Common Ground
A neutral third party for workplace conflict that is not resolving on its own. We bring everyone involved to the table, surface what is actually happening, and guide all parties toward outcomes they can live with, without escalation.
It is the prerequisite for the work to be effective. We serve both employers and employees, but never as an advocate for either side of a specific conflict. Our role is to listen fairly, document accurately, and guide everyone involved toward a workable path forward. Not to win the engagement for one party.
If any of these sound familiar, a discovery call can help you understand whether mediation, a guided conversation, or a different intervention is the right next step.
Two employees, a department, or a peer group at an impasse, and the friction is starting to affect everyone around them.
The working relationship has broken down and standard performance conversations are not getting either party unstuck.
A workplace concern surfaced, was addressed internally, but the underlying relationships still need repair before the team can move forward.
Before a separation is finalized, both parties want a structured conversation to land the outcome cleanly and with dignity.
Something is off across the team or department, but no one is sure exactly what. A neutral assessment surfaces what the people inside cannot.
Your internal HR or leadership team has worked on it, and the situation has not moved. Sometimes a neutral outside voice is what unlocks it.
Workplace conflict rarely fits one model. Engagements are scoped to the situation, sometimes a single guided conversation, sometimes a multi-touchpoint process, but every engagement carries the same neutrality and the same care for everyone involved.
A structured conversation between two or more parties, facilitated by a neutral third party. We prepare everyone separately, frame the conversation, and guide it toward outcomes that hold up after the meeting ends. Most engagements resolve in one to three sessions.
When the situation is not yet ready for a guided conversation, or when the issue spans more people than two parties, we conduct a structured assessment: interviews with everyone involved, root cause analysis, and a written report that names what is actually happening and recommends a path forward.
A resolution agreement is only as strong as the follow-up that holds it. We build in scheduled check-ins, accountability touchpoints, and a clear escalation path if the agreement starts to slip, so the work does not have to be redone.
For situations where the conflict has damaged the relationship but the parties still need to work together, a longer facilitated dialogue rebuilds the working relationship deliberately, beyond resolving the immediate issue.
A free 30-minute discovery call with the requesting party. We listen, scope the situation, confirm whether mediation is the right tool, and explain confidentiality and our neutral role.
Everyone involved agrees to participate. We confirm the engagement scope, the confidentiality terms, and the role we will play. Both parties know exactly what to expect before anything begins.
Whether a guided conversation, an assessment, or a longer dialogue, we run the engagement. Pre-meetings with each party. Joint sessions when ready. Documentation of what is shared and agreed.
The engagement closes with a written outcome: an agreement, a set of recommendations, or a path forward, plus scheduled follow-up to verify the resolution holds.
Most HR firms work for the company. We work for the outcome.
It is what allows us to be credible to everyone involved when all parties show up at the table.
No. Court-ordered mediation happens after a legal action has been filed and is run through the court process. We are HR-led workplace mediation, designed to resolve conflict before it ever reaches that stage. Our engagements are structured, professional, and produce written outcomes, but they are HR practice, not legal proceedings. We are not attorneys and our work is not protected by attorney-client privilege.
Outcomes are documented as a written agreement between the parties, typically signed by everyone involved and incorporated into the relevant employee files. They are professionally binding and treated as commitments, not just recommendations. If a party wants the agreement to have legal force beyond that, we can help you decide whether to engage counsel to formalize it.
Mediation requires consent from everyone involved, and we will not proceed without it. If one party declines, we work with the requesting party to understand why, address concerns about the process, and decide whether a different intervention, an assessment, a coaching engagement, or a different scope, would be more appropriate. We never push a party into a process they have not agreed to.
In most engagements, the employer commissions the work. Active retainer clients receive significantly reduced rates. Charging for dispute work, even modestly, is what allows us to remain a credible neutral when everyone involved shows up at the table. Free dispute work would compromise the neutrality both audiences rely on. The engagement is always priced and scoped before any work begins.
Power imbalances are common: manager and direct report, employer and individual employee, senior and junior team member. Our process is designed to surface and account for them. Pre-meetings with each party separately, careful framing of joint sessions, structured ground rules, and willingness to pause or restructure the engagement if the imbalance is undermining the work. The goal is a fair process, not a process that ignores reality.
Most guided conversations resolve in one to three sessions over two to four weeks. Climate assessments and longer facilitated dialogues run four to eight weeks depending on scope and the number of people involved. We will give you an honest timeline and price estimate on the discovery call before any commitment.
Yes. Held in professional confidentiality. Everything shared in pre-meetings stays in pre-meetings unless you explicitly authorize us to bring it into the joint session. Important note: we are HR professionals, not attorneys, so this is professional confidentiality, not attorney-client privilege. If your situation may need privileged conversation, we will tell you and help you decide whether to engage counsel.
Tell us what is going on. We will listen, scope the situation, and walk through whether mediation, an assessment, or a different intervention is the right next step, at no cost and no commitment.
Because all progress begins on Neutral Ground.
