Conflict in the workplace is a fact of life. However, unresolved workplace conflict becomes costly in terms of time spent managing conflict, turnover rates, productivity lost, the overall decay of workplace morale and legal costs. Look at the statistics:

• Fortune 500 senior executives spend 20 percent of their time in litigation activities.
• Typical managers spend up to 30 percent of their time dealing with conflict.
• The turnover costs for an employee are anywhere from between 75 percent and 150 percent of their annual salary.
• 16 percent of employees report conflict with a supervisor as the main reason for leaving their last job.

Consider the other, less obvious costs associated with workplace conflict. These include but are not limited to increased employee absenteeism, stress-related medical claims, anger, blame and the creation of a hostile work environment.

Employment contracts frequently contain arbitration agreements to resolve workplace conflict. Unfortunately this process can be as costly and time consuming as litigation. This adversarial approach can also cause irreparable damage to the employer/employee relationship. For that reason companies are now turning to workplace mediation.

Mediation is generally defined as the intervention, in a negotiation or a conflict, by an acceptable third party. This third party has no authority or decision-making power but will assist the parties involved in the dispute to voluntarily reach a mutually acceptable settlement of issues in dispute.

One of the keys to a successful mediation is that the mediator be independent of the parties involved. The participation of a Hire Group mediator often provides all parties with new perspectives on the issues dividing them. The mere presence of someone who is independent of the disputants can be a highly significant factor in resolving the dispute. Workplace mediations are most successful when the mediator is independent of the company and company management.

At the Hire Group, we offer a mediation process that is flexible enough to handle many kinds of workplace conflict from minor, everyday misunderstandings to violations of legally protected rights.