Among the top reasons that employers choose to terminate employees are personality clashes, gossip, interpersonal conflict, and inappropriate behavior or relationships at work. Closely following these reasons are poor job performance, chronically leaving early and arriving late, and performing personal tasks while at work.
Mediation is perfectly suited to address each of these issues, and more. The process has a high success rate in finding solutions that address these problems without the need for further disciplinary action, including termination. Mediation has the potential to improve a workplace environment, boost productivity, reduce potential employer liability, and improve a company's bottom line all at the same time, for a very modest investment.
Conflict in the workplace has real, tangible costs. To begin with, any time and energy spent in unproductive interpersonal conflict isn't being spent on work. Gossip, bad-mouthing, backstabbing, arguing, and infighting all contribute to lost productivity. When management is forced to step in and referee these conflicts, often the only effect is to pour even more valuable personnel time into the black hole of bad behavior. Even worse, the longer this sort of activity continues, the more likely an employer is to be exposed to some form of liability for harassment or a hostile work environment.
Firing a problem employee further compounds these costs. Not only has the company invested time and money in training that employee, but now they incur the expense of advertising, recruiting, screening, hiring, and training a replacement.
Mediation allows employees and supervisors to work together to resolve these conflicts and correct problem behaviors. This process is conducted in partnership between the Mediator and the employer, ensuring privacy both for the individual parties and for the business.