Mediation

The most recent addition to our menu of services is mediation, and a number of our counsellors have undertaken this specialised training. Mediation is a method that is gaining credibility within organisations as a preferred problem solving mechanism.

The most common situations in which we have employed these techniques to date have been where there is a breakdown in staff relationships. Such a breakdown can be at peer or line management level. The method has also been used to resolve issues informally, to avoid the formal proceedings of complaints, discipline or harassment, which can be costly in terms of time and litigation.

All parties involved in these situations must agree to the process and to the terms of confidentiality involved. Once management have identified a situation where mediation may provide the best solution, they contact Staffcare to discuss the circumstances and the desired outcome. Normally pre-mediation assessment meetings are arranged with the parties concerned to establish the exact nature of the difficulty and to see if mediation is possible. If it appears that both sides want to come to an understanding, then a full mediation meeting is convened and an action plan prepared and agreed with the organisation and participants.

When the process is complete, the organisation will receive a report of the outcomes but not of the individual personal issues involved, or of what was disclosed by the participants during the process. These reports are shared with the participants.

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