Article: How can workers in a small business settle their differences in a peaceful way?

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 Updated at 12:59 PM EDT - Globe and Mail Update

Chart a course to workplace peace

Elana Fleischmann, a mediator with Dispute Resolution Services, sees workplace conflict all to often and would much rather prevent fires than spend time putting them out.

Conflict in a small business setting

"I think its unfortunate that our culture is not at a state where we think about dispute prevention instead of dispute resolution. It's important for small and large, any type of business, to design a system of dispute resolution. How they are going to resolve a dispute when it arises?" she said.

"I will go into a small or medium-sized business and I will design a dispute resolution process for them to handle future disputes. For example, staff might first approach each other, and speak, if they are not able to resolve it then they may try mediation. If mediation is not successful, then they may agree to arbitrate.

"Everyone thinks litigation. We are moving towards an environment where we are embracing appropriate dispute resolution methods other than litigation," she said.

Ms. Fleischmann deals with all sorts of conflicts in the workplace, whether it's dealing with poor relationships between staff, poor relationships between management and staff, a poisonous work environment, or a wrongful termination.

"I think that the small firms and the large firms both experience the same types of conflicts, one is just on the smaller scale, and one is on the larger scale," said Fleischmann. "The smaller firms, may not have the expertise, specifically the HR department, but there is someone responsible for human resources and they do have policies in effect." Typically, disputes occur when a worker is intimidated by a manager. A breakdown in communication devolves into animosity and hostility. When that happens, Ms. Fleischmann says, both parties have difficulty doing their work. Ms. Fleischmann attacks these problems by trying to get past hostilities to the root problem. After three-four mediation sessions, that include one-on-one sessions with each party, the specific issues are raised. The best result is a mutually agreed on mediated agreement, in which each side has clear expectations of each other. Can you move past disputes?

"Absolutely, but what is critical here, you can resolve the specific dispute at the time but if you don't discuss how you are going to operate or behave in the future, then they can go right back to square one. So I think it's really important to plan for the future.

"I am mediating a very large dispute between all of the staff and the management [at a Canadian university].

"At the end of the day we are setting up a workplace charter. Which will set out the expectations of the management and the expectations of the staff," she explained.

Workplace Charters

Ms. Fleischmann is a strong proponent of workplace charters as a way to achieve professional harmony. And while some could look at it and suggest that charters are redundant thanks to labour codes and collective agreements, she contends that they can work in concert with existing legislation or agreements.

"If the parties agree, you can address anything. You would want to make sure that it doesn't conflict with the provisions of, if its a unionized environment, a collective agreement," she adds. "But that's pretty easy to do, as long as the parties agree you can mediate any dispute. Anything flies."

When Ms. Fleischmann starts a mediation, she ensures that more than two people are always present in the room. She meets with everyone separately first to find out individual complaints.

"The dynamic is different in a group," she said. "It's important to meet individually to find out what their specific issues are. So I can find out what the general workplace issues are and get their buy in to the mediation process."

Trust and credibility are essential components in the process.

"You are speaking for the silent voices or those who fear reprisals. Let's face it, most employees do [fear their bosses]. There's a systemic power imbalance between manager and staff.

The following items could form the basis for a workplace charter:

Description of the purpose of the workplace charter and code of conduct - i.e. to describe acceptable and desirable behaviour for employees
Confirmation that the provisions of the charter and code will not interfere with any of the rights of the employees under any other contracts, policies, agreements, etc. (i.e. a collective agreement)
Importance of fostering a positive work environment and providing the highest level of service
Establishment and implementation of fair workplace protocols and policies
Necessity that management consult with employees over workplace protocols, policies, etc.
Necessity of effective communication
Commitment to the equitable treatment of staff
Defining roles and responsibilities of management and employees
Commitment to professional development opportunities
Respect for a culturally diverse workplace
Internal conflict resolution processes