Jarred Consulting

Why your business needs a culture of early mediation

The cost of conflict in the workplace is significant, with billions lost every year to absence, staff turnover and loss of productivity. The ripple effect impacts teams, managers and colleagues who instead of getting on with the job they were hired to do, deal with the fallout. Mediation is too often overlooked or not undertaken soon enough but clearly, there is a strong business case for engaging this powerful tool. We spoke to expert mediator, Jarred Associate Lak Purewal on how to get it right, the workplace trends driving transformation in mediation at the moment and how to head off trouble before it escalates.

Trends that should be on your radar

Ear-to-the-ground insight is invaluable in today’s rapidly changing HR environment. So we asked Lak about what he’s seeing and hearing at the moment and how it’s affecting the field.

• The knock-on effect of employees becoming increasingly confident and empowered is that they are more likely to raise issues that concern them.
• Legislative framework changes mean that companies have to be more proactive when it comes to dispute resolution. Token training and stale policy writing are no longer good enough. The approach has to be robust, systematic and embedded in culture.
• Another way to describe mediation is to refer to it as a facilitated conversation with an external person. If you can improve workplace relationships by enabling open discussions, the impact on a company can be profound.

Five things you need from a mediator for it to work

Having spent over two decades finding solutions to workplace disputes, Lak lists five vital things his clients should expect from him and he works hard to make sure they’re in place.

1. Trust – that mediation will have a positive impact and will help effect change.
2. Sensitivity – all parties know they have been listened to and understood.
3. Objectivity – even if some people show their feelings more than others.
4. Confidence – the mediator’s job is to inspire confidence in the process.
5. A level playing field – company structure can make for difficult communication dynamics but this open space encourages necessary conversations.

Finally, three pieces of mediation advice from the expert

‘Conflict sucks the life out of people and workplaces’ Lak says. ‘In my time I’ve seen a lot of damage done to people, relationships and businesses when things go wrong. Surely there has to be a better way.’ So here are his three pieces of advice regarding mediation.

1. Engage with intervention as early as possible – when workplace issues arise, deal with them promptly before they become bigger problems. 
2. Embed mediation into your culture by normalising it – it’s not something to be scared of when it’s done right. A positive early intervention through mediation shows a progressive organisational culture where issues are dealt with informally, rather than escalating into time-consuming and costly complaints and grievances.
3. Have confidence that a facilitated conversation between two people will improve the situation and help get the relationship back on track.

We’re lucky to have Lak and people like him on our team. If conflict resolution is slowing you down, please get in touch. Don’t go it alone when you don’t have to.  We’d love to hear from you.