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

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.

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 

Collaboration during the recession

It's well understood that the way in which employees work together can make or break an organisation.  A collaborative culture – where staff actively draw upon others' respective skills, positive communication is encouraged and conflict eschewed – is one that all businesses strive to foster given the advantages it brings.

The reality, however, is that even the most collaborative of organisations are finding it almost impossible to maintain this kind of healthy culture in the midst of a recession. Which, for at least the time being, is here to stay.

So how does the current recession effect collaboration within an organisation?  The main breaking point is the stress that it creates for employees.  Sales may be harder to come by whilst organisational costs sky-rocket due to the increased costs of fuel and other commodities.  In short the pressure is mounting and it sits firmly on shoulders of those who should be leading collaboration efforts – management.

As a result, it’s hardly surprising that any focus on collaboration pales in comparison to the need to generate sufficient cashflow to secure the survival of the organisation. On the flip side, neglecting to nurture an engaged, motivated workforce will generate its own financial drains, whether it be through increased conflict to deal with (the more formal the more costly), high turnover and absence, low productivity, and loss of key talent, to name just a few.

Our advice?  By all means focus on improving and maintaining the business figures, but remember that your workforce is a key part of your business and ultimately its survival through the recession. So get everyone working collaboratively in the direction of your business objectives.

Gen Y Workers – Are They Collaborative?

Generation Y describes our young workforce, born between 1977 and 1990, who are in their early twenties to mid thirties. But for many employers, they’re also the least understood group.

Immersed in technology from an early age and constantly moving from one idea or trend to the next, Gen- Yers are often labelled as having short attention spans and blur the line between their work and private lives; just as they might receive personal text messages and visit Facebook at work, they’re also comfortable with checking work emails over the weekend. They prefer – or rather expect – job profiles full of variety, flexibilty, meaning and interaction in return for their loyalty (which explains why they usually move on after 18 months).

All of this places new demands on the employer to harness a group with mixed characteristics – new media savvy and ethically driven on the one hand and flighty and easily bored on the other. Gen- Yers may be naturally communicative, but does this mean they are more collaborative?

Let’s be clear about what we mean by ‘collaboration’ – an organisational culture where staff across disciplines and roles are able to work together co-operatively towards the business’ objectives. Companies that nurture this kind of environment are less likely to suffer from conflictual behaviours and associated symptoms such as work stress, absence, turnover, low engagement, etc.

On the face of it, the always-on, always-connected Gen-Y worker naturally fits the profile of collaborative contributor. Certainly for organisations built on remote/mobile working, Gen-Y’s inclination towards email, text messaging and online networking as ways to communicate with team members is a valuable asset. But this group has also been criticised for its tendency to favour such methods over face-to-face or telephone contact  with colleagues and customers, despite the potential of email to generate misunderstanding, conflict and delays. In this respect, Gen- Yers could learn from older colleagues who more likely to pick up the phone to iron out an issue, or seek out more ‘in-person’ teamwork.

More than effective communication and teamwork, being collaborative at work means behaving in a fair and equitable way, appreciating diversity in colleagues and having a high level of Emotional Intelligence (EQ). MBA student, Michael Miranda, believes that “Baby Boomers are able to ‘self-manage’ far better than Gen- Y,” the latter being less aware of and in control of their feelings – a core component of EQ.

Of course, each generation (and individual) brings something different to the workplace, and it is a shared appreciation of these varied attributes that makes for a truly collaborative culture. For the passionate, iPhone-reliant Gen-Yer, today’s workplace must present an environment in which individuality can be expressed and collaborative behaviours are rewarded and reinforced from the top. 

The People Resolution Mission for 2012

At an estimated annual cost to the UK economy of £30bn, for many it will be hardly surprising to hear that workplace conflict is increasing. Constant change, budget cuts, ongoing restructuring and the daily pressure of asking people to 'do more for less' is taking its toll. This all points to the need for a more collaborative, effective workplace culture.

Therefore, People Resolutions has made it our mission to help organisations move from conflict affliction to collaborative performance.

Whilst there is some research already out there about collaboration, there doesn’t seem to be one uniformed, agreed definition. Over our 11 years of working in this field with many organisations, we have developed our own definition:

“Collaboration is a workplace culture where employees across different disciplines and roles are able work together co-operatively in a converged manner towards the organisation's objectives. Through our experience, we have found that a number of organisational factors influence collaboration, and when missing, an organisation can suffer from conflict in addition to many other undesirable symptoms including high turnover, significant absence relating to work stress, competitive culture, silo working, resentment and low engagement.”

To ensure we are building cutting-edge consultancy tools to help move organisations to a collaborative culture, we are working in conjunction with Coventry University on a year-long project to measure the positive impact of this behaviour on business success.

We, of course, are not saying that there can be only one definition of collaboration and we understand that this may mean something slightly different for each organisation. Ultimately we believe in the importance of working with companies, firstly to understand where they sit on the "conflict to collaboration scale" and secondly to understand where they want to get to.

