Request CRS mediation, mentoring, and training
CRS program description
The Conflict Resolution Services (CRS) team helps County employees to communicate together to reduce tension, raise awareness, discuss differences, acknowledge impact, voluntarily repair their relationships, and improve workplace harmony.
All CRS Services are free to County employees.
Please contact CRS by phone: 408-993-4141 or by email: [email protected]
CRS provides Restorative Services and Educational Services, both of which are intended to help County employees build more harmonious work relationships and work environments within the County organization.
Restorative Services
- Mediation: Restorative Team members mediate confidential, face-to-face conversations between two or more employees to help them repair their work relationships. Employees (including supervisors and managers) voluntarily participate because they choose to repair their work relationship before words and conduct escalate or devolve. Participants meet together with mediators to foster communication, repair the interpersonal relationship, and find a mutually agreeable path forward.
- Circles: A Restorative pilot program offering focused conversations within small groups of employees who are seeking to (re)build awareness, team culture, and shared values.
Educational Services
- Mentoring: CRS Educational Services Team members meet with individual employees, supervisors, and/or managers, who may need to improve their self-awareness of the impact of their words and conduct upon their work performance, work relationships, and work environment.
- Conciliation: A conflict resolution process for employees who want to address the work dynamic with another colleague but are not yet ready to meet face-to-face. Employees meet separately with CRS Educational Team members. Information is exchanged, options are brainstormed, and solutions are proposed by and through the CRS Team members/conciliators, who “shuttle” between the participants. Once the participants have communicated through the conciliators and reached acceptable terms, they may meet in person or via Teams to discuss and finalize the solutions compiled by the conciliators and may enter into a collaborative work agreement.
- Building a Harmonious Work Environment (HWE) Trainings: CRS Team members provide training that encourages the understanding and use of emotional intelligence tools to shift negative impacts of conflict within work teams.
- HWE Part 1: Cultivating Individual Awareness of Conduct During Conflict
- HWE Part 2: Applying Conflict Skills to Work-Related Scenarios
- Addressing Workplace Bullying: Shifting from Unharmonious to Compassionate Behaviors
CRS Program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Conflict Resolution Services (CRS) is a team within the Office of the County Counsel, Equal Opportunity Division (EOD).
EOD provides three separate services for the County:
- Equal Opportunity officers investigate claims of County equal opportunity policy violations;
- Equal Opportunity officers assist County employees, including managers and supervisors, with reasonable accommodations; and
- CRS team members provide Educational Services and/or Restorative Services to County employees.
CRS is located within the County Government Center, 70 West Hedding Street, 3rd Floor, East Wing.
There are numerous, private conference rooms in our building in which we may conduct in-person services. We are also willing to travel to other County buildings and facilities (e.g., hospitals and other department sites) with adequate conference rooms and private offices where we will provide mentoring, mediation, conciliation, and training services, as needed.
No, all CRS services are free to County employees and departments.
The time commitment depends upon the process in which you are participating. The initial steps are generally similar across the CRS processes and begin with an initial inquiry.
- Initial Inquiry from participant or Department Point of Contact: CRS generally responds to emails and calls within one business day.
- Intake Conversation between CRS and the person initiating the discussion or Department Point of Contact: usually scheduled within the same week as the initial inquiry. (30-60 minutes)
- Initial Conversations: Participant 1 Initial Conversation with CRS Team member; then, Participant 2 (if the case involves 2 or more participants) Initial Conversation with CRS Team member. (30-60 minutes each)
- Follow-up Conversations with Participants (20-45 minutes, as needed)
- Conciliation Meeting(s) to finalize a possible collaborative work agreement: These meetings occur after a series of individual conversations between CRS Educational Services Team members the participants to whom they provide mentoring. A goal is for conciliation participants to reach an agreement through an exchange of information (“shuttle diplomacy”) and a negotiation of terms through CRS Team members. (1-2 hours)
- Restorative Mediations. A face-to-face mediation between two individuals may require one or more mediation sessions. (Approximately 2 hours per session)
Generally, no. CRS is an informal, non-disciplinary, non-investigative forum. Therefore, labor agreements and rules that guarantee a right to representation in disciplinary or investigative proceedings do no not apply to CRS processes. CRS Team members work hard to ensure that participants feel comfortable with the process and will answer questions, address concerns, and remain neutral and impartial so that no participant feels that they need a representative present to “balance the power” or to feel treated fairly and respectfully.
