Workplace mediation in schools: how to handle staff disputes

Workplace conflict is a drain on school resources, leading to lost management time, reduced productivity and increases in staff absence and turnover, which can negatively affect school finances.

If not resolved, relatively minor disagreements can escalate into complex grievances due to personality or work style differences – or even disciplinary action if conflict is perceived as bullying and harassment.

Workplace mediation provides early intervention, resolving disputes before they lead to a deterioration in culture across a department or wider teaching group and cause fundamental damage to your organisation.

What is workplace mediation?

Workplace mediation is a confidential, impartial, non-judgemental and voluntary process designed to resolve workplace disputes effectively. A neutral third party helps colleagues to understand their differences and find their own solutions.

Mediation occurs independently of any grievance or disciplinary process and remains confidential. The appointed mediator facilitates conversation between the participants without delivering judgments or reporting to line managers, or anyone with a wider interest such as the governing body, trustees or the local authority.

The distinction between mediation and formal processes is important as it encourages open communication and collaborative outcomes rather than imposed decisions. It also saves valuable time and resources that would otherwise be diverted from core responsibilities like teaching and management.

Importantly, the mediator remains impartial – they aren’t there to advocate for either participant or to further the school’s desired path to resolution. The process is different to judicial mediation, which typically arises following an employment tribunal claim, or commercial mediation, which involves represented parties seeking formal dispute resolution.

A participant-led process

The mediator manages the process confidentially and impartially, facilitating discussion without imposing their own views or the school’s solutions. Their job is to get the parties talking and working together to make inroads in how to address their differences.

Parties may withdraw from mediation at any time, but the mediator will encourage them to consider the implications of doing so before they walk away.

Employees lead the agenda, focusing on resolving workplace issues themselves rather than having decisions imposed by the school, empowering them to devise their own outcomes to work together more effectively in the future.

The appointed mediator will assist by guiding discussions toward potential resolutions but does not set the agenda, offer solutions or stipulate an outcome, meaning the process is completely participant led.

Why should schools choose workplace mediation?

School size doesn’t affect the impact of staff conflict. Differences between colleagues in smaller schools can have just as much of a detrimental impact as in a larger school.

Mediation addresses issues early, preventing management distractions and maintaining teaching quality. Staff disputes inevitably result in absences and spikes in attrition rates; in the worst-case scenarios, they end in costly litigation.

Early intervention means that your school is less likely to experience staff absence and turnover, saving recruitment costs and time spent finding replacements. Mediation is less formal and, as it is participant led, employees should feel a greater sense of ownership and satisfaction compared to a management-imposed decision.

Empowering employees to make their own decisions in this way leads to lower litigation risk and promotes future cooperation between participants and the wider workforce.

Addressing tensions early avoids protracted grievances or disciplinary proceedings. This is especially true when the issues stem from differences in personality or working style. Similarly, many disputes misinterpreted as bullying could be resolved through timely discussion.

When to use mediation in schools

Mediation works for conflict in relationships between two colleagues, either peer-to-peer or supervisor-to-supervisee.

However, workplace mediation isn’t suitable for team conflicts; instead, facilitated sessions are better to air and address conflict among multiple colleagues or managers.

It should not be used for serious disciplinary matters, such as potential gross misconduct or serious allegations of discrimination. It’s also not applicable for disputes over employment contract terms and conditions – either individual or collective.