Responding to Issues and Incidents

Every workplace will, at times, find its people in conflict. An unhelpful response from the employer can weaken already fragile relationships. At ProActive ReSolutions, we provide recommendations and a structured process in response to workplace incidents. We help all the parties affected learn from what has happened, strengthen key relationships, and transform the conflict into plans for cooperation and collaboration.

Potential Risk of Violence

When an employee raises concerns about their physical safety, employers in most jurisdictions are required to respond comprehensively. Given the potential consequences, an imminent risk of violence trumps other workplace requirements.

But how do you know what behaviors constitute a reasonable concern for the risk of violence? How do you respond? How do you document the troubling behaviors and your decisions?

This is where ProActive ReSolutions comes in. We provide evidence-based processes for documenting and responding to workplace behaviors. We help you separate the signal from the noise when it comes to unwanted workplace behaviors. Whether you’re concerned about this specific person’s risk of violence in the short term or are looking to prevent future workplace violence, we can help.

Mediation

When an issue is spotted early and some trust remains, it can be helpful to bring two people together to help them communicate the impact of what’s happened and to request a change in behavior moving forward. We refer to our future-focused mediation process as a Facilitated STRAIGHT TALK® Conversation, which includes the following steps:

• Introduction to the facilitator and exploration of issues. One-on-one conversations with each party to understand the dispute and support them in framing their concerns and requests of the other person.
• Facilitated STRAIGHT TALK® conversation. Following our STRAIGHT TALK® model, the facilitator supports each party to share their concerns and request a change in behavior moving forward. The facilitator also drafts a written behavioral agreement for each party to review (and, in some cases, to share with their manager)
• Agreement Check-in. The facilitator follows up with each party to review their commitments.
• Debrief with employer. We do not share the issues or examples discussed in the Facilitated STRAIGHT TALK® Conversation, however, we do share the steps of the process and any high-level observations.
• Written Report. We provide a Report that captures the steps of our process and the names of the participants. Our report does not disclose the issues or examples discussed.

Conflict Resolution

Unlike a dispute, conflict always involves more than two people, is always complex, never lends itself to a simple solution, is never resolved by an investigation, and must always involve everyone affected to achieve a sustainable resolution.

Our proven Conflict Management methodology for resolving conflict has been shown to achieve a 9:1 return on investment in a double-blind study. ProActive ReSolutions’ Conflict Management solutions do not focus on assessing blame on individuals who are in conflict. Rather the goal is to understand the cause and impact of the conflict and agree on an acceptable, accountable course of action that is satisfactory to everyone involved.