01. MEDIATION
Mediation is the involvement of a competent and impartial third party in a dispute, with the purpose of helping the parties solve their differences and improve their relations in the future. A secure environment is created during the process, where the parties feel protagonists, not only of the process but also of the results. It is a negotiation assisted by a third party, where the parties implied feature more freedom when designing their own trajectory and result.
An improvement in communication is the main tool the mediator counts with. In this sense, we help having a more real and objective vision of the situation and therefore, designing the possible alternatives for the agreement.
Unlike other ways of intervention of third parties, through mediation, parties have the permanent control over the results, as they can always accept or turn down any proposal.
Sometimes, conflicts that we don’t know how to deal with and that need a more direct and personal intervention towards the workers and/or their representatives, come up. These situations need to be solved in due course as they can lead to serious crisis for the progress of the entity.
Basically, mediation distinguishes from other alternatives of conflict resolution in giving response to the interest of every side. It is therefore, a conciliatory solution that gets over a triple test:
- Responds to the interests of the parties
- Corresponds to a range of factors, such us applicable law or the internal politics of the organization
- It is better than the “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement”, that is, the alternative a party can take if an agreement cannot be reached.
02. ADVANTAGES
Mediation has countless advantages, contrary to other procedures to solve disputes
- A greater collaboration environment is created
- Diverse solution criteria are given
- Lower costs
- Confidential agreements
- Precedents are not set
- Creative solutions are generated
- Interest oriented
- High percentage of compliance
- Faster than a trial
- Volunteer
- Win-win based
- Human relations are smoothed
- Corporate image is protected, etc.
Through the mediation process, the Spanish and international commercial arbitration, the services of mediation, arbitration and conciliation, companies can achieve the resolution of business conflicts as well as a long-standing social peace, which means new business opportunities that increase the action value, together with the welfare of the main asset of the company: the human one.
Summing up, the terms are shorter than traditional trial, at a reasonable cost, bridges of future are built and, therefore, high value to the parties is given.
“In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh-
03. THE MEDIATOR
The task of the mediator consists in helping the parties identifying their own interests, treating them as a priority and easing the understanding of the other party interests, beyond their original positions.
The mediator is a figure who doesn’t make any decision for the parties, but listens, asks, sounds out and, sometimes, provokes and bring the parties face to face to help them. He brings about the generation of a communication and negotiation process, which will allow parties analyze the problem in depth, produce results and set the next steps to follow in order to reach satisfactory and long-term arrangements.
Mediator’s functions and responsibilities are the following:
- Agree on the basic communication and conduct rules between the parties.
- Lead the process to constructive solutions.
- Be impartial, inspire confidence to the parties, control the entire process and respect the confidentiality of all the information reported.
- Create the room where the parties are able to report to him the information they wouldn’t have given to each other, but dare to tell the mediator.
- Be responsible for the quality of the agreement, as the parties will be responsible of both reaching the agreement and the agreement itself.
“Every time a border is established and a bridge is built to overcome it, both sides result benefited”
–Clara Obligado-
04. METHODOLOGY
In virtue of the professional experience of its founder –more than 25 years in a multi-national and a decade in national and international trade unions organizations-, CONZIERTA provides a unique and expert vision in order to understand the conflict in the work sector.
Usually, parties tend to lay on the table their own positions, and don’t state their interests afraid of the other party might use them against. For this reason, in a mediation process, we do bear in mind the following concepts:
- The positions – are the specific demands both parties state in order to satisfy their necessities.
- The interests – are the parties’ real necessities, the reasons why each of them adopt their original positions.
- The priorities – parties have a preference for the different interests.
At CONZIERTA, we work under the following principles:
- Each client is unique
- We get involved in their business culture
- Confidentiality and discretion are guaranteed
- Wide experience
- Specialized knowledge and skills
- Deep study of each case
05. THE CLIENT
A.- MULTINATIONAL AND SME COMPANIES
CONZIERTA offers mediation to multinational and SME companies:
- Social and labour mediation with their workers
- Prevention and managing of conflict
- Mediation in social and labour conflicts inside the work centres
- Mediation in the legal representation of the workers
- Mediation among the company’s departments
- Resolution of business conflicts
- Conflicts and negotiation inside organizations
- Arbitration in Spain and abroad
- Spain and international scope
B.- TRADE UNIONS, BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS
AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION ORGANIZATIONS
CONZIERTA also provides a service to Trade Unions, Business Organizations and International Trade Union Organizations through:
- Negotiation between trade unions
- Negotiation inside the trade unions between countries
- Negotiation with companies in order to bring forward measures or negotiate
- Collective bargaining agreement
- International framework agreements
- Global trade union alliances
- Agreements between International Trade Union Organizations and multinationals of the different fields of activity
- Strategic alliances between international trade union organizations
- Spain and international scope
C. LARGE CONSULTING COMPANIES
CONZIERTA gives a strategic complementary vision to the services offered by large consulting companies, as includes the knowledge of the problems of the company and the trade union.
- Fields: social and labour
- Very specific service
- Strategic reflection
- International business arbitration
- Mediation, arbitration and conciliation service
- Spain and international scope
“Where the capacity to reach an agreement exists, there will be peace”
D. MEDIATION FOR ALL KINDS OF CONFLICTS
Nowadays, it is possible to find solutions to solve any divergence, avoiding going to the courts. With mediation as a procedure for solving conflicts, the parties have a flexible and economic tool to reach agreements. It is a confidential and volunteer procedure that favours communication, dialogue, consensus and that offers tailor-made solutions adapted to the necessities of the parties in conflict and prevents future conflicts.
CONZIERTA intercedes in conflicts of the following areas:
- Business relations between people and companies: commercial and mortgage sector, bank contracts, insurance contracts, fulfilment of contracts, relations of rentals of business premises, civil liability, relations between clients and suppliers, non-payments, relations between partners.
- Family mediation. Prevention of separation and/or divorce processes. When unavoidable, we smooth the process both psychological and emotionally for the spouses, the children, as well as all other members of the family.
- School mediation. Prevention of school latent conflicts among parents, pupils and parents organizations, providing a channel for communication and resolution of conflicts.
- Mediation at organizations. This is the one we practice inside private and public institutions, or inside companies among the members of such organizations for multiple reasons. The conflicts can be horizontal (between workers of the same level) or vertical (between directors and employees). By using mediation, organizations will benefit from a decrease of medical leaves, understanding inside working teams and so on.
- Sanitary or medical mediation. It is a very important tool of prevention of the conflicts that take place everyday between the sanitary professionals and the patients they take care of, in a way that they get solved avoiding courts and the traumatic situations that affect the quality of the health care system
E. HIGHLIGHTS
CONZIERTA tackles the managing of conflict and negotiation at organizations in each of the different moments it might appear and also, from different points of view:
a) Prevention of crisis:
- Anticipatory work
- Fuse between the company and the labour force (and/or their legal representatives)
b) Management of the crisis when it is already triggered
- Medium-size company with problems with Human Resources and / or Labour Relations.
- Multi-national with labour conflicts between branches and/or countries.
- Absence of understanding between with the Legal Representatives of the workers.
c) Management of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
- Good corporate management
- Advice of the circumstances in every country.
- Add value to the intangible assets