Mission & Values

The Agency helps build better relationships through joint problem-solving and constructive responses to inevitable conflict. In turn, this improves the ability of organizations to create value for customers, shareholders and employees alike, and substantially benefits the national economy. The Agency concentrates its efforts on assisting employers and employees in coping with the demands of a rapidly changing workplace.

Mission Statement:

FMCS works to build better, more effective workplace relationships and mitigate the damage from inevitable conflict through preventive dialogue, honest communication, and responsive strategies.

The Agency achieves its mission through a number of activities, including:

  • Preventing and minimizing the impact of work stoppages by assisting parties to settle their disputes through mediation in a timely manner;
  • Preserving and promoting labor peace through the development of sound and stable labor-management relationships and practices;
  • Fostering the establishment and maintenance of joint processes to improve labor-management relationships, employment security, and organizational effectiveness;
  • Advocating for collective bargaining, mediation, and voluntary arbitration as the preferred processes for resolving disputes between employers and employee representatives;
  • Assisting parties in dispute by providing a full spectrum of high-quality conflict management and prevention services, including mediation, dispute systems design, strategic planning, facilitation, and coaching;
  • Mediating negotiated rulemaking and public policy negotiations with expert facilitation and process guidance;
  • Offering practical, skills-based education and training courses to interested parties;
  • Maintaining a roster of qualified arbitration service providers; and
  • Collaborating with colleagues, universities, professional organizations, and other groups to further develop the art, science, and practice of conflict management and prevention. The Agency leverages decades of experience throughout each of these activities to support its clients—workplaces, government agencies, tribal groups, and other institutions—in strengthening their individual and organizational capacity to manage and become resilient to conflict. In parallel, this improves their ability to successfully communicate, problem-solve, and create value for their respective organizations, as well as the nation.

Vision Statement:

Demonstrate with every client interaction that FMCS is the nation’s preeminent provider of full-spectrum conflict management and prevention services.

We strongly believe that high-quality conflict management and prevention is integral to the long-term success of workplaces, organizations, institutions, regions, and tribal communities, as well as our nation, to address:

  •  Demands on the critical infrastructure, business sectors, and essential services that support our national and global economy;
  •  Continually changing environments that present organizational and other challenges;
  •  The need for efficient and productive government operations and services;
  •  High stakes public policy negotiations that impact citizens, communities, and environment;
  •  Emerging technologies that influence our day-to-day work and lives; and
  •  Conflict of all kinds, whether at the scale of individuals, organizations, industries, or communities.

Values Statement:

In accordance with its mission and vision as outlined above, FMCS is committed to adhering to the following core principles in both its internal operations and external service delivery:

  •  Accountability: Foster a culture of respectful accountability by clearly communicating standards of conduct and expectations within the Agency, and then holding ourselves and one another accountable to those standards while still allowing room for grace, growth, and development;
  •  Adherence to Professional Standards: Assure that mediators maintain absolute neutrality, confidentiality, and acceptability in their client interactions, and that staff bring respect, professionalism, and competency to their areas of expertise;
  •  Quality and Responsiveness: Produce high-quality work that displays content and process expertise, provides a high degree of responsiveness to client needs, and adds value across all aspects of service delivery and support services;
  •  Craft Mastery: Emphasize lifelong learning and work towards craft mastery through the ongoing development of relevant skills, techniques, processes, and practices at both an individual and organizational level, recognizing that the abilities of our employees are key to the Agency’s efficacy and excellence;
  •  Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Create and maintain a workplace environment that includes and accepts diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and working styles; and ensures that opportunities are provided equitably;
  •  Collegiality and Collaboration: Remain open to the sharing of tools, information, and resources across the Agency and breaking down silos to promote nationwide unity and innovation in ways that best serve clients and advance our mission;
  •  Creativity and Adaptability: Seek creative, collaborative approaches to problem-solving and remain adaptive and nimble in response to change and conflict; and
  •  Open Communication: Honor colleagues, clients, and staff with open communication that allows all parties to respectfully seek, provide, and receive constructive feedback, while appropriately maintaining client confidentiality.