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Mediation · Investigation · Prevention

Healthy workplaces, through listening and integrity

Auréa RH Conseil supports management, HR teams and employees in harassment prevention, conflict resolution and sensitive situation management, to build healthy, equitable and sustainable organizations.

Workplace mediation, Auréa RH Conseil
25+
Years of experience in HR and LR
CHRA
Certified member
100%
Guaranteed neutrality
6
Specialized areas of expertise

An outside perspective, human-centered
and rigorously impartial

Workplaces thrive when people feel heard, respected and safe. Every engagement I undertake aims to create the conditions necessary for organizations to move forward with clarity, and for individuals to express themselves without fear.

At Auréa RH Conseil, I believe that every situation is unique and every person deserves to be received with sensitivity. I take the time to understand each person's experience, the nuances and emotions involved, and the dynamics that influence workplace relationships. This allows me to build a climate of trust, essential for obtaining accurate information and fostering lasting solutions.

All our interventions comply with the professional standards of the Ordre des CRHA and the expectations of the CNESST regarding investigations, dispute resolution and prevention.

By understanding people deeply, approaching situations with clarity and disciplined analysis, and acting with unwavering integrity, I help organizations make decisions that are fair, respectful, and impactful.
Hugues Thibault, CRIA · Accredited Mediator · Founder
Hugues Thibault, CRIA, Founder of Auréa RH Conseil
Hugues Thibault
CRIA · Accredited Mediator · Founder
L
Listening
Welcoming each person with attention, sensitivity and respect to truly understand their experience.
N
Neutrality
I analyze situations with objectivity and independence, without bias, to preserve the integrity of every process.
M
Method
Our processes follow best practices and the standards of the Ordre des CRHA. Clear, documented and consistent criteria, in compliance with the professional code of ethics.
I
Integrity
Acting with consistency, honesty and responsibility, respecting people as much as principles.

Comprehensive expertise in human resources
and labour relations management

Intervening early protects your budget: every ignored tension ends up costing far more in absenteeism, lost productivity and mobilized resources. A neutral and structured approach saves you money right away by quickly restoring a healthy climate and avoiding weeks of crisis management.

01

Harassment and incivility investigation

Independent and impartial investigations into psychological harassment, incivility, discrimination and misconduct. Rigorous reports