Employers and employees are being encouraged to use third-party mediation to resolve workplace disputes and disagreements.

According to assistant general secretary at Bustamante Industrial Trade Union, Collin Virgo, alternative dispute resolution has become the safest way to handle conflicts that could otherwise lead to dismissal.

However, he also cautioned that it should only become an option if the situation cannot be avoided. He was speaking on #MoneyMovesJa with Kalilah Reynolds.

“When you find yourself in a situation where there’s a conflict, usually one of the things you can do at first is to try to stay clear of it…Sometimes it gets to a stage where you have to confront the issue but don’t take the word confront out of context. Confront the issue, not the individual,” he said.

Virgo said finding a neutral third party provides the assurance that discussions will be held objectively, which makes it a better option than including the management of the company which may not want to appear to be taking sides.

He added that the solution has often revealed the source of the conflict to be irrelevant.

“I have found that in the majority of instances, the source of the conflict was never real, it was imagined,” he said.

“If it was a case where the source is a mischief maker, then that matter is easier to resolve because you would have identified the source and identified further through that mediator, the source of the misconception. The mediator now has a role to ensure that both parties extend the olive branch,” he added.

He also said depending on the persons involved, a mediator may not be necessary as reasonable discussions can sometimes be facilitated between those at odds alone.

Mr Virgo said as a mix of personalities in the workplace guarantees unpredictability, persons should be mindful of those they will come in contact with and at all times, err on the side of caution.

“We should be mindful of how we approach people. It is better that they are having a bad day but at the end of the day, they can look back and say I was just having a bad day and no one provoked me; rather than you allow yourself to provoke the person, be rude to them and then trigger them off,” reasoned Mr Virgo.

According to the trade unionist, badmind remains the number one source of conflict in the workplace regardless of the industry or asset size. He said oftentimes, perception drives conflict, but noted also that there are those whose purpose is just to create it.

He said each conflict must be treated on its own merit as there’s not one rule that applies across the board.

He’s also encouraging people to stay humble which should help them to avoid getting into certain situations in the first place.

“Humble calf suck the most milk…and the Bible was never wrong, a soft answer turneth away wrath but grievous words stir up anger,” he reiterated.