tips from dispute resolution experts
Dealing with someone who makes personal attacks
1. Ignore the attacks and focus on the issues;
2. Try to determine if you did anything to upset them and if so,
apologize;
3. Set ground rules for behaviour; or
4. Use an “I” statement to indicate that attacks are not helpful.
Dealing with someone who is stubborn and positional
1. Separate the people from the problem and focus on the problem.
2. Show that you are open to being persuaded by them and that their
view has merit.
3. Look for creative ways to accept their position and add in what
you need.
4. Talk about how you will both be worse off if they won’t budge
and an agreement cannot be reached.
Dealing with someone who lies or is untrustworthy
1. Ask yourself whether the lie is about something important or just
puffery.
2. Ask for proof/third party verification.
3. Outline impact on future interactions if present discussion is based
on lie/misinformation.
4. Build in a consequence that will occur if they have lied.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop dates near you:
Toronto: October 6-9, November 11-14, December 9-12
St. John’s: October 21-24
Ottawa: November 4-7
“The ADR Workshop was by far
the best course I have attended in
my 30+ year career in HR. A must
attend for HR Professionals. I have
used the tools on a regular basis.”
- Dan Heard, HR
Ministry of Community & Social
Services, Bleinheim
“Each day was packed with
information. The role playing
method of instruction was much
more effective than the normal
lecture format of other seminars.”
- Gerry Walsh, HR
AOC Resins and Coatings
Company, Guelph
Contact us to speak to an instructor
1.800.318.9741 | adr.ca | contact@adr.ca
GROUP
SPIRIT AND ENTHUSIASM
A professional requires energy, drive, ini-tiative,
commitment, involvement and
enthusiasm. This too appears to be valid
for HR professionals.
CIVILITY AND COLLEGIALITY
This is an interesting element for HR since
some HR professionals will be members of
a professional regulatory body while oth-ers
will not be. And yet, HR professionals
(whether members of the professional reg-ulatory
body or not) cannot stand apart
from the profession – individual HR pro-fessionals
cannot divorce themselves from
the rest of the profession. Whenever an
HR professional behaves in a way that
falls below the expected level of profes-sionalism,
it reflects poorly on all HR
professionals.
SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC GOOD
This refers to the balance between the
duty to serve the client and the obliga-tion
to serve the public good. Business
ethics and professional ethics are not the
same and this dichotomy presents chal-lenges
to professionals who are guided by
a commitment to serve the public good,
but are embedded within an organization
that may only be interested in maximizing
profits.
Like other embedded professionals, HR
professionals need to work out how to
make public service coexist with the prof-it
motive.
BALANCED COMMERCIALISM
Income and status cannot become the
primary goals of professional life – the
primary goal of professional life should be
service to others.
As noted at the outset, these defin-ing
“building blocks” were developed for
lawyers; however, the definition appears
to work well for HR professionals in the
sense that each element seems to apply
equally well. In time, the HR profession
will likely develop its own definition of
professionalism, but for now, this defini-tion
provides a good starting point. ■
Phil Wilson, SHRP is chair of the Human
Resources Professionals Association (HRPA).
8 ❚ OCTOBER 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL