‘A manager reluctant to investigate a disciplinary issue’ – I'm not surprised!

‘Can we compel a reluctant manager to investigate’ asked a Federation of Small Businesses member to the legal team in the FSB magazine ‘First Voice.’ In a recent edition of the FSB magazine Contact the People Resolutions Team for more on improving investigation capacity. The reluctant manager apparently felt he had not been trained for this role.

The FSB legal team suggested that this could be a disciplinary matter as the manager may be seen to be refusing to do ‘any additional duties that are suitable and appropriate for his role.’ Sensibly though the FSB legal team recognised that it was much more important to ensure that the investigation is conducted correctly and not by someone who could later be alleged to be incompetent or biased.

In many small or large businesses investigations continue to challenge even the most skilful and experienced manager. It is one of those responsibilities that people acquire and it comes with great expectations is hugely challenging. Just imagine if you suddenly put in the position of investigating whether or not a college who you had been working with years was a ‘bully’ or not? A team member alleges that they are. You need to interview witnesses, write up notes, put a report together, maintain confidentiality.

We all possess investigative skills to some degree and could not survive if we could not gather verbal information from the people around us, collect documentary evidence, draw conclusions, feed back our information and recommendations to others (say about an area we are thinking of moving to).

In the workplace though people’s livelihood and well being can depend on the skills of an investigator if someone raises a grievance, or makes an allegation of wrongdoing against them. I can see why a manager might be reluctant but I would not then want to compel them to do it, rather support them and their colleagues in ensuring that they did it fairly, rigorously and well.

Contact the People Resolutions Workplace Investigation team about investigation training, outsourcing the most complex, senior investigations, investigator mentoring. If you are a small business contact John Crawley about ‘Investigation Pooling’.

When is a Mediation not a Mediation? When it’s ‘Conflict Coaching’

Recently we have handled a number of cases where a manager is ‘in dispute’ with a team, or vice versa and we have developed an interesting hybrid approach which offers much to mediation but also to coaching.

Mediation’s strength is its ability to encourage people to move towards common ground, rebuild communication and resolve issues. In these team versus manager situations there are often power issues (e.g. 5 team members v one manager) and blocking behaviours (e.g. lack of of self awareness and destructive, habitual negative management habits) which inhibit the success of mediation.

As many of our consultants have a wide range of assessment, coaching, facilitation and mediation skills they have been successfully creating a tailored process which involves three main ingredients:

o   ‘Conflict coaching’ with individuals (often the manager) where necessary to encourage behavioural change and build self-awareness

o   Mini-mediations to build resolution and rebuild trust

o   A team mediation to reset working relationships, reset future working and restore performance.

This approach is particularly useful we find when a manager or particular team member has had a series of difficult situations. All coaching services explicitly aim for supportive and appropriate behaviour change. Coaches don’t just listen, observe and encourage they must challenge too. Coaching is about improvement and change. ‘Conflict coaching’ utilises a number of tried and tested facilitation and ‘breakthrough’ techniques developed from our years of successful work with challenging situations at work. All our practitioners are committed to a non-blaming and constructive approach.

This hybrid of coaching and mediation is proving successful with a range of customers and can unstick some very blocked situations. We can, of course, also train people in conflict-coaching skills and watch out for some new training courses in this area.

Contact John Crawley for more information.

Does justice always have to mean ‘punishment’?

Home Secretary Yvette Taylor recently expressed horror (1) when hearing that community resolution was applied in 10,160 incidents of "serious violence" - about 12 times the figure for five years ago. She described the figures as ‘very serious’ and that this it is ‘letting people off.’ She added "That's bad for justice, bad for victims and goes against all the evidence."

Community Resolution is a well established victim-led resolution technique, in many cases including a mediation-style ‘restorative’ dialogue.  Yvette Taylor’s comments are understandable but fill me with dismay as they focus on the potentially negative aspects of a mediation-style resolution process which generally has well-evidenced success.

Association of Chief Police Officer's representative Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan speaks positively about how community resolution “will be victim-led and above all reflect their views and wishes." Closure for many victims is an important part of justice. Just like mediation, people who may be responsible for bad behavior also get the chance to move on.

ACC Shewan continues "Going through a restorative justice meeting has also been proven to have more impact on an offender than a prison sentence or a court punishment alone, as they see the consequences of their actions and so want to make changes in their future behaviour."

Mediation in the workplace is also uniquely win/win. It challenges conventional views of justice and often generates strong negative reactions. On other hand those who try mediation very soon see its benefits.

There is good learning here for organisations that are thinking of using a workplace mediator or setting up an in-house mediation service.

1.   Do not push people into mediation – it must be their choice

2.   Mount a campaign to promote the many benefits of mediation alongside the risks.

3.   Do not use mediation in cases where it would send out the wrong message and where a more formal, disciplinary approach might be more suitable.

4.   Make sure you are really thorough in measuring the cost of conflict and the subsequent cost benefits of mediation when used appropriately.

5.   Be persistent and resilient as mediation is always put under much more scrutiny than other more legalistic, formal approaches.

So what have you done in your organisation to overcome negative views of mediation?

John Crawley

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[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22346971

Coping with the new normal

Having just joined People Resolutions after 25 years running my own business I have been reminded how tricky it is to be joining a new group of people whose norms are unfamiliar and may be different from your own. I received an enthusiastic welcome full of curiosity and courtesy – so important for new joiners. I realised how useful my well-honed mediation skills were too, as I absorbed and reflected to make sure I got maximum information and suspended judgement to make sure I was building understanding of people, products and the new norms rather than assessing, accepting or rejecting. 

Humans like to judge – we cannot survive if we do not. We also overdo it somewhat, branding and labelling people, assessing their performance and worth based on assumptions or selective evidence. Suspending judgement is difficult. Impartiality is also a tough quality to enact. I soon discovered impartiality is one of the key qualities that runs through People Resolutions and links it with Responsible Trade Worldwide and Human Potential Accounting. I aim to ensure that we demonstrate active impartiality in all that we do whether in an investigation, mediation, facilitation or learning and development role.

I’m bringing some new tools, ideas and processes and some well proven solutions to the business and by way of a sampler take a look at our R.E.S.E.C.T model.  

As the world of work becomes ever more diverse and globally connected communicators will have to put their own norms to one side, build empathy and solve problems from a place of common ground. My main driver is to make ‘resolution’ the new normal. If you disagree with a colleague and cannot understand where they are coming from – talk it out don’t fight it out. If you have a difficult audit or evaluation conversation coming up make sure you that you frame it in a non-judgemental way, hear from as many perspectives as possible and create a problem-solving rather than a blaming atmosphere.

People Resolutions welcomes mediation pioneer John Crawley as General Manager

We are delighted to announce that John Crawley, prominent workplace mediator and conflict resolution thought leader, has recently joined the People Resolutions team.

John’s role as General Manager, alongside Directors Robert Purse and founder of People Resolutions, Linda Hoskinson, represents a powerful joining of forces. Against the backdrop of our growing case and account management and marketing teams, we look forward to passing on the advantages of additional experience and resource directly to our stakeholders and customers.

Over the past 25 years, John has played an outstanding role in the establishment of workplace mediation as an occupational discipline in the UK. He was also responsible for designing and delivering the first in-house mediation service and has published his expert knowledge in a definitive guide for managers.

Having trained more than 5,000 certified mediators, John is a competent practitioner himself, one who understands the mindsets and needs of both the mediation community and those of our customer organisations. His hands-on experience is balanced with a strategic outlook in all areas of conflict management; for example, he is currently advising the CFA on the new management and leadership national occupational standards and he recently contributed to the drafting and establishment of quality standards for workplace mediation.

We couldn't be more excited or proud to be working together with John Crawley in furthering conflict prevention and resolution in the UK. Rooted in the same philosophy of providing customers with sustainable value, John will no doubt settle in seamlessly.

Over the coming weeks and months, John will be sharing his valued expertise, so you may wish to follow us on Twitter to be kept abreast of news and updates. 

The Five A's of Resolving Workplace Conflict

For today’s post, we’ve summarised the five key elements of addressing workplace conflict in a handy visual (you can save, share and print the image above).

Let’s look at each step in more detail:

Step 1: Acknowledge that there is tension or conflict that needs addressing rather than let it fester any longer. As people, it’s natural for us to avoid and downplay conflict because dealing with it is hard, it takes effort and honesty, and it often brings things out that can make the situation more uncomfortable before it improves. So your first step is to take ownership of the problem.

Step 2: What is it actually that you want to achieve from putting yours and others’ time and energy (and organisational investment), into dealing with the conflict? That is, are you looking to address the underlying issues at the very heart of the conflict, or can you see other ways that the situation could be brought to some sort of closure – like moving someone to another department, reaching a compromise agreement, or conducting an investigation to tick a particular policy box? Your answer to this question fundamentally affects what you do and how the conflict may or may not be resolved. In our experience, if you can get to the root of the issue, it always yields the most positive, and cost effective, result for the business and individuals concerned.

Step 3: Addressing conflict early is always the best approach before it escalates to a point where it becomes increasingly costly to resolve. For example, reaching Employment Tribunal is a situation where nobody really wins. Your aim is to nip the conflict in the bud as soon as it is picked up.

