Introduction
This case study explains how Albany HR deployed consultative mediation to address a disruptive workplace conflict, providing a pragmatic and cost-saving solution.
Background
Our client, a professional services organisation, approached us about a dispute involving two experienced and well-paid professionals. Person A provided specialist advice in a niche market. They planned to retire within the next few years. They had hired Person B as a potential successor and wanted to develop them to take over this important area of business. However, the relationship between them had become fraught. Person A viewed Person B as disengaged from the business. There were signs that Person B was considering leaving the organisation.
Our Approach: Consultative Mediation
At Albany HR, we take a consultative approach, tailoring our involvement to the situation, the client and the cost. Mediation is not a one size fixes all solution. We draw on different models of mediation to address the needs of the client and the parties involved in the dispute.
Four of the more common models of mediation are:
Transformative
In this model conflict is viewed as primarily a crisis in communication. The mediator empowers the parties to fully express their needs and concerns and understand the concerns of others. The approach focuses on underlying needs rather than the issues initially stated by the parties.
Satisfaction
This model assumes participants are “rational agents” who are clear about their interests but require assistance in the process of negotiating an agreement. The approach can quickly and economically resolve negative situations by helping parties to identify mutually acceptable outcomes.
Facilitative
In this model the mediator works with the parties to clarify perspectives, explore underlying interests and assist them to reach goals. Responsibility for the outcome remains with the parties and the mediator helps them reach a full awareness of their needs and actions. The mediator is focused on resolution of the issues but will explore underlying feelings and needs, where they are seen as barriers.
Narrative
In this model, parties each construct a “story” of themselves and their conflict that become their reality i.e. what happened. Each party’s awareness of another reality emerges as different stories are accepted as valid. The mediator helps in deconstructing these alternative versions of the parties’ stories leading to recognition, empowerment and options for agreement.
In this case, our mediator held separate private virtual meetings with the two individuals. In these meetings it was crucial to identify the main motivation of each party, were they seeking to build agreement, improve understanding or both?
Person A’s stated main motivation was to build an agreement. Their perspective was very much about rational agency. Their view was that as a professional person, Person B would be entering the mediation with a similar approach. However, it was also clear that underlying this they did not understand why Person B was disengaged and wanted to improve their understanding.
Person B felt let down by Person A. They had not had the support they had been promised and were unhappy with the way Person A wanted to work with them. Their main motivation was to improve understanding; the detail of any agreement was less important.
The joint meeting was arranged a few days later at a neutral venue, away from the workplace. On the day, but before the joint meeting took place, our mediator held separate preparatory meetings with each party to explain the joint meeting process and encourage both parties to seek to understand each other’s needs and concerns.
Conclusion
During the meeting both parties shared facts and feelings about their situation, and by the end of the meeting the relationship had visibly changed from when they started. They agreed that there had been a breakdown of trust and agreed to hold a second mediation meeting to agree a set of actions to reset their working relationship. While the first meeting used the transformative model, the second used the satisfaction approach.
Albany HR used consultative mediation to rebuild the relationship between the two parties. It allowed the organisation and the individuals to move forward.
Let Albany HR be your partner in navigating complex interpersonal situations. Mediation can be a cost-effective alternative to the time and emotion draining investigations. If you’re looking for support, let’s talk!
