I've been having a bit of trouble at work recently. Without going into details, my employer inadvertently broke employment law, treated me in a professionally disrespectful way, and neglected to rectify inaccurate minutes of a contested meeting in a timely fashion.
As ever, I'm sure that this was incompetence rather than deliberate. Before this I've had a good working relationship with them.
I've decided that I want to go back to work and see how things are when I return. As part of this process it's been suggested that I go through mediation with one of the managers.
I have to write a paragraph to the mediator detailing what I expect to get out of the process. I was wondering if anyone else has any experience of this process and could make any recommendations please?
Strangely phrased... They suggested mediation and want to know what you'll get out of the process?
Isn't that backwards? What do they expect to get out mediation, seeing as it's their idea?
Strangely phrased... They suggested mediation and want to know what you'll get out of the process?
Isn't that backwards? What do they expect to get out mediation, seeing as it's their idea?
Its mediation you want both sides from the get go , including what they expect to get oit of mediation.
Not me directly but have overseen a mediation that was agreed to in place of a disciplinary. It's not a 'touchy feely what do you hope to get out of this' it's more focused than that - what outcome do you want. Which might include some touchy feely stuff about trust and behaviours, but it gave both parties chance to lay out their side beforehand without an argument starting, and gave the mediator chance to identify common ground and ideas for compromise where no common ground existed. They did it by interview with each party ahead of time rather than written statements but was along the lines of
A/ I need to have flexibility to design my own work time and schedules, I'm an experienced staff member and I need you to trust me to deliver outcomes, and not micromanage.
B/ I need a work plan from you so i can work out when equipment is in use and not, I need to make sure that other's work can be done as well as yours.
(very oversimplified and there were times when I felt like banging heads together might resolve this, but that's no longer the acceptable management style 😉 )
Are they doing it as an individual or representing the company?
In any case there are guides on ACAS and other similar websites that might be helpful.
I did it with a particularly difficult colleague some years ago. They should have been fired. They eventually were, but I had left long before that happened. It is admirable that you want to go back and give it a go. Is it a big company? If it is and you can effectively move away from the issue then it could work. Otherwise, my experience says it won't and you should go back, but start looking for your next job. I'm jaded after some bad experiences in a couple of jobs but poor leaders and poor companies don't improve and you can't fix them (unless you are the MD/CEO and start replacing people).
It’s a GP practice, and generally I have a good amount of autonomy. Yes, things should have been done differently, and I’m aware that I may need to find a different job.
As part of this process it's been suggested that I go through mediation with one of the managers.
Has the fallout been caused by a manager? Or is this going to be one of the Partners? If it's the former, then maybe; if it's a Partner and they were responsible for the cock-up, then IME you're wasting your time.
I have to write a paragraph to the mediator detailing what I expect to get out of the process.
Ahead of time? That seems weird. There's nothing wrong with it I guess, but I (Practice PM) wouldn't be doing that with any of my staff - Clincians or otherwise. Mediation can be a good process as long as everyone comes into with good intentions, but it's designed to be a conversation, not a "you said, we did". If it's just the tick-box exercise that the 3rd party HR company has toldd the practice they've got to do (to not get sued), and no-one at the Practice really GAS, then it could be a waste of time.
Yeah mediation can be a bit of a kangaroo court depending on the dynamics.
See also: 'performance improvement plan' ...
Its sometimes just a legal way of 'managing someone out' if the writing is on the wall.
Who has asked you to do this?
Employer - seems wrong, but I assume you realise that for a small company you are toast anyway, the only reason they are playing along is gps are like hens teeth and so putting up with difficult staff is slightly better than putting up with fewer staff.
Mediator - seems a sensible starting point which gives them something to refer back to and avoid “and another thing” from either side. I’ve been involved in commercial mediation once, and in essence it started with trying to understand just how big the gulf was. I’ve also had the joy of dealing with staff grievances which can be chaotic - you think you are dealing with a problem to do with working hours and then suddenly it’s about Dorris drinking her oat milk and Jimmy cracking an inappropriate joke 18 months ago.
my experience of mediation : i was manager in public sector, two staff hated each other (including unfounded allegations of bullying) - went through mediation. Aim seemed to be to calm things down and get them to make friends, it failed and one went off sick for almost a year. So i felt it was a waste of time
As suggested above have a good look at ACAS; https://www.acas.org.uk/mediation
This is the second sentence on that page "It is held by a 'mediator' (neutral person). The mediator is impartial. This means they do not take sides."
I think that is the first real step IE who is the mediator.