Step 4: Try not to jump to solution mode before you’ve assessed some key factors. It’s important to fully understand first why the conflict occurred, and its seriousness. With groups, it could be helpful to roughly visualise the conflict on paper –representing the many lines of interaction and what each relationship is like, what incidents have occurred between people, so where the hot spots are, etc.

Step 5: Finally, it’s important to accept that some kinds of conflict are easier to resolve than others. A spat in a meeting can be diffused relatively quickly, but resolving the issues bubbling underneath could be a lengthier road. But it’s certainly possible, if there has been a commitment (Step 1) to support individuals during what can be a tough period of dealing with negative emotions, of self-reflection and changing their own behaviour.

We hope you found these steps useful when facing conflict in your organisation. You’ll find more information about our services here and free video recordings of our workplace conflict webcasts.

The Vicious Cycle of Labour Turnover

The average cost of recruiting an employee in the UK is around £5,300, but this figure in itself is not particularly helpful. The actual cost can be as low as £1,500, but for a middle, or senior manager, it can easily cost well in excess of £8,000.

High rates of labour turnover are clearly expensive in terms of the actual costs of recruitment, but there are other – very significant - issues that need to be considered:

·      Lost production,

·      Increased production costs, for example the use of overtime to cover staff shortages

·      Increased costs of training replacement employees,

·      Loss of know-how and customer goodwill,

·      Potential loss of sales (e.g. if there is high turnover amongst the sales force), and;

·      Damage that may be done to morale and productivity, which is an intangible but potentially significant cost.

Combined with the costs of recruitment, all of these can have a major impact on the ability of your organisation to succeed in a highly competitive market.

One of the key areas of labour turnover can often be poor morale and low levels of motivation within your workforce. Unhappy employees often leads to conflict situations within your organisation and this can also be a very expensive issue to resolve.

The labour turnover cycle can often go round and round in a vicious circle of conflict situations, poor morale levels and ultimately increased turnover of staff and huge costs of replacing your team member.

There are a couple of simple remedies we suggest to avoid this scenario and help break the cycle of labour turnover:

Mediation

A great solution to workplace conflict - mediation is an informal dispute resolution process, facilitated by a third party trained mediator, aimed at bringing two or more parties together to clear up a misunderstanding, explore concerns, and help reach an amicable resolution. Many employees can be unhappy about jealousy over a promotion, have incompatible working styles or personalities or even opposing targets. Mediation can be a cost effective solution to resolving an employee’s issues, and potentially losing them.

Coaching

Coaching is a targeted, individual-focused solution which helps with organisational performance or development as well help towards personal objectives and can help with issues from leadership team development, performance, interpersonal skills and much more. Coaching can really help enhance working relationships and tackle behavioural and performance issues. It also optimises costs, due to the one-to-one arrangement and personalised format.

Training

If you need any help or advice on learning how to resolve your labour turnover issues, speak to us about our range of courses that are aimed at really nipping conflict in the bud and ultimately retaining your team. All our training is action-oriented and tailored to the organisation - by creating relevant case studies and activities, the delegates are better able to absorb and retain the learning material in the longer term. We can also provide pre and post course options to inform the training design and support delegates in translating the newly learned material back into their daily working lives.

Successful mediations start with the right HR mindset. When was the last time you checked yours?

When conflict boils over in the workplace, it is tempting to quickly bring the parties together and point them towards a resolution. You can see how they need to work it out, ‘It is just a matter of telling them, right?’

No, not really. A more sensitive approach, based on our current knowledge of interpersonal relationships, usually gets better results which are more relevant to the individuals, and longer lasting.

Time and again, we come across well-meaning, but perhaps ill-advised, colleagues confusing informal HR meetings with mediation in its most valuable and effective form.
 Perhaps it is time for HR professionals and line managers to gain a better understanding of what mediation is, what it can do, when it should be used, and whom is best placed to mediate competently and without bias. After all, the way mediation is introduced into your organisation will shape the way it is embraced and embedded in your culture.

Once the relevant line or HR manager has learned of a conflict situation at work, they will probably want to sit down with each party to gain a fuller picture of the situation. There is much to be gained from these conversations, and one possible outcome may be to propose a mediation.

Problems occur when the meeting turns into the beginnings of a mediation of sorts, before the parties have been duly prepared and have an understanding of what is involved. There is also a risk that, in this context, there is a lack of complete impartiality and that professional mediation practice models are not being followed. This poses a significant risk to the credibility of the process and the way the parties are being supported.

