New Mediation Program to Help Resolve Workplace Conflicts

New Mediation Program to Help Resolve Workplace Conflicts

By Amanda BallardUniversity Communications
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Human Resources' Point of View mediation program aims to help resolve workplace conflicts through informal conversation.
Human Resources' Point of View mediation program aims to help resolve workplace conflicts through informal conversation.

If you don't always a see eye-to-eye with a colleague and it's negatively affecting your work environment, a new informal mediation program on campus may be able to help.

Human Resources is launching the Point of View mediation program to help UA employees resolve workplace conflicts.

Participants in the program mutually agree to mediation and attend a session – usually lasting one to two hours – with two mediators. The mediators will facilitate conversation and help brainstorm possible solutions for moving past the issue, but they won't decide who is right or wrong.

Since the program is completely voluntary, supervisors cannot require employees to attend mediation. All discussions shared during the session are kept confidential.

SevaPriya Barrier, assistant director of the Office of Institutional Equity, serves as the program's coordinator. She said it was established as a supplement to existing campus conflict resolution programs to help strengthen workplace relationships and environments.

"One of the goals of the program is to increase employee satisfaction," Barrier said. "We are able to offer employees ways they themselves can impact their own work environment. We all know that employees who feel positive about their work environment are more productive and able to contribute more to the workplace."

Different from the UA's Ombuds Program, which offers a variety of services for resolving personal and workplace disputes, the Point of View program solely offers informal mediation of workplace concerns.

The program is not intended for addressing issues related to workplace violence, discrimination, involuntary terminations, compensation, or promotion and tenure Rather, it aims to resolve issues like employee conflicts related to different working styles, or disagreements over work processes between supervisors and employees.

"When employees encounter a conflict, we don't want their option to be to hunker down and not feel that they're empowered to change things for themselves," Barrier said. "We are able to offer employees ways they themselves can impact their own work environment."

Each mediation session features two mediators – one from the campus community and one from Human Resources. The Human Resources mediator will be well-versed in University policy and practice. All mediators went through an application and review process and completed a 40-hour training, as well as refresher trainings and practice sessions.

"When selecting mediators, our concern was that we had a fair representation of the campus community and to make sure we had folks from differing staffing levels and backgrounds," Barrier said. "We really looked for people with good communication skills, empathy and good problem solving skills because that's a key component for mediation."

If participants aren't able to come to a resolution during a single session, the goal is that they have at least a deeper understanding of their colleague's perspective. They also are able to schedule future mediation if both parties agree.

"It's really up to the commitments those individuals make to one another," Barrier said.

As an addition or alternative to informal mediation, Barrier recommends trying other resources available at the University, such as the Ombuds Program or Life & Work Connections' employee assistance counseling and consultation program.

"I'm not sure that people realize there is a range of conflict resolution options at the University," Barrier said. "People have options. We want people to go where they feel most comfortable and receive the best services. The goal is to have a happy, positive working and learning environment for everyone at the University."

For more information about the Point of View mediation program, or if you are interested in becoming a mediator in the future, call 621-8298, email pointofview@email.arizona.edu or click here.

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