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Mediation in the workplace essay
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This essay examines workplace conflict that arises in supervisor-employee relationships and amid peers. Conflict may occur due to work performance issues which lead to disciplinary actions. For example, some examples of conflict include generational differences, discrimination allegations relating to sex, age, or disability; or general personality. As a means to resolve conflict, some employers establish dispute resolution programs within their organization such as mediation. Through the mediation process, a trained facilitator assists the parties with conflict resolution, which in some instances aids in restoring the continuing working relationship.
Employers that do not have a dispute resolution program within their organization run the
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Mediation is essential in the workplace because it affords an opportunity for employees in dispute to communicate their position as well as consider the perspective of the other party ("Mediation in the Workplace – A Proactive Approach to Preventing Litigation and Promoting a Healthier Work Environment," 2011). The mediation process helps improve employee engagement and reduce the number of issues referred to a higher authority. The Employment Practices website (http://www.epspros.com/news-resources/whitepapers/2013-prior/mediation-in-the-workplace.html) provides useful information about the importance of mediation in the …show more content…
Berner, Law Offices, n.d.). For example, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offers a mediation program for parties in dispute of discrimination issues pertaining to age, disability, race, and harassment ("Mediation Program," n.d.). However, workplace mediation provides an opportunity for opposing parties to voluntarily resolve disputes before the matter is reported or referred to the
The purpose of this paper is to analyze a specific, hypothetical employment situation encountered and to include the information regarding employment conflicts, questions, grievances, lawsuits, etc., in terms of how the situation was handled or resolved. Employment conflicts are a constant issue everyday in any organization; it is how you handle them both legally and professionally that counts.
Seagriff, B. L. (2010). Keep Your Lunch Money: Alleviating Workplace Bullying with Mediation. Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, 25(2), 575-602. Retrieved from EBSCOhost Database (AN: 51613327)
Mediation is typically ordered in types of cases that there is significant emotional ties; creating a potential for hostility, loss of relationships or personal feelings getting in the way of reaching an agreement. Arbitration is the best option for cases where the parties simply cannot come to an agreement and decide to have someone else decide the outcome of the case for them, without the expense and formality of a trial. Arbitration is also useful in highly complex cases where it is necessary to have a highly trained professional come to the
O’Rourke, J. & Collins, S. (2008). Managing Conflict and Workplace Relationships. New York: Cengage Learning.
Mediation first took off when Baron and Kenny published their manuscript in 1986. Since then it has been cited 72,357 times (2017). Titled “The Moderator-Mediator Distinction,” they set out to conceptually define what these variables were and how could be applied to social psychological research. Although mediation has been around before Baron and Kenny’s paper, many researchers today refer to the “Baron and Kenny” method when approaching a potential mediation model. As suggested, there are three regression equations to test for mediation, and these three factors must be true. First, the independent variable must affect the mediator. Second, the independent variable must affect the dependent variable (Baron & Kenny, 1986); others have suggested this second assumption can be violated, this will be examined later on. Third, the mediator must affect the dependent variable (Baron & Kenny, 1986). It is then a perfect mediation when the independent variable has no effect on the dependent variable when the mediator is controlled. When using multiple
It has been estimated in a study by the American Management Association that managers spend between 20% to as much as 50% of their times dealing with conflict among their employees (American Sentinel, 2012). When workplace conflicts are left unresolved they can lead to dissatisfaction, depression and other problems such as aggression and violence (Whitworth 2008). The negative, sometimes hostile, environment created by unresolved conflict has been recognized to be a hazard not only to staff, but also to patient care (The Joint Commission 2008).
Ott, Marvin C. "Mediation as a Method of Conflict Resolution: Two Cases." International Organization 26.04 (1972): 595-618. JSTOR. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Although there is a plethora of possible sources of conflict in any workplace, the ones in this case are rather explicit. These include personal differences, Informal deficiencies’, role incompatibility, environment stress, perceptions, and expectations. Personal differences could be related to personal values, physiognomies, family bonds or ties, and material belongings.
