Mediation offers help to workers

Published June 26, 2006

by JOANNE WOJCIK

jwojcik@BusinessInsurance.com

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--When San Mateo County decided to implement a mediation program to address workplace issues, Benefits Manager Paul Hackleman suggested it be introduced as a new employee benefit to encourage more people to take advantage of the service.

"We thought from a perception perspective that if it was housed in employee relations, which might be a more appropriate location organizationally for it, that it might be a disincentive to people using it," he explained.

Mr. Hackleman serves as the case manager of the mediation program and, even though he is certified to mediate disputes, he hasn't yet had the opportunity to do so.

By making mediation a kind of "employee assistance program," it ensures that the service will be impartial and confidential, Mr. Hackleman said.

In fact, the program brochure that was distributed to employees after its 2002 launch assures: "When functioning as the case manager for the Mediation Program, the Benefits Manager will maintain confidentiality and keep work separate from Benefits work." That means mediation files are kept separate from benefit files to minimize the likelihood that confidential employee benefit-related information will be inadvertently seen, Mr. Hackleman said.

The county's mediation program was initiated by Employee and Public Services Director Mary Welch, who enlisted 25 members of her department, as well as managers of other county departments, to become trained as mediators to address external conflicts.

But after completing the 40-hour certification course, "a number of us thought this would be a really good program to try and resolve any inter-workers' strife--whether that was between peers or subordinates or supervisors, it didn't make any difference," Mr. Hackleman said.

The county mediation program is performed in conjunction with the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, a nonprofit organization in San Mateo, Calif., that handles community-based mediation.

In addition to a PCRC mediator, two county mediators usually are present. One mediator facilitates the discussion, one takes notes and the third allows for "a fresh perspective from someone who hasn't been preoccupied with facilitating the discussion" or taking notes, Mr. Hackleman explained.

Using three people provides opportunities for the county's mediators to get more experience because the demand for their services is fairly low, he said.

"They don't happen with that much frequency. You might have one mediation a month. Mediation is one of those things where the more you do it, the more facility and ease you have," Mr. Hackleman explained.

The procedure also prevents the possibility of conflicts should one or both of the individuals seeking mediation have a prior relationship with one or more of the county's certified mediators, according to Mr. Hackleman.

Some examples of the issues revolved through the mediation process include differences in culture, work style or professional conflicts.

"We've had a number of cases in the early stages of the mediation program that happened in the nursing field where you would have nursing personnel and non-nursing personnel having conflicts around what their responsibilities were," Mr. Hackleman recalled.

"Mediators are trained to, in a very neutral way, facilitate a discussion to see if the two people can work it out themselves. So there's no imposition, mediators have a code they have to follow. Confidentiality is a big piece of it. But you also can't take sides and you can't be directive....So it's not an imposed resolution, it's a facilitated resolution between the parties," he explained.

Most conflicts are resolved in a single session, although there are times when such sessions can last several hours, Mr. Hackleman said.