A 10 Minute Briefing

Catalyst
Mediation
People who are good with conflict

Early Dispute Resolution Initiatives

A 10 Minute Briefing

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www.catalystmediation.co.uk
Registered in Scotland No. SC 273815
jeremy@catalystmediation.co.uk

Catalyst Contents
Mediation

Summary
Background
Scale of the Problem
Legal Implications
Employment Act 2008
Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Early Dispute Resolution
Risk Management Approach


Catalyst Summary
Mediation

Conflict in any workplace is a costly fact of life.
It can start for any number of real or imagined causes and will
affect staff personally and in their capacity to work.
Which will affect your organisation –

from the lowering of efficiency or accuracy,
to the loss of a day’s work, or
possibly a more prolonged absence, and possibly
the costs of formal complaints and grievance procedures,
or
the risks of employment tribunal or civil court claims,
and if they leave, you will have the costs of recruitment,
temporary staff, retraining, under strength teams ………….

Catalyst Summary
Mediation

The evidence suggests the most cost effective way to manage
conflict is to train …..
managers in “people management” skills to nip conflict
in the bud, plus …
a small team in dispute resolution skills, to manage the
more difficult cases.
With support from senior management, a sensible review
of existing policies and the right training and support,
organisations can and do shift their cultures to one of
early, informal, low cost problem solving.

As we will demonstrate later, in times of financial restraint,
investment in skills which will improve efficiency and reduce
costs, has to be worthwhile.

Catalyst Background
Mediation

Conflict at work is growing and increasing in cost

Roughly half the causes of conflict between colleagues are
attributable to “systemic” elements – those caused by factors
within the organisation’s structure and control policies.

The other half is caused by misunderstandings, assumptions and
poor communication.

But whatever the cause, real or imagined, conflict causes stress
and if not resolved early, creates the costs of absence or the
management of formal grievance or disciplinary procedures.

So how big is the problem………………………………………….


Catalyst The Scale of the Problem
Mediation

“We all experience pressure regularly – it can motivate us to
perform at our best. It is when we experience too much pressure and
Health &
feel unable to cope that stress can result.”
Safety
“About 5 million workers in the UK report feeling “extremely Executive
stressed at work”.
“Under current trends, days lost through stress-related illness in
2009 could have reached 13.6m days – more than in 2007 during
the 3 day week.”

“£300 million was the estimated cost of stress related absences from
work to Scottish Employers last year” Scottish
Mediation
“£58,302,969 was the cost of litigation to Scotland’s local authorities
Network
and the health service”


Catalyst The Scale of the Problem
Mediation

CIPD employer surveys suggest that:
• businesses spend almost ten days on average dealing with an
individual tribunal claim (including 7.7 days senior managers’ Chartered
time ). (2007) Institute
of Personnel &
• 44% of UK employees feel under excessive pressure at Development
work at least once a week, often leading to stress and time (CIPD)
off work. (2008)
• Stress is the second biggest cause of short-term absence
for non-manual workers. (2009)

“Annual cost of stress and stress-related illnesses: estimates CIPD & CBI
range from £5 billion to £12 billion”
Legislation has also increased, from three main sources ……………


Catalyst The Legal Implications
Mediation

Enforcement Action: prohibition notices, criminal prosecution HSE
Personal Injury
Breach of contract
Civil Court
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
Unfair or Constructive Dismissal
Equalities Act 2010
Discrimination (sex, race, disability, age) Employment
2008/2009 Maximum award Average award Tribunal
Unfair Dismissal £76,536 £8,058
Race Discrimination £68,991 £14,566
Sex Discrimination £131,466 £11,263
Disability Discrimination £227,208 £19,523
Age Discrimination £12,124 £3,334

But employment legislation is not all bad news …………………….

Catalyst Employment Act 2008
Mediation

The Gibbons review of the 2004 Act concluded it was making
formal procedures overly complex and costly. So the 2008 Act
opened the way for informal, lower cost options, through...
……
The ACAS Code of Practice
“Employers and employees should do all that they can to
resolve disciplinary and grievance issues in the workplace.
“
“Where this is not possible employers and employees
should consider using a third party to help resolve the
problem.”
“The third party need not come from outside the
organisation but could be an internal mediator.”
“An employment tribunal should only be a last resort .”

Catalyst Employment Act 2008
Mediation

“In some cases early use of an internal or external
mediator may be a helpful alternative to the use of
formal procedures, particularly when dealing with
grievances.”

“It is good practice to consider dealing separately
with issues involving bullying harassment or whistle-
blowing. Mediation may be particularly useful in
these types of cases.”
(Add discrimination to the list from CIPD findings).

So what is internal mediation ………….


Catalyst CIPD Guide to Mediation
Mediation

In their Guide, published with ACAS to coincide with the new Act,
CIPD described mediation as:

“A form of dispute resolution in which a third
party from inside or outside the workplace helps
people reach a mutually acceptable agreement”

OR

“A sudden outbreak of commonsense”


Catalyst CIPD 2008 Survey
Mediation

Their 2008 national survey of 800 organisations suggested that:

90% said informal discussions were the best way to
resolve conflicts.

