Human resources managers in the UK spend almost a quarter of their time dealing with workplace conflicts which cost businesses money in terms of reduced production.
Other statistics show that 65 per cent of problems related to employee performance are due to bad relationships rather than bad employees.
Although such figures for Malta do not exist, lawyer Ian Spiteri Bailey believes that, if workplace mediation had to find itself in companies in Malta, it would not only benefit employees but also businesses.
Dr Spiteri Bailey has practised employment law and industrial relations for the past 20 years and recently qualified as Malta’s only workplace mediator from the leading London-based Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, the largest centre for alternative dispute resolution in Europe.
He says that,if the time used to deal with workplace conflicts is significantly reduced, the gained time could be employed better in the business.
In the UK, most mediation is concluded within hours and usually within the day, with a success rate of around 90 per cent.
Workplace litigation can be costly, lengthy, time-consuming and strenuous. Litigation processes take up many days of management time and resources. Worse still, more often than not, the final conclusions are unsatisfactory.
“Unresolved conflicts leading to years of litigation will lead to loss of productivity, negative impacts on the health and well-being of the employees, possible loss of talented, skilled and experienced personnel, stress and anxiety as well as management loss of time and increased expenses,” Dr Spiteri Bailey told Times of Malta.
Workplace mediation, he said, provides fast, creative, mutually satisfactory resolutions. When a dispute is mediated shortly after it arises, the chances of optimal resolution are much greater. The parties’ differences would not have had a chance to get worse.
Moreover, mediation fosters mutual respect through improved communication. It can mend and preserve frayed working relationships, even when the parties are extremely angry, he said.
Dr Spiteri Bailey said employment and industrial relations lawyers should not see workplace mediation as a threat.
Unresolved conflicts leading to years of litigation will lead to loss of productivity
He believes lawyers should advocate in favour of workplace mediation because it is always beneficial to their clients, whether it is the employer or the employee.
On the other hand, there is no loss of earnings, because lawyers will still assist their clients and help out in the drafting and finalising of the final deed of resolution. In fact, lawyers would be able to take on a larger workload with workplace mediation, he believes.
Why, when and how to opt for work-place mediation?
Dr Spiteri Bailey said there were types of workplace conflicts over which any company would be well-advised to offer mediation. Among these are sexual harassment complaints, disputes between employees, deteriorating performance by an employee, terminations, victimisation and discrimination, cases relating to interpretation of collective agreement clauses and conflicts relating to promotion and appraisal issues, among others.
Workplace mediation has the advantage of being a flexible process for resolving workplace conflicts in contrast to lengthy and costly tribunal and court procedures. It is conducted by a neutral person, to the satisfaction of both parties, resolving the dispute in more expedient way, he said.
Dr Spiteri Bailey recently set up ObjectiveHR, a company specialising in the provision of HR solutions. The company will hold its first and inaugural conference on workplace mediation to highlight the benefits of this time- and cost-saving process.
The one-day conference will be held on Thursday at Corinthia San Ġorġ Hotel in St Julian’s.
The conference will be addressed by Ranse Howell, a qualified mediator in international dispute resolution with over 20 years of experience in the field, as well as Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Owen Bonnici, Social Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli, responsible for industrial relations, and former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
Director for Labour and Industrial Relations Noel Vella will be sharing his experiences on conciliations, while Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin general secretary Josef Vella will share the views of a trade union on the issue.