Fall Focus: Supporting Today’s Workplace

At Mediate.com, we have named Fall 23 as the Time of the Workplace. This means that beginning in September going through December, we are focusing on how mediators can support the workforce.

Studies show that the workforce is becoming increasingly disheartened. There can be quite a few causes – reboarding after COVID, post-pandemic low-grade trauma, political polarization, awareness of mental health concerns without acceptance of mental health resources, and understanding microaggressions and biases, to name a few. These concerns are becoming evident through burnout, low-grade PTSD, trauma, isolation, and depression.

We also see that mediation is gaining traction in the workplace. It is encouraged by managers as an effective way to solve a problem. It is encouraged by owners as a way to protect the company from a conflict escalating. It is now promoted by HR as a part of an Employee Assistance Program. And mediation is accepted by employees as a step to protecting their mental health.

At mediate.com, we believe our role is equipping mediators for the demand. Specific steps we are taking:

• Brand-new, 23 hour training on Workplace Mediation, with guest experts, document creation, and simulations. We looked at mediation, coaching, change management, facilitation, and training.
• 1-day training for HR and managers to resolve office conflicts and empower employees, coming up on Nov 17th.
• Trainings on creating a Trauma-Informed Mediation Experience at ACR, ABA-DR, and APFM.
• Working with organizations to find more career and certification support for new mediators – including looking into options for finding cases for new mediators
• Publishing an employee guidebook to empower employees to resolve their own conflicts:
• Working with ombuds offices and organizations to look at mental health and DEIB trends, presentations at IOA and COFO – See our Mental Health and Mediation Conference
• Working with SHRM to publish and publicize resources
• Designing tools with our partners so that employees can use apps and AI to explore their options (announcement coming soon)

As mediators, you know what an honor it is to be invited into someone’s difficult workplace situation. We believe that, for many workers, that story is particularly tough right now. We would like to thank you for holding space for these stories. And let us know how we can best partner with you to expand your good work.

Clare Fowler

Clare Fowler is Executive Vice-President and Managing Editor at Mediate.com, as well as a mediator and trainer. Clare received her Master's of Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law and her Doctorate in Organizational Leadership, focused on reducing workplace conflicts, from Pepperdine… MORE