Even really serious accusations such as discrimination claims can be dealt with informally without jumping straight into grievances or disciplinaries. Formal process where people make statements about one another, trying to prove to someone that they're right and the other is wrong, rarely deal with the crux of the issue.

Here I contextualise how what often seems complex and highly emotive, can usually be sorted out by good old-fashioned conversations, especially when they happen at the earliest opportunity.

What do you do when your manager doesn't allow you to apply for a promotion? 

This case was an example of a relatively common theme in mediations - equal opportunities and being considered for vacancies that arise. This case dispute was fairly typical and, as in the vast majority of cases, the time spent in grievances and the stress caused could have easily been avoided.

In today's "mediation of the week" our Director and Lead Mediator Pete Colby recalls a case where both parties (two senior managers) had fallen out regarding allegations of criticism of leadership. The feud between the two managers had been going on for over two years before the organisation embarked on mediation as a last resort.

People asking to work part-time and work flexibly is becoming increasingly common and will only continue on that upward trend in years to come. The increasing focus on gaining effective work-life balance, combined with the recent necessity to prove how flexible we can all be, has raised this subject to a high level on the employee relations agenda.

In this blog our director and lead mediator Pete Colby gives his thoughts on part-time working following a recent case where he helped a company and an individual work out a mutual solution.

Listen to Pragmatism's Director and Lead Mediator Pete Colby as a guest speaker on Lucinda Carney's podcast series "HR Uprising".