Unresolved workplace conflict can have a negative impact on an organisation’s productivity, culture, reputation, brand, and profits. If these reasons are not compelling enough for an employer to address it quickly, the Work Health and Safety (WHS) legislation and associated codes of practice outline non-negotiable employer obligations with penalties for non-compliance.

In these situations, a workplace investigation may not be the best course of action. Unless a substantiated finding is likely to result in the termination of employment, the two people involved, regardless of outcome, will likely still need to work together post investigation. At this point not only will the initial conflict remain unresolved, but they now will have the added stress and conflict caused by the (usually long and intrusive) investigation process. Relations tend to deteriorate by this point.

The resurgence of workplace mediation

Employers are increasingly turning to workplace mediation as an effective way to resolve conflict. It is widely used by sophisticated organisations with trained HR, ER, IR and safety professionals who understand how workplace mediation works, how it often achieves surprising and excellent results, and how it enables them to meet employer obligations under the WHS legislation.

What does a mediation process look like?

An independent and skilled mediator will meet with each of the parties separately in a pre-mediation meeting to clarify each person’s experience of what’s happened, how they have been impacted, and how they’d like to experience the relationship post mediation.

From there, the mediator will facilitate a conversation where both people can together explore ‘how did we get here’. The aim is to enable them to make some decisions together about ‘what do we want our professional relationship to be like’ moving forward.

The conversation will often be unpredictable and likely uncomfortable. The parties, often for the first time, will feel supported in their efforts to talk about deeply held feelings, assumptions and beliefs that will have contributed to the difficulties they have relating to one another.

Once they reach a shared understanding of where they are at, they are ready and capable of deciding ‘where to from here’ and making some practical and measurable decisions.

How to select an effective mediator

Whilst the mediator’s skills are important, the mediator’s independence is very significant. No employee will willingly divulge anything negative to a HR professional or a senior manager (those most likely to conduct internal mediations) for fear of repercussions to their ongoing employment.

These inhibitions will prevent a full and frank exploration and discussion of the real issues at hand. It usually leads to a flimsy, surface level agreement which is short lived. When you hear, “we tried mediation, and it didn’t work”, it’s most often related to an internal mediation.

Next, a word-of-mouth recommendation will help you find a mediator who is skilled and experienced. Ask professional peers, or search LinkedIn, where you can follow mediators to ascertain their approach. A specialisation in workplace mediation usually brings a deeper understanding of your workplace issues, processes and your employer obligations, giving you and the parties increased confidence in a well-executed workplace mediation process.

Mediation is a faster, more economical alternative to conflict resolution compared to investigations, tribunals and courts. Many issues can be mediated in a workplace, including interpersonal conflict, employee grievances and complaints. Bullying and harassment matters can also be mediated, but only after the matter has been carefully assessed and there is genuine agreement from the parties to participate in the mediation process.

Not every matter is suitable for mediation and not every participant is suited either; there are many factors to consider. A call to your trusted mediator will help with the decision making.

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The author, Tania Waters, an accomplished workplace mediator, conflict management coach and executive coach. She is also the Founder of Taite