I’ve got you under my skin....using mediation to resolve workplace conflict

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The Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) has issued a survey report (April 2015) entitled ‘Getting Under the Skin of Workplace Conflict’. The report looks at the experiences of employees and the causes of conflict. The report finds that 38% of employees surveyed had experienced some form of interpersonal conflict at work, 28% reported that they had ongoing difficult relationships and 10% left their organisation as a result.

The greatest impact was found to be on employee wellbeing but on a business level the impacts included sickness absence, a drop in motivation, productivity and commitment, to say nothing of the potential cost in money and time of potential litigation.

More importantly, the report looked at ‘finding resolution’ and the clear conclusions are that early intervention is key. Not surprisingly, allowing conflict to fester escalates the problem. The report advocates the use of mediation to resolve conflict at an early stage, finding that 46% of a UK sample of employees believed that mediation was an effective approach to dealing with workplace conflict and 13% were of the view that they personally had a relationship that would have benefitted from mediation.

Often business owners are concerned about the cost of an independent mediator, perhaps because they have failed to recognise the negative business impact of employee conflict, however mediation is becoming increasingly recognised as being a highly cost-effective means of resolving disputes. It is flexible and fast and can be used at the earliest possible stage - before the conflict gets under everyone’s skin, including the business itself.

For more information on our mediation service click here