With that in mind, we would love to hear what collaboration means for you. Let us know your definition....

Are your employees saying "Bah Humbug" to the xmas party?

So, it's almost December.  That time of year where everyone's thoughts begin to turn towards the 25th of December and all the Christmas celebrations leading up to it.  The office Christmas party is the regular event of the year for workers across the UK, but are you looking forward to it?  And more importantly are your employees?

The latest research from recruitment firm Monster, shows that 66% of staff do not look forward to office Christmas parties and would prefer to spend time with friends or family.  The most reluctant of countries surveyed was the Netherlands with 91% of them dreading their work Christmas party.

Elsewhere in the research, when given the choice of a Christmas party, a festive bonus, shopping vouchers or extra holiday, only 3% chose the party.  So with only 5 weeks to go until Christmas, it's already bah humbug to the humble office Xmas party.

Secret Santa anyone?

It's no day for a snow day!

When people think back to their working lives from winter 2010, one thing probably sticks out in a lot if people's memories.  The snow.  Or more accurately what the snow caused - 2 hours to make a 10 mile commute to work, being snowed in and dangerous driving conditions.  With the cost of snow related absence costing employers an estimated £2.2 billion, no-one wants a repeat this year.

However with weather forecasters predicting further snow this winter and some predicting it to be even worse than last year, now is the time for employers to make sure they have provisions in place to handle the effects of bad weather.

The legal stance for organisations regarding whether an employee is entitled to be paid when they are unable to attend work due to adverse weather such as heavy snow is neither simple or straight forward. Find out more about the requirements to a robust adverse weather policy here.

Absenteesim increases due to extended drink hours

Well, it seems to be that that one last drink at the pub on a Thursday evening does really matter after all.  Personnel Today reports that:

Economists Colin Green and Maria Navarro, using the Government's UK Labour Force Survey, compared work absence rates from before and after the 2005 Licensing Act changes and found that absence rates rose by 1% after more pubs and bars could legally stay open past 11pm. For a workforce of 25 million people, a 1% rise in sick leave equals an estimated 5,349,617 hours or 667,702 sick days in total across all workers in England and Wales.

 The researchers also noted that an increase of 1.5% in health problems among the working-age population equates to an extra 501,000 people reporting ill health following the policy change, with the number of women reporting health problems higher due to a marked increase in female drinking.

Metropolitan Police accused of racism by white police officers

The officers, from the Territorial Support Group, are taking the Metropolitan Police to an employment tribunal - but accuse the force of delaying tactics.  One of the officers said he now had nothing but contempt for the force.  Scotland Yard says it rejects the claims and will contest them in court.

This has occurred after the 6 were tried and acquitted in a trial relating to alleged race-related assaults.  The officers accused Scotland Yard of charging them due to fear it would be accused of institutional racism if it did not act on the complaint made by a black officer.

One of the officers stated that "If it had been a white officer making that allegation, then the matter would have been dealt with in-house there and then. That would have been the end of it."

How many hours are you working today?

The standard working hours for office workers in the UK tend to be either 37.5-40 hours - effectively the 9-5 working week (with variations of course).  However a recent study by Aviva has shown that we might be working a considerable number of extra hours - and the majority of us don't get paid for it!

Aviva's "Health of the Workplace Report" 2011, has shown some worrying research regarding the health of the UK workforce, including the staggering fact that on average employees work 1.5 hours extra a day. Two in five
(42%) work up to three hours extra a day.  19% say their employer expects them to work harder for longer.

Whilst most people don't think anything of working extra hours and skipping lunch breaks the results of this trend can be substantial.  The Aviva research also shows that heavy workloads are causing employees to eat unhealthy snacks or skip meals altogether. Nearly 15% of employees believe their health is affected because they are eating unhealthily at work, with almost a third of employees say that they are unlikely to take a lunch break.

On the upside, they also looked at the top reasons why employees were happy in their workplace.  Friendly, supportive colleagues topped the bill at 53% with a good work-life balance coming a close second with 47%.

So are you taking your lunch break today?

Crying over spilt milk? At least there is some left!

A news story came out of the US this week that caught my eye.  I've heard all sorts of conflict stories from all sorts of different companies and as such I thought I'd heard it all.  But it turns out I was wrong.

The story involves the President of a PR firm sending a rather blunt email to his staff (full copy is available here), threatening them with being fired if they didn't sort themselves out.  So what was this behaviour that the President got so angry about?  In-fighting? Bullying?  No - it was about milk.  Skimmed milk to be exact.

At some point, we've all gone to make a tea or coffee in the morning, only to find that someone has used the last of the milk.  However, the President of this company must have been having a particularly bad day as it resulted in him sending out a mass email including the following:

"I am gravely serious when I write this - if I catch someone not replacing the milk.......then I am going to fire you. Im not joking. You will be fired for not replacing the milk, and have fun explaining that one to your next employer. This is not a empty threat so PLEASE don't test me."