore practical solutions for resolution.
Conflict coaching can be used where parties are unwilling to mediate and/or to prepare parties for mediation.
Organisational Coaching
Coaching provides opportunity for individuals to clarify their thoughts, find and generate new insights. The coach is able to uncover their true potential, experiment and try new things, disrupt unhelpful existing thinking patterns and build new thinking patterns through coaching.
Mentoring
Mentoring helps guide an individual in their chosen path. It is a collaborative relationship where the mentor can coach, advise and challenge a mentee in the pursuit of personal and professional development of the mentee.