Here are some of what we believe to be the core objectives of an initial needs assessment:

- Gain overview of concerns

- Establish the history of the issue/s to date and the people involved

- Understand what the parties are looking to achieve 
All of the above can, with the consent of the parties, feed usefully into a mediator's background knowledge of the situation, if indeed mediation is the most appropriate next step. 

People Resolutions provides independent conflict resolution services, including workplace investigations and mediation. If you’d like to talk through any situation, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01908 488 828, at no obligation.

Can a workplace investigation be a positive thing?

The circumstances surrounding most workplace investigations are serious and negative for all involved. While everyone focuses on fulfilling their personal or company objectives, many organisations lose sight of the positive aspects of conducting an investigation, as a form of business best practice.

Try looking at investigations in a different light:

They are mobilising. First and foremost, an investigation is doing something about the situation. After a conflict situation escalates to formal stages, it may be difficult to know what to do, or who is right. An investigation is designed to clarify a muddy situation by unscrambling the allegations.

They listen. Investigation interviews allow each party to state their case. On a more emotional level, they feel that their concerns are fully heard and have been able to say their piece to an unbiased listening ear. When handled professionally and independently, this can significantly help to diffuse the cloud of tension surrounding most investigations.

They are enabling. Once outcomes are determined, the HR or line manager is then able to take appropriate action. A well-written investigation report should shine a light on how the parties can move forward, whether it be a warning, or some training, or a mediation.

They are fair. Our investigation reports are always written in such a manner that doesn’t blame, criticise or criminalise the parties but treats all equitably and with respect, leaving room for everybody to move forward afterwards.

They are constructive. In many investigation cases, the parties will be required to work together afterwards. This is where investigation report can be of additional value, by including practical recommendations as to how the relationship can be brought back on track.

They provide learning. While some parties will be unhappy with an investigation outcome, even Respondents whose allegations against them have been upheld can take something positive from the experience. Having had their behaviour under the spotlight, they will no doubt be clearer on boundaries of conduct in the workplace and their own style. Depending on the visibility of the outcomes, the case may also provide learning for other colleagues about what is expected in terms of respectful co-worker interaction. For Complainants, even if their allegation hasn’t been upheld, it can be reassuring to know they weren’t being discriminated against, for example.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that you don’t have to wait for a formal grievance to be raised in order to conduct an investigation. If concerns have been raised, a line manager can action an investigation to get to the bottom of an informal conflict situation. This could prevent further escalation i.e. an eruption, a grievance, a departure, etc.  

People Resolutions provides independent conflict resolution services, including workplace investigations and mediation. If you’d like to talk through any situation, please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01908 488 828, at no obligation.

The ‘root’ to resolving workplace conflict - an insight into our process

The root to resolving workplace conflict

Every first phone call we receive from a client organisation paints an individual problem scenario of workplace conflict. And while there are unique aspects to each situation, many will share common themes that help guide us along the appropriate route to resolution and closure for all stakeholders.

A return to work clouded in anxieties, interpersonal clashes within a whole team, an under performing manager - all of these could be perceived as being ripe for mediation. But conflict has roots, often buried beneath the surface, which can make an immediately obvious solution hard to spot.

Mapping the conflict picture

The key is to try and map the ‘conflict picture’, complete with roots and branches, to indicate which interventions will work most effectively and in which order. We also look at risks (such as imminence of a grievance being raised or a person leaving) and what is the end goal we want to reach. This isn't to say that all workplace conflict can be ‘solved’ in a scientific manner - we’re dealing with people here - but it certainly helps gain a handle on the situation.

For example, if there is a fallout within a group of employees, it is worth examining whether there is a line management issue underneath, or perhaps a hotspot between two individuals that is causing others to take sides. Informal one-to-ones with each member of the team can go a long way to making everyone’s concerns feel heard and to pinpoint the conflict anchor.

By taking things a level deeper, it may become obvious that conducting a group mediation ‘cold’ might not be the best approach; it could be better to mediate between two people at the centre, and/or provide some coaching or training for the manager to take ownership of their team’s respectful co-worker behaviour. When all the pieces are in place, in the right order, the situation can be brought to a close for everyone to move forward.

In this way, mediation becomes one of many tools available to employ at the appropriate time. Training, either before or after a conflict situation, is very effective in moving towards a culture where tensions are addressed early (and therefore do not require costly time and resource to handle), and where mediations and investigations are carried out by competent internal individuals.

We have over 20 years expertise in helping organisations with workplace mediation, investigations and training, using our network of UK wide specialists. If you have any conflict questions, or a current case or would like to speak to us about, we’d be happy to hear from you. Contact us at information@peopleresolutions.com