The Straw that Broke the Camels Back Paper
The Straw that Broke the Camel’s Back Paper Prepared for Mediator’s Institute of Ireland Conference Dundalk 14 th October 2016 By Jim Halley
Journey Man Mediator • • 70 Years Young 22 Years Experience in Mediation Over 500 Disputes At least 300 related to the workplace.
Main Function of this Paper • To highlight the ever changing workplace environment of the Mediation service in Ireland • To highlight the pitfalls of naively accepting some mediation appointments and commissions • Additional skills, competencies and experience the mediator requires to deal with a wider range of disputes in the workplace environment
Ever Changing Workplace Process First Concerns Second The Six Significant Influences are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Public Sector Procurement Policies i. e. “ a race to the bottom” Lack of substantive caseload experience Development of internal panels of mediators in the Civil Service Development of external panels of mediators with the promotion of remuneration on a fixed fee basis The establishment of the WRC Volume of newly trained mediators entering the marketplace.
Some of the Pitfalls we can fall in to… • The naïve agreement to time and cost bound processes without a full and thorough understanding of the case. • A lack of awareness of the peaks in business at various times in the calendar year. • An inadequate understanding of the detail of the complaint in front of the mediator. • An inadequate consultation with the commissioning agent. • A lack of historical context of the complaint.
Necessary Developments in Workplace Mediation What I consider important: • Identification of additional skills and knowledge specific to the workplace environment • The need to extend the skill base of mediators e. g. meeting facilitation, conciliation… • Accredited understanding of Management and Leadership principles including organisational change • Professional pathway to the achievement of higher skills in general A. D. R.
Thank You & Questions
- Slides: 8