Mediation at the workplace has multiple benefits

Early in the new working year, businesses can do themselves and their employees a significant favour by considering implementing a level of workplace mediation.

In essence, this simply means a small adjustment to workplace codes and some training of staff, which can result in a long list of immediate, measurable and affordable benefits to all involved.

Mediation at the workplace hands management an additional performance tool, with several new and creative options and solutions to workplace conflicts becoming available.

These conflicts, when handled in the conventional disciplinary manner, may lead to a variety of negative consequences and unintended results that are not always understood to be connected to the mismanagement of workplace conflict.

These negative results include poorly or underperforming individuals or teams, time and money wasted on internal and external disputes, poor motivation, high staff turnover, polarised workplace silos and toxic cultures.

A big benefit of adding this layer of workplace mediation is that it can result in the avoidance or minimisation of those adverse consequences.

Other benefits include a streamlining of costly internal disciplinary processes, a reduction of workplace animosity and conflict, an earlier detection of serious performance and conflict causes and triggers, an increased level of accountability, several additional creative solutions to workplace conflicts, a meaningful improvement in the handling of sensitive and confidential workplace information and easier access to evidence.

Workplace mediation can be specifically applied to certain aspects of workplace discipline, and more serious offences (such as assaults or dishonesty) can be excluded.

No additional staff appointments would be required, and selected personnel already working with workplace disciplinary matters can be trained in a level of mediation that suits management s

’’ goals and assessment of the benefits.

It can, for example, easily be included in a workplace s required harassment policy, disciplinary codes and overall ethos.

Much of this modern workplace conflict solution can be internalised and a near-complete skills transfer is possible, with management retaining the discretion to refer certain levels of workplace conflict to external consultants.

In addition to these grassroots-level improvements, a successfully implemented workplace mediation level also invariably leads to an improvement in the general workplace culture and interpersonal working relationships.

I find that trade unions and employees are also generally in favour of such an improvement, provided it is properly implemented.