If the participant’s manager or supervisor approves the employee's participation in the CRS process, then that participation should be on the participant’s paid County time during the participant’s normal workday (much like attending an LED/sccLearn training).
If the CRS process is initiated by a County employee who chooses not to inform their manager or supervisor that they are participating in the CRS process, the employee's CRS participation should occur during their approved time off or other personal (non-work) time.
CRS Team members are County employees who work within the CRS Team in the Equal Opportunity Division of the Office of the County Counsel. CRS sessions and meetings may occur in person or by MS Teams or Zoom. There is no limit to the number of sessions that a participant may experience. CRS services are provided with the goal of improving work relationships and environments in the County. CRS does NOT offer disciplinary counseling/coaching, nor therapeutic counseling/coaching.
Concern is the County's third-party Employee Assistance Program (EAP) vendor. Employee Portal - Concern (concernhealth.com) Concern counselors, therapists, professional coaches, trainers, and other service providers are not County employees. Visit the Concern website to understand more about Concern's services, in-person and virtual options, any duration or maximum session limits.
Among other things, the County’s Labor Relations Department provides information and guidance to County supervisors, managers, and departments about County labor agreement terms and compliance, departmental personnel investigations, and disciplinary procedures.
CRS is separate from any formal labor-grievance processes, departmental personnel investigation processes, and employee disciplinary processes and procedures. CRS assists employees and managers to build more harmonious work relationships and work environments within the County organization, including helping to address communication dynamics or disagreements stemming from myriad differences, such as personalities, work styles, etc. CRS provides a voluntary and informal process in which employees willingly participate because they choose to seek to improve their own awareness of their own words and conduct or they want to acknowledge the impact that their dynamic with another employee/colleague may be having on them or on their coworkers in the work environment. CRS mentoring, conciliation, training, and mediation are not a part of the County’s discipline process. The content of CRS Mediations is confidential.
Not while the investigation, proceeding, or disciplinary process is ongoing. Those who are parties to an EOD complaint, Whistleblower Program complaint, Whistleblower Program complaint or union grievance or administrative proceeding, are actively participating in a related investigation, or are involved in a disciplinary process disciplinary process may participate in CRS after the investigation, proceeding, or processes end.
CRS is able to offer Harmonious Work Environment (HWE) training to a department that has individual employees who are involved in a complaint, investigative, or disciplinary process because CRS trainings are offered to groups of people, teams, units, and/or departments, without identifying or singling out specific individuals in conflict. The HWE training content may be relevant to all County employees.
CRS is most successful helping employees address misunderstandings, communication breakdowns, and interpersonal conflicts when contacted early and proactively. We recommend contacting CRS before work performance is adversely affected, discipline is needed, or formal complaint and/or investigative processes have begun.
Any County employee of any rank, code, or classification may request to participate in a CRS mentoring, conciliation, or mediation session, so long as there is no active EOD investigation, Whistleblower Program investigation, union grievance or administrative proceeding, or disciplinary process pending regarding the issues for which CRS services are sought.
During the initial (intake) conversation, CRS Team members will engage in a conversation with you to understand the concerns and context involved in the situation, and the goals that you have for the process. A CRS Team member will explain the CRS service options and the process differences so that you may make an informed decisions about whether to participate.
Simply email [email protected] or call 408-993-4141 to schedule a time to ask questions or to initiate a request for CRS services.
No. CRS offers County employees the opportunity to participate in CRS processes, independent of any performance appraisal process.
- CRS does not assist with personnel investigations or discipline.
- Call: managers/supervisors call Labor Relations for this purpose; employees may contact their union
- CRS does not provide counseling or therapy.
- Call: employees may call CONCERN EAP (800) 344-4222
- CRS does not conduct equal opportunity or whistleblower program investigations.
- Call the Equal Opportunity Division's main line (408) 993-4840
- Call the Whistleblower Program (888) 302-7743
- CRS does not provide legal advice (departments should their assigned County Counsel attorney).
Yes, CRS works with all County employees, regardless of job title, job classification, or whether they supervise others.