Mediator problems

October 26, 2022 4:55 PM

I am a mediator for a large agency. Currently, my agency rates my work on the amount of money claimants collect and the number of cases I settle. Both measurements have inherent problems. What are other metrics that can be used to measure the success of a mediation program?

I’m the program coordinator for a small mediation program in a large agency. My success as a mediator is currently measured by the amount of money that claimants recover in mediation settlements, and my settlement rate. The dollar-amount metric messes with neutrality, even if only subconsciously. The settlement rate has been frustrating me due to my inability to settle the percentage of cases that is expected – close to the EEOC’s rate of approximately 70%. The last few months I’ve been at 30%. While that rate has only been the past couple of months, my more usual numbers range from 50-65%. I’m afraid I’m either the world’s worst mediator, or I’m not triaging cases appropriately.

I need advice on how to revamp things so that my program embodies the tenets of mediation, settles cases efficiently, and its work product can be measured in a fair and transparent way.

posted by furtheryet to Work & Money (5 answers total)

I would try:

1) Compare the success and wholeness of your clients post-mediation with that of similar cases/clients without mediation;

2) Compare the success and wholeness (financial, emotional, professional, maybe even environmental) of your clients with what their likely outcomes would be without mediation;

3) Very specific, well-thought-out customer satisfaction metrics;

4) Comparison of your customer satisfaction to that of other firms (if you must);

5) Number of repeat customers;

6) after sharing your success metrics, and perhaps stories, the rate of change in your attraction of new clients _compared to the industry-wide trends_. That is, if the number of mediation cases falls for the general population, is your firm's case count going down as quickly? Is your firm's case count going up at the same or better rate than that for your city/state/country in general?

7) I don't know the tenets of mediation, but perhaps those could be a basis for one or more success metrics.
posted by amtho at 5:28 PM on October 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I knew a law professor who successfully got the mediation program introduced and established in a county(?) court in California. IIRC, one of the best metrics of the program was participant satisfaction--even in cases that resulted in no or very small settlements/agreements, the parties still rated the program very highly. This metric was especially helpful in advocating to continue the program and get funding, etc, in the early days when there wasn't much case study data to prove effectiveness.

The choice of party satisfaction also aligns with a major tenet of mediation/ADR (alternative dispute resolution), which is giving agency to the parties to resolve disputes outside of the more inflexible big-machine legal system. The parties here didn't care as much about not getting the max $$$ because the mediation allowed them to get their experience acknowledged and their needs heard in another way.

(I may be conflating some info with another mediation program I knew, but in both cases the metric or emphasis was on party participation and perception of the dispute-resolution process.)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:18 PM on October 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

It's also worth considering if your clients are the average client -

if you have a higher than average proportion of clients who are one or more of:

chronically ill/Disabled;

poor English language skills;

undocumented;

homeless;

marginalised or discriminated against in some other way;

that might be affecting your statistics and should be taken into account - your wins might be worth more/should count as more because they were harder to achieve.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:51 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

Net Promoter Score is that "would you recommend this?" mechanism you might use.

I'd want something which shows the outcomes have costs and benefits for both sides but a net win-win.
posted by k3ninho at 11:50 AM on October 27, 2022

Do you have a way to track cases that don’t settle during mediation? It would be interesting to know what happens to those matters. If they settle later on outside of mediation, is that settlement consistent with your assessment of the value of the case? If they don’t settle, how do the parties feel about the outcome - would they have been better off settling?

The amount recovered by the claimant definitely isn’t the right amount. You’d need to take into account how much additional time and money the claimant would have spent for the chance to get more money, as well as the risk of ending up with nothing. In my experience, the best mediators are the ones who are the most skilled at evaluating these risks and benefits.
posted by Carmelita Spats at 3:53 PM on October 30, 2022