Workplace Mediation Workshop: Key Insights & Takeaways
Topics covered:
Voluntary Participation in Workplace Mediation – Misuse of Mediation – Shifting Intentions Before and During Mediation
Our latest Mediation Workshop, organised in collaboration with the Fédération Genevoise Médiation, brought together 14 participants to work on a case inspired by a real-life workplace mediation.
A practical workplace conflict scenario
The scenario involved an employer seeking workplace mediation between a long-standing employee and her direct manager, following the employee’s return from sick leave. The mediation had been initiated by Human Resources.
This scenario reflects a common challenge in workplace conflict management: an employer seeking to restore trust between employees in order to preserve team cohesion and the smooth functioning of the organisation.
Topics explored during the workshop
Following the role play, participants shared their observations and explored several key issues in workplace conflict resolution:
Voluntary participation in workplace mediation: How can participation remain genuinely voluntary when mediation is initiated by the employer?
- Shifting intentions: How should the mediator respond when the process gradually moves towards a discussion about ending the employment relationship?
- Misuse of mediation: How should the mediator respond when it becomes apparent that mediation is being used to pursue undisclosed objectives?
- Managing the parties at the outset of the process: How should the involvement of numerous stakeholders be managed when only a few of them are directly at the heart of the conflict?
The value of collective intelligence
Once again, these workshops demonstrate how sharing experiences and drawing on collective intelligence enable us to explore together the subtleties and challenges of mediation.
Our next workshop will take place on 16 November 2026, with Dominique Renaud from the FGeM.
Stay tuned!