India is recognized as a country having a long history of mediation due to the existence and development of different forms of mediation to resolve business dispute since the pre-British India . In 1947, the concept of mediation/conciliation received legislative recognition in India for the first time in the Industrial Disputes Act which imposed the duty of conciliator to mediate and promote the settlement of industrial dispute. In 1996, an independent law regulating international commercial mediation, namely Arbitration and Conciliation Act, was adopted by Indian Parliament. It is also the first independent rule on international commercial mediation in Asia. In addition, Section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 amended in 1999 provided for reference of cases pending in Courts to ADR which included mediation. Likely, due to the implementation of various mediation systems to resolve land, commercial or labor disputes since 1922, a special act regulating the court-based mediation proceedings was promulgated in Japan, namely Civil Conciliation Act (Minji Chotei Ho, Act No.222). Moreover, to encourage to development of private mediation proceedings, on 1 December 2004, the Act on promotion of use of Alternative Dispute Resolution was issued, which was followed by an Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice on 28 April 2006 and an Order of the cabinet. This
Although functions of mediators and arbitrators have several characteristics in common, there are significant instrumental differences that make them distinct from one another. Firstly, whereas the arbitration process is similar to litigation in its adversarial nature, in which parties have the objective to win the dispute, the fundamental goal of mediation is to bring the disputants to settlement through compromise and cooperation without finding a guilty party. In arbitration, parties compete against each other in “win-lose” situation. During mediation, parties work on mutually acceptable conditions with the assistance of a facilitator. In this process, mediators do not have power to make decisions, they work to reconcile the competing needs and interests of involved parties. The mediator’s tasks are to assist disputants to identify, understand, and articulate their needs and interests to each other (Christopher W. Moore,
Unnecessary conflict may be prevented through employee involvement and treating employees in a fair manner. Ethical employment practices, involving employees in decisions, and treating employees as valued organizational members all work towards a positive employer-employee relationship. Unfortunately, however, it sometimes becomes necessary for an outside party to help employers and employees resolve differences through processes such as mediation or arbitration. Taken together, positive engagement strategies and constructive resolution of differences help to develop relationships which support organizational performance and success.
Mediation is a way to solve a dispute without having to resort to court procedure which sometimes could turned out to be rigid, formal and time consuming especially when it needed a lot of paperwork and the possibility of adjournment which could consume years. Besides that, unlike in court, mediator as a third impartial party did not acted as a judge who decides on the resolution however, the mediator will help the parties to explore the needs and issue which before preventing them from achieving a mutual resolution and settlement. The mediation process gave the authority towards the parties to agree with each other and open up the chance for the parties to meet with a resolution at the end of the mediation session.
At some point, supervisors may encounter disagreements between employees, and the challenge is to resolve any issues without obstructing the work of the uninvolved employees and fostering a positive environment. Some issues may result in further action that involves negative implications and terminations. Terminating an employee can be a necessary task, especially if the employee has proven to be problematic overtime. When an employee is terminated, the challenge is to maintain homeostasis in the workplace by eliminating or decreasing stress and impeding the performance of other employees. In addition to supervising various employees, interruptions can be continual from employees who require advice or assistance, and can hinder the supervisor’s ability to complete his or her work.
Swinton, Lyndsay (2006). Workplace Conflict Management: Strategy for Successful Resolution. Retrieved November 14, 2010 from http://www.mftrou.com/workplace-conflict-management-strategy.html
In the workplace, disagreement or arguments may arise due to several reasons. This can further result into a state of antagonism or opposition, resentment, avoidance, verbal assaults, and inability to work together. Such may arise due to personality clashes, differences in style, differences in leadership, interdependence conflicts and differences in the background or gender. With reference to the conflict between Norm and Norma, disagreement arose due to differences in styles. This is because Norma was after quick result from the initiated project while Norm believed he could work from home and still meet the expected standard. However, Norma expected full commitment from all the staff under her. For good working relations, conflicts should always be resolved and hence improve good working relationship among the employees both the juniors and seniors. Professionally, conflicts can be solved via two models; circle of conflict and triangle of satisfaction (Susan Holton, 1998).