Workplace mediation

Disputes we mediate

We also help you build a conflict resolution process for your organization, protect privacy and confidentiality in workplace disputes, and create an environment of open communication.

• Workplace violence
• Harassment
• Issues between employees and their direct supervisor
• Human rights issues
• Environmental and workspace complaints
• Family mediation

The five phases

Mediation is not linear. Parties often move back and forth between phases, and that flexibility is one reason it works.

• Introduction: the process, ground rules and steps, so you know what to expect and can decide whether to continue.
• Storytelling: each party describes the problem without interruption, apart from the mediator's clarifying questions. The other party can then ask questions.
• Brainstorming options: the mediator clarifies each party's positions and interests, separates facts from opinions and encourages creative ideas. No option is dismissed at this stage.
• Evaluation: the mediator brings ideas together to find compromise or collaboration, and helps the parties test reality by considering the best and worst alternatives to a negotiated agreement.
• Drafting an agreement: the resolution is written down and the terms clarified. Where employees will keep working together, the agreement can be simple and usually doesn't need lawyers.

Why mediate

Mediation is generally less expensive, faster and more effective than arbitration or court. After an investigation, it helps you plan where to go next, so the same problems don't come back.