Whether you are an employer or an employee, there will be times when the process of having employees or being employed do not go as smoothly as planned. You may find that despite your best efforts you have been unable to resolve your issues and you both feel that you need an independent third party to assist you finding a resolution that you can both live with. This person is called a mediator and should be professionally qualified to conduct the mediation process.

A mediator should be well versed in employment law as well as mediation, their goal is to assist the parties with identifying the issues that have caused the problems and then to work through potential solutions through agreement. Mediators work with both parties to assist them with a successful resolution and mutual agreement in order for them to move on.

Your mediators role covers some of the following things:

Identify Issues

They assist the parties to express their real issues, both parties need to be able to clearly state which things are the problem and which are just a result of a bigger problem. This can happen sometimes when the problems have been ongoing and both parties have let one problem snowball.

Encourage Solutions

They’ll encourage both parties to offer solutions to each of the issues that have been raised, in effect starting the resolution process by getting them to offer ideas that could form part of the final agreement. This works well to assist the parties to see the others point of view.

Troubleshoot

When it may seem that a problem is insurmountable the mediator may be able to offer solutions that neither party had thought of in order to move them toward an agreeable result. They’ll assist the parties to stay on track when working through the process to ensure they don’t get caught up in the moment.

Agreement

As the mediation processes your mediator will identify the resolution to the issues to form part of the final agreement. They’ll also make recommendations where appropriate, and when requested make a decision for the parties. Agreements are made in good faith, and the mediator will use a common sense approach to the resolution and agreement.

Help

The mediator’s main role is to help both parties to resolve their issues, find resolution and agreement, and then move on. No employer wants unhappy staff and employees don’t want to work in an unhappy environment and when they can both find an amicable resolution to their issues, it’s a great result for everyone involved.