From argument to engagement

This article originally appeared in the Business Reporter Magazine Distribued with the Sunday Telegraph on 22 July 2012

Introduction

Unresolved workplace disputes are one of the biggest barriers to employee engagement. Conflicts and disputes reduce goodwill, drain resources, take up valuable time and cost eye-watering sums of money. Marks and Spencer, BT and Topshop have all incorporated mediation into their organisations with remarkable results.
Mediation is a process of dispute resolution in which a neutral third party (the mediator) helps two or more parties find a mutually acceptable solution. Unlike traditional dispute resolution procedures – mediation is non-adversarial, it is confidential and it works.

The power of mediation, argues Carole Russell, head of employee relations at BT Retail, is in offering people alternatives to formal processes. Putting an end to our formal grievance culture was the real selling point for our business. Since we introduced a mediation scheme at BT, explains Russell, our internal mediators have resolved over 500 cases and the business has benefited from savings in excess of £1m.
 
The BT experience is compelling and the message is spreading. At Marks and Spencer, Philip Edwards, employee relations manager, is completely behind this new approach. We use mediation as an early, informal resolution for issues across the whole business of 75,000 employees.

The cost of conflict

Paul Forrest, group employee relations manager for the retail giant Arcadia Group is a TCM accredited mediator and a passionate advocate of this new method, saying it has underpinned their commitments to employee engagement and wellbeing.