43% had used mediation before 2008, of which
 50% use external mediators exclusively
 35% train either managers, employees, or
employee representatives to act as mediators

Internal mediators were used more in large
organisations and those with 50-250 staff.

So the use of internal mediation is reasonably high and growing

Catalyst CIPD 2008 Survey
Mediation

The survey also suggested that:
Reasons for using mediation :
repairs relationships in the workplace (83%)
prevents cost of defending tribunal claims (50%)
reduces the stress of formal procedures (73%)
Mediation was most suitable for:
relationship breakdown (86%)
bullying, harassment (74%)
discrimination (48%)
performance issues (26%)
So how does EDR work ………….


Catalyst Early Dispute Resolution
Mediation

From a chat over a cup of tea to a full tribunal hearing, as each stage is
employed, so all sorts of implications arise.
So as with many risk management procedures, the earlier you employ
“mediative skills”, the better.
Time
Stress
Absenc
e
Hence early dispute resolution must be
the logical goal. Cost

Cup of Manager as Internal External Formal Lawyer Tribunal
Coffee Mediator Mediator Mediator Grievance etc Negotiations Judgement


Catalyst The Effect of Training
Mediation

“Celebrating the effective management of conflict at work”

“Our research shows a clear link between training in conflict
management and conflict’s impact as a catalyst for positive
change.

“Among all employees, 76% have seen conflict lead to a
positive outcome, such as better understanding of others (41%)
or a better solution to a workplace problem (29%). Global research report
by OPP® in association
This figure rises to 84% and 81% in Brazil and the US – where with the CIPD July 2008
training (in conflict management) is most common.

Belgium and France, where employees experience the least
training, also have the lowest incidence of positive outcomes.”


Catalyst Creating Culture Shift
Mediation

The effect of any EDR program should be that over time
the vast bulk of conflict is resolved early, through informal

Trained Line Trusted Structured
Managers Individuals Networks
networks.
Responsibility for resolution is passed back down to
managers – who now manage their people more

Resolution
Informal
effectively.

Early

Mediation
Informal
Mediation
Formal
The HR and Legal departments, neither of
whom should be “conflict managers”, can

Formal Processes
return to their main tasks.
The organisation becomes a more efficient,
creative place to work, as pressure is
managed before it becomes stress .


Catalyst Cost Efficiencies
Mediation

CIPD’s 2008 research showed larger organisations spend up to
350 “man days” a year on disciplinary and grievance cases and
tribunal applications. If this equated to 1.25 people, then some
of the costs would look like this:
A basic salary of say £40,000
Add NI, pension etc £20,000
Legal advice (say£2,500 x 4 cases a year) £10,000
Legal costs for one tribunal £ 5,000
Cost per year £75,000

An outline budget to set up an internal team could be like this:
Strategic support £ 2,000
2 day “Communication Skills” Course for 20 managers £ 6,000
6 day Accredited Mediator training for 6 people £12,000
CPD 15 hours for 6 mediators £ 3,000
Year 1 cost £23,000

Catalyst Cost Efficiencies
Mediation

Ministry of Justice 2008/9 – Time Saved
Trial use of mediation in civil court
Reduction in Court staff / management time
Traditional case - 35 days
Mediated case – 3 days
Speed of resolution
Traditional case – 84 days
Mediated case – 28 days

UK Government Departments - Lower Costs
Use of mediation vs civil litigation
2007/8 disputes mediated – 374 ; 75% success rate
2008/9 disputes mediated – 314 ; 82% success rate
2008/9 estimated savings – £90.2m


Catalyst Mediation Model – Low G
Mediation

Spread
1. This model works best if the incidence of grievances (G) is LOW. People
Management
2. reduces the number of future conflicts. Skills

3. starts by training -
as many managers and union reps as possible;
from a cross section of the organisation;
over a two day “man management” skills course.

Manage Occasional
With External
4. uses a fixed priced external mediator to resolve occasional serious

High Conflict
Mediators
cases.
5. raises staff awareness of aims and methods.
6. trains in-house mediators in year two – if needed.


Catalyst Mediation Model – High G
Mediation

Manage
1. This model works best if the incidence of grievances is HIGH. Serious
Conflicts
First
2. manages serious cases to demonstrate cost effectiveness.
3. starts by training no more than 8 in-house mediators;
from employees and trades unions at all levels ;
over a six day accredited skills course;
4. has a fixed price contract with an external mediator to work with the in-
house team to resolve very difficult cases.

“Man Management”
Base of Managers
Amongst Wide
5. raises staff awareness via the intranet and other internal communication

Develop
Training
methods (e.g. newsletter) and by talking to existing networks (OH,
mentoring, union groupings etc).
6. Develops management training in year two.


Catalyst Who’s Doing It Already
Mediation

These are some of the organisations with either well established, new or “in train”
internal EDR initiatives in Scotland …………………….

Western
Isles Council

..and there are more on the way – will you be one of them?

Catalyst Thank You
Mediation

Thank you for taking the time to view this briefing.

If you have any questions about the detail of this type of
initiative, please let us know through the contact details at
the bottom of this page.


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