Pragmatism (UK) Ltd’s Post

I hear this almost every day "we tried mediation and it didn't work". I guess I'm the same as any professional who sees what they do depicted on Eastenders or Coronation Street - we want to shout at the screen "that's not how it works"! It's the same for me when I see posts or talk to clients. What they usually mean is somebody in the organisation (usually the poor HR person) has been asked to get a couple of people together to get them to sort their issues out. It's great that people do this, and sometimes it will help - sometimes it will make things worse. Either way it isn't mediation if the person isn't actually a mediator! If you have a workplace dispute, grievance, etc then mediation is by far the best way to resolve the issue - but it will only be mediation if it's conducted by somebody who is professionally trained - and no, it doesn't have to be by an external mediator like me - mediation doesn't have to cost a penny. The organisations we work with to develop internal mediators see huge cultural shifts, as they avoid grievances and where required they utilise their internal mediators who have been professionally trained. Even better, those internal mediators become less required because they develop managers to have what were previously branded as 'difficult' conversations. These managers nip employee issues in the bud, so they don't need HR help, they don't need mediation and grievances become as rare as hens teeth! At Pragmatism (UK) Ltd we're on a mission to eliminate unnecessary formal grievances and (most importantly) avoid the immense stress everybody goes through. Life really is too short! We will only get there if we recognise that actual mediation is a real skillset and without those skills we will not make the cultural changes required. I think the change of government will bring the need for these skills to the forefront - it's all about effective leadership! #mediatortraining #hr #leadership