Basic Mediation Training Offered at the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution
by Jen Drake
At the end of one interview, my potential employer asked how much pay I required. In prior interviews this was a disconcertingly tricky question. In this interview, because I came prepared to negotiate by researching similar pay scales, they offered me $6,000 more per year. Economic Professor Linda Babcock states in her book, Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, that by not negotiating one’s first salary, an individual stands to lose more than $500,000 by age 60. Negotiation is a core piece of mediation, and the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution is offering a July 14-18 Mediation training to empower community members and train them to peacefully resolve conflicts and learn solid negotiation skills.
Salary isn’t the only issue to negotiate. Many employees dread going to work because of conflicts. Some flee from jobs they once loved; others endure the situation. Clinical psychologist Brady Wilson wrote in the Personnel Journal that workforce conflicts amount to a loss of billions of dollars and are the most devastating problems in the workforce. Work conflict often escalates quickly, so what could have been resolved with a bit of good will now becomes a stronghold competition. Negotiating through a Dispute Resolution Center provides a trained Mediator and a healthy alternative to combat conflict. Early intervention can bring resolution and satisfaction since both parties have been heard and have been part of the settlement, not a victim of a system or a beneficiary of a mysterious process.
Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution exists to peacefully resolve conflicts and empower individuals with communication and negotiation tools to use the next time a conflict arises. Whether you would like to be trained as a certified mediator or resolve your conflict, the Center for Dispute Resolution is there for you.
The Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution is offering a 40-hour Basic Mediation Training July 14-18 in Tacoma. This forty-hour training is Washington State certified, and teaches mediation to promote conflict resolution. Continued Learning Education (CLE) credits are available. For more information go to the website at http://www.pccdr.org/training.html or call Jen Drake at (253) 572-3657.
