22 December 2008
The role of mediation in finding alternatives to redundancy
Involve employees as joint problem solvers to find less damaging solutions than layoffs.
For the final part of our focus on communicating the alternatives to redundancy, the Hub caught up with Mediation chambers In Place of Strife. It believes mediation during a downturn can help employers and employees reach agreement about cost cutting and redundancies – and even provide suggestions for alternatives to redundancy.
Mediation in the face of uncertainty
Amanda Bucklow (pictured, right), independent mediator with In Place of Strife, explains that UK businesses are currently preparing for changes due in April 2009 with the new UK Employment Act.
Although most employers are aware that mediation is strongly recommended for managing employment and workplace disputes, Bucklow says, “Most managers don’t understand the power of mediation for handling problems early and avoiding a crisis.”
Mark Jackson-Stops, mediator and head of chambers at In Place of Strife, says mediation is effective in negotiating a solution where both employer and employee decide the outcome. “It’s entirely private, avoids unwelcome publicity and is a cost effective way of resolving disputes both for the individuals concerned and the business.”
Reducing headcount – the first port of call
“In the current situation, managers look to headcount as the first port of call because it’s easy and tangible,” Bucklow says. “They believe that with a reducing workload they won’t need all the people and must make cuts – for example, 10% across the board.”
Too often assumptions prevail in organizations that take the leaders down a route with a single focus on redundancies. Senior leaders assume there's only one option, but Bucklow argues that it's important to retain the people who could best make the adjustments necessary in the current downturn.
Too often assumptions prevail in organizations that take the leaders down a route with a single focus on redundancies.
She says that instead of a simple top-down decision about headcount reduction, organizations would benefit from bringing groups or employees together from across the organization to help find other solutions.
Explore needs and interests
“When employees are involved as joint problem solvers they’re more likely to come up with solutions that are less damaging to the greater number of people,” she suggests.
In a traditional redundancy program, the organization is analyzed to see who qualifies – using, for instance, the well-known “last in first out” approach.
However, working with employees to find alternatives instead will take a skilful exploration of needs and interests. In her mediation sessions with staff, Bucklow says the aim is to enable people to talk more freely about alternatives, such as taking a sabbatical.
Creating an alternative package
When inviting employees to come up with ideas, she advises organizations to ensure people can see that the right conditions have been created to encourage them to participate. This allows people to explore all ideas without commitment until everyone can sign up for a particular outcome.
In Bucklow’s experience, staff groups are very capable of creating a mixed package of alternatives. Such a package might include some voluntary redundancies, sabbaticals and job sharing.
The organization and individuals can find mutual benefits in accepting job sharing, for example. The organization retains necessary talent and a job share is better than being unemployed for the individual – even following a redundancy payout, which is usually only the statutory minimum.
When involving staff in creating alternatives, senior leaders are usually very surprised at how much goodwill there is in the organization from these face-to-face sessions.
Self-organizing meetings
“From a psychological aspect, people realize the economic conditions are out of their control. People know the situation can’t be helped,” Bucklow says.
From a psychological aspect, people realize the economic conditions are outwith their control. People know the situation can’t be helped.
She uses a self-organizing meeting process to encourage employee involvement by calling on people’s creative abilities. She designs a headline agenda and uses her skills to manage people through a process based on mutual trust.
“It’s uplifting when people work together to discover all kinds of ideas and approaches,” she says. “They can be quite revolutionary.” It takes courage to use this approach because there are so many unknowns.
However, Bucklow says the solutions are usually better than the leader's first thoughts on redundancy. As an additional bonus, senior leaders gain the commitment of people to implement the solutions. This differs from the usual outcome when people do not understand the thinking behind redundancy decisions.
Coffee machine conversations
Taking this approach brings in a depth of knowledge usually ignored in most organizations. What comes up are the type of issues regularly discussed around the coffee machine. In Bucklow’s sessions, people feel they have ownership, that someone is listening and that they have an opportunity to input.
During a typical redundancy program, people are waiting for the ax to fall on them and productivity drops. They're thinking, “Will any efforts I make be wasted? Will I be asked to leave?”
“My advice is to organize more discussion forums so that people can talk about what’s needed,” Bucklow suggests. She believes the communicator’s role is to convey the outcomes of these forums in a trustworthy way and not to judge what people have said.
Cascade from on high
“Instead, we tend to cascade communication in written form from on high,” she observes. “When it gets to the bottom it’s disconnected and has no meaning.”
She advises communicators to identify the “moaners”, take them on board and give them airtime. “I believe a cynic is a disappointed optimist,” she says. “It takes a special skill to get under the broken record of the moaning and reach the wisdom behind it. Often people fear a backlash and it’s important to create an environment where they can speak freely and share information openly.”
The results of these sessions are imaginative. The self-organizing process reveals many opportunities where senior leaders had previously thought redundancy was the only option. “Chaos can create a fantastic opportunity to reveal new insights,” Bucklow says of today’s economic downturn. “Organizations are currently excluding the most valuable information they have.”
Have your say
Have you considered involving employees in co-creating alternatives to redundancy? What are your hints and tips for running a cross-organization exploration session?
Recommended resources:
Redundancy is not the only answer
Don't let leaders revert to old comms approaches
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