Mediation management in companies
Dr. Javier Wilhelm
In recent months, and as a result of the reform that will be brought about by the law on procedural efficiency measures of the public service of Justice, mediation and appropriate forms of conflict management are back on the political agenda.
Organizations and companies are not strangers to this legislative change, but, on the contrary, can see legitimate actions and various ways of resolving disputes. Law 5/2012 on mediation in the civil and commercial sphere already opened the range of implementation, but if this new legislative initiative becomes a public policy, the scope and benefits will be more obvious and known. According to studies by the European Parliament and the Madrid Court of Arbitration, the time difference in resolving a commercial dispute is 90% longer in court than in a mediation process, going from 17 months on average in court to 1.6 months in mediation. In terms of the average cost, litigation entails an economic cost 81% higher than mediation for those involved, and this without counting the emotional costs for the people involved and the repercussion of the conflict on production, on the working climate , the image of the organization, both towards workers, customers and suppliers, as well as the network of internal relations of an organization is resented when a conflict becomes public.
Promoting the culture of mediation in the mercantile field results in four lines of action:
Work Place Mediation : The resolution of conflicts from the management means empowering and empowering the members of a company or organization in improving their personal and relational resources, and the positive consequences of the same in their day to day life. The WPM, a strategy that was born in Great Britain about 20 years ago, promotes the management and resolution of disputes between workers, between managerial staff, improvements in the working climate, preventing the escalation of conflict and its consequences in the productivity It is a series of actions in relation to the prevention of labor unrest, the lack of productivity due to this working climate, the permanent turnover of personnel, breaches and errors in their processes, as the effects of a situation not solved and that is encased in the company. Workplace mediation is the most appropriate strategy to implement in organizations and companies.
Commercial disputes : It involves opening an assisted negotiation table in which we work to resolve in a confidential and safe manner disputes in which non-resolution means a daily loss of money, an increase in the risk of capital, damage to the image of the organization and deterioration of CSR. By being able to establish mediation clauses in contracts, we could avoid a collapse in the judicial system, optimize public resources, shorten resolution periods and work on tailor-made agreements for the parties involved. A few years ago, the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce already identified that commercial mediation is effective in relation to issues related to unfair competition, industrial property, intellectual property, actions relating to advertising, contestation of corporate agreements, issues of liability of administrators, of boards of directors, in liquidations of commercial companies, issues related to transport, maritime law; to which we would add issues of consumption, debts and defaults, conflicts between tenants and landlords, conflicts between insurers and claimants, etc.
Mergers and acquisitions : When several organizations have to come together, one of the essential elements to work on is the compatibility of the culture of each of them, which, if it is done properly (taking into account especially the people involved), it will have more guarantees of success and will reduce the time of accommodation to a changing situation. Mediation and decision circles provide the appropriate methodology to carry out these movements in the best way and accompany organizations and the people who inhabit them in the process of change. The process of introducing change involves fighting resistance, which always comes in the form of fear and anxiety; even on some occasions the change is perceived as catastrophic (Bion).
Relational negotiation : By providing assisted negotiation tools and procedures, trust and security are built, working on disputes between partners, between area managers, hiring and/or dismissals, collective labor agreements, contracts with other companies, between companies and suppliers or within work teams, always emphasizing collaborative negotiation and effective communication, where the emotional factor plays in favor of achieving the herself
In short, commercial mediation helps to optimize resources, time, money and energy. It takes care of the image of the organizations and the people who live in them. Transaction mediation professionals help to evaluate and quantify the cases so that those involved know the cost involved in their solution in the different scenarios, the risks that are taken depending on how the problem is treated or ignored and the possibilities of gains and take care of commercial relations with a vision of the future at a time like the present, with such a fluctuating and uncertain market.
“Don’t be afraid of change, be afraid of standing still” (Chinese proverb).