Franklyn Amerasinghe

Franklyn Amerasinghe, a labour specialist and company director, this week launched his latest publication titled “Mediation in the Workplace” followed by a presentation on “A New Approach to Better Industrial Relations” at the office of Employers’ Federation of Ceylon.

During the presentation, Mr. Amerasinghe stressed on the importance of mediation as opposed to the adversarial technique mostly employed to resolve issues. Tracing back the reasons for confrontations in the work place, Mr. Amerasinghe said that it all boils down to the images that are formed in a person’s early childhood. “We all have a perception of what we think is the reality,” he said, adding “Insecurities lead to fear, especially when things are going against you”. Problem solving must be consensual, as opposed to the fight or flight tendencies, he went on to say.

Collective bargaining with a facilitator brings in a third party who’s skilled in mediation who could always maintain focus on the issue at hand. “This helps steer discussions away from confrontation,” he said, adding that then there will be a better chance of harmony and avoiding breakdown.

As a solution to this, he suggested making changes in human resource policy. “Systems and processes should be a shared responsibility,” he said. He also proposed embracing proper social dialogue and advised “Stop managing and empower”.