Workplaces Overview

Most organisations have policies & procedures to deal with difficult people & difficult situations. While they may appear to be procedurally fair, rarely are they able to deal effectively with the emotional impact of the harmful behaviour & its aftermath. As a result, people are often dissatisfied with the outcomes of such processes. The state of relationships between people in the workplace is critical to job satisfaction & productivity. Management may be keen for a resolution of these situations for a number of reasons:

• the need to demonstrate that they value their staff
• the need to minimise staff turnover, sick leave, absenteeism & stress leave
• the need to uphold/rebuild morale
• the need for the organisation to put the conflict & its distractions behind them
• the need to reinforce organisational values about the way staff treat each other & their commitment to clients, their work & each other
• the need to exhaust all possible avenues before applying rigourous sanctions

While the presenting problem may be clear-cut, it is rare that this is the only problem experienced in this workplace. In many cases it is the tip of an iceberg which slowly reveals underlying, long-term circumstances which have inevitably led to relationship breakdown. Diagnosis is an important aspect of planning an effective intervention for these circumstances. An in-depth understanding of the issues is achieved by careful interviews with staff and management.

Margaret Thorsborne & Associates offers a range of interventions which are designed to assist in the development of emotionally healthy workplaces &/or to bring about changes in organisational culture.

To ensure that sustainable outcomes are reached, Margaret Thorsborne and Associates works closely with other highly respected consultants and experts. These longer term tailored services include strategic planning, leadership development, change management and coaching. Structures, policies, protocols and procedures are reconfigured to achieve long lasting, positive changes.

But the distinguishing feature of all of this work is the attention paid to the emotional fall-out in these cases and how to rebuild relationships in the wake of such damage.

Workplace Conferencing

This is a carefully facilitated restorative process which can be used as an effective intervention for cases including workplace bullying, aggressive & other challenging behaviours, diminished work performance, grievance resolutions & high levels of conflict where damage has been done to individuals, relationships & productivity, & there is a desire to repair the harm.

Training in this process is a 3-day workshop designed to skill “in-house” facilitators in this approach to problem solving. Participants usually include directors, managers, supervisors, employee & human resources (HR) advisors & consultants.

Team Transformation

This 2 – 3 day workshop is designed for teams that have become dysfunctional; or may never have developed into mature, robust & creative work units. This team rebuilding has a strong focus on developing greater awareness of factors in the workplace that are impeding performance, productivity & job satisfaction, with particular attention on the impact those impediments are having on relationships. Outcomes of this type of workshop could include the development of strategies & skills to overcome these impediments to create a healthier climate, culture and improved productivity.