Organisations must mediate with employees to resolve disputes if they are to reduce cases going to tribunal, the CIPD has warned.
Employment tribunal claims cost companies on average £20,000 a year, rising to over £210,000 for companies with 10,000 or more staff. But for firms using mediation, only 3 per cent experience employees taking cases to tribunals, revealed the CIPD’s first research on the subject. And companies that train employees in mediation have fewer tribunal claims, the survey of 800 organisations found.
Despite the potential cost savings, almost 60 per cent of the companies surveyed have never used mediation in workplace conflict. Of those that do, four-fifths report that it helps to improve relationships between employees, 71 per cent say it reduces the stress of formal disciplinary or grievance procedures, and half say it helps to avoid the cost of tribunals.
Respondents to the survey, Workplace Mediation: How Employers Do It, said informal discussions and mediation were the most effective approaches to resolving conflict. “Mediation can help two disputing parties to identify what is at the root of their disagreement, what they need to do to resolve matters or move forward, and any changes or compromises they are prepared to make in their behaviour or attitudes,” said Mike Emmott, CIPD adviser, employee relations.
“Employers should invest in conflict management training to give line managers the informal mediation skills to allow them to step in to resolve disputes before they escalate,” he added.
The statutory dispute resolution regulations will be repealed next year after the number of tribunals was seen to have increased since their inception.