Mediation service offers cost effective solution to workplace conflict

A new Workplace Mediation service has been launched to help businesses across East Anglia deal with employees’ workplace conflict. Based from Norwich, the service will be available to help private companies and public organisations positively resolve issues arising from inter-personnel disputes.

Many business organisations recognise workplace conflict as a considerable cost to UK industry, as it can lead to increased staff sickness, high staff turnover, retraining costs, legal fees and tribunals. Furthermore, there can be hidden costs such as damage to the reputation and service quality of the business due to an employee’s low morale and their communicating a negative outlook on the business. Norfolk Workplace Mediation provides a qualified professional service that is able to mediate between employees to bring about a positive and lasting outcome.

"We help resolve conflicts quickly and discreetly," said Richard Shepherdson, Managing Director of Norfolk Workplace Mediation. "We work in a way that is relatively inexpensive and non-adversarial, and in this sense we work in a different way to solicitors. Our objective is always to helps staff remain happy, positive and productive at work and this promotes the good relationships upon which an organisation can thrive."

The mediation process is regarded as a solution-focused and future-focused exercise. Its purpose is to help individuals achieve an improved working relationship in the future. Many experts regard the mediation process as highly counter-intuitive and it is because of this that naïve attempts by managers to support colleagues who are in conflict can sometimes have the opposite to the desired effect.

"When conflict occurs, I'd advise to avoid procrastinating and hoping that problems will blow over," said Richard Shepherdson. "As this is rarely the case. Commonly, unresolved problems leave individuals feeling embittered, often for years. This can spread to other colleagues and other departments. Where undesirable patterns of workplace behaviour have been rehearsed over a long period of time, they do become more difficult to reverse."
 

About Workplace Mediation

Workplace mediators are trained to work in ways that are meticulously confidential and impartial. Their skill is to facilitate communication between disputants so that they can reach their own agreements. Mediation is an entirely voluntary, private process; disputants choose to take-part solely to find better ways of working together in the future.

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Contact:

Richard Shepherdson – Tel : 07981320374

www.workplace-mediation-norfolk.co.uk