Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is a community and mental health trust providing a wide range of services to people of all ages living in Berkshire. The Trust employs approximately 4,300 employees, working in one of the Trust’s many sites or in people’s homes and a range of community settings.

The Trust has worked with CiC, experts in employee wellbeing, for over five years. Primarily, CiC has supported the Trust with the delivery of their employee assistance programme, with external mediation being brought in on a case-by-case basis.

“Our HR managers take a proactive approach to conflict resolution within the workplace when there may be, for example, a grievance or dignity at work issue. If a line manager or employee flags up an issue, the HR team will take practical steps to manage and resolve this informally. But naturally this isn’t always possible and when those involved recognise that a solution is not forthcoming, we sometimes would bring CiC in to support us and introduce external mediation as part of our HR toolkit.

“The first time we brought the CiC team in to support us with external mediation, they were effective and were able to support us in trying to resolve the issue. It was important to us that they know our organisation and the ability to work with them on an ad-hoc basis when the business needs this support, works really well for the Trust.

“We probably have a handful of situations every year when external mediation is an appropriate way forward, and by using CiC for external mediation, we have been able to assure an individual who is experiencing a workplace difficulty, that there is an independent, qualified and experienced mediator who will be objective about the issue they’re facing and help to find a way forward that is agreeable to all parties.

“I am confident that there are a number of benefits to external mediation that we are keen to embrace as an organisation. The independent nature of the intervention and the fact that it can offer a safe and confidential environment for an individual to explore, address and resolve the issue that they’re facing, is important and valued.

“Unlike some organisations, whilst we don’t actively promote external mediation to our employees, it is an important part of our HR toolkit. And when it comes to assessing the impact of external mediation for the organisation, this is something that we would do on a case-by-case basis as each case will have a separate measure of success depending on the issues and those involved.

“Although the usage of external mediation within the Trust is low, anecdotal feedback from the HR team, employees and line managers who have been part of the process, has always been very positive; it has made a difficult and challenging situation manageable and assisted with solving the problems at the root of the issue.

“External mediation ensures that employees experiencing conflict in the workplace can access professional, expert advice. After an initial conversation with the HR team about a specific case, we can swiftly assess the situation and progress a mediation quickly. Our mediators have diverse backgrounds and are trained to manage very complicated cases in a confidential environment. As has been the case when we work with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, the impartiality of our mediators has been vital to the process; they have no ties to the organisation and can help to ensure that we reach a solution that is agreed by all parties and can assist the organisation and individuals moving forward positively,” commented Timmy Kurtuldum, CiC’s Training Manager.

CiC’s bank of experienced mediators are all trained in Professional Workplace Mediation, accredited by the Mediators Institute of Ireland. We work in the public and private sectors, with schools and universities, law firms, local councils, care trusts, international news agencies and international charities. We offer a range of services, including complimentary mediation awareness sessions, internal mediation training, external mediation provision, team facilitations, conflict management courses and CPD mediation days.

Go to www.cic-eap.co.uk/specialist-services/ to find out more.

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