We deal with many cases every month where the word bullying has been used in grievances and complaints. One of the (many) reasons why grievances make things worse are the accusations that people throw at each other.

People tend to do two things when they write a grievance. Firstly, they think of everything negative they possibly can about the other person. Secondly, they use the strongest words possible such as “bullying” and “discrimination”, etc.

When the other person hears the allegations they will only react one way and it won’t be good for anybody. Often we forget the impact on the “accused”.

Mediation isn’t rocket science but it’s incredibly effective (we currently run at a resolution rate of 96%) - in our latest blog about bullying, we explain why.

As mediators we deal with disputes constantly and one common thing we see is employers who jump straight into suspension whenever an employee is accused of something.

In this blog I talk about my risk assessment approach to suspending employees and the useful change in guidance around suspending employees.

When organisations are looking to drive positive cultural change, not many initiatives are more impactful than nipping employee issues in the bud and driving positive issue resolution.

In this blog we explore the skills which nip issues in the bud and how so many companies can avoid the unnecessary time, cost and (most importantly) stress involved with formal grievances.

Strategy is important, of course it is - but the practicalities of real life are so much more important. What’s the point of having some clever strategy when we don’t even understand the people or the culture?

Is judicial ‘mediation’ really the right term for what it is or should it be called judicial conciliation? In this blog we discuss the difference and the challenges of a judge being effective in a non-judgemental role.