About Us

Professional Mediation is a group of highly experienced and qualified professionals from the fields of psychology, executive management, investigations and research who provide confidential, impartial and cost efficient mediation services for problems encountered in the workplace.

Our aim is to save you time, money and protect relationships while allowing business to continue and grow. Our experienced, professional staff will conduct preliminary investigations into matters of bullying, sexual discrimination, equal opportunity and situations of conflict and then recommend a process through which a resolution may be found. An initial consultation with our mediators will determine the most effective way to manage a sensitive mediation process between opposing parties. We facilitate a means for the decision making process to produce an agreeable outcome and provide a process that will help resolve any future conflict.

More than 70% of processes in which mediation is used reach an agreeable outcome which reduces stress on all parties and allows everyone involved to focus their time on more productive issues.

Services

A skilled practitioner works with the parties involved in a dispute and will assist them to find a negotiated resolution and practical outcome. The aim is a win/win outcome which allows everyone get back to work in the shortest possible time. Mediation is cost effective, practical and gives all parties the chance to have a say in the process.

Investigation: We conduct confidential inquiries into the behaviour of staff in the workplace to determine if any evidence of bullying, sexual harassment, equal opportunity breaches or discrimination exist. We then provide recommendations on how to proceed in addressing the issue.

Mediation: This involves facilitating discussion between two or more parties who have a disagreement on workplace related issues. Working towards a shared result provides a positive outcome for all involved. These processes are handled in a day or half day session.

Alternative Dispute Resolution: Finding creative ways to solve a situation of conflict between people in the workplace is our speciality. We provide a number of forums in which to achieve these outcomes while protecting the sensitivities of those involved.

Grievance Management: This is an evaluative process using established grievance policies to reach an outcome which considers all of the facts involved. We also provide the expertise to create policy for future circumstances which can be managed internally if required.

Why Use Mediation

The new way of solving workplace problems involves getting smart about how problems are addressed in the workplace. Bullying, breaches of equal opportunity, sexual harassment and personality difficulties between colleagues are all issues often seen in the modern workplace. The cost of ineffective and inefficient management of such workplace issues and the subsequent resolution can be staggering, if we rely on the traditional methods.

The last decade showed Australia to be following the American model of dispute resolution, in pursuing litigation through the courts as the first option. Court is expensive and ineffective because there will always be a loser in an adversarial process. For example, in 2008, one day’s fees for filing a motion in the Federal Court was $1881AUD for a corporation and $785AUD for an individual. Lawyers fees of $400AUD per hour and upwards, costs and disbursements appointed by the court and of course the time lost in appearing at a trial adds up to being a very expensive process. There is also no guarantee that this process will actually fix the problem.

Mediation is independent, impartial and is conducted with respect for all parties. It is the best chance to really solve a problem or find a resolution in the workplace which can preserve relationships, enable staff to be retained and ultimately improve the performance of the team.