An Integrated and Transformative Model

Prior to establishing ScotCoach and during our many years of work as practitioners in conflict resolution and investigators of bullying and harassment allegations we would invariably be asked to intervene once the conflict had escalated to the ‘point of no return’ for those involved. Formal grievances would have been brought or were being considered.

What we found in almost all of the hundreds of cases we have dealt with is that earlier and more effective intervention would have prevented the conflict from escalating to this point. What this means is that the cost of the investigation itself and lost time in working hours which in some cases could be months if the parties had gone on sick leave, the cost to the individuals themselves and the cost of the aftermath in attempting to restore working relationships could all have been prevented.

So why is it that earlier and more effective intervention was not occurring in the vast majority of workplace conflicts?

Many organisations have a wide range of responses in place including policies and procedures, training and development, occupational health and/or counselling services, team communication processes and mentoring schemes.

With the introduction of the minimum disciplinary & grievance handling procedures it was hoped that organisations would also be encouraged to attempt to resolve conflicts at an earlier stage.

The legislative framework making harassment in the workplace expressly unlawful has also been broadened over the past five years. As a result of this and the Dispute Resolution Regulations many organisations have adopted an even greater focus on compliance as the most appropriate way to respond to unacceptable or inappropriate behaviour. Click here for more on the legal issues.

When we have conducted mediations and investigations we found a number of things kept emerging that had prevented an earlier or more effective intervention:

• Individuals were not being encouraged and supported to take responsibility in the first instance for attempting to resolve their problems with each other.

• Individual communication was on the whole not honest, open and transparent - they were not communicating about the real issues.

• Individuals were concerned about the possibility of getting it wrong or making it worse and so would do nothing or use indirect means to attempt to resolve the situation.

• Individuals were not encouraged and supported to try collaborative ways of dealing with problems rather than using shaming or blaming responses.

• Individuals lacked strength in interpersonal process skills and there were no established informal protocols or processes for resolving interpersonal issues.

• Individuals did not feel that their employer tangibly cared about them or they were holding onto feelings of anger and resentment and so did not care about giving their best in return.

We would suggest that the significance of this is that it is at the individual level that real change needs to occur before organisational responses will have any real benefit.

Even when we intervene as external mediators we often see that the agreements reached by the individuals in the conflict will not have as good a chance of succeeding unless they are provided with further coaching and skills development. Very often it is also the case that the agreement will not be implemented as effectively because the line manager is not committed to the new approach to be adopted by the individual employees or simply lacks good interpersonal process skills to be able to support them in making their agreement work.

Why Coaching?

ScotCoach has therefore developed an integrated approach that focuses on assisting organisations to empower their people to grow rather than merely reacting to or responding to interpersonal problems in isolation from the specific workplace context and culture in which these problems are occurring.

Coaching is at the core of our services as it acknowledges the experience and expertise of the individuals we work with, rather than being corrective or remedial. It also introduces the concept of working collaboratively with each other either as managers with their direct reports or as team members.

Coaching also takes the focus away from the pathology of the problem and what doesn’t work and places it on building on the talents and positives that exist. It focuses on empowering individuals at the organisational level to take responsibility for creating the conditions they want for their job, team or function which in turn benefits the whole organisation.

Whether it is mediation, facilitation, training or coaching ScotCoach adopts an integrated approach that focuses on ways in which we can assist your organization to address not only the immediate situation but also assist your people to develop their understanding or acquire new skills so that they will be empowered to continue to grow.

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For more information on workplace mediation training or to arrange a mediation with professional mediators please go here. For details of our emotional intelligence (EI, EQ) consultancy please go here. If you are interested in dignity at work training or consultancy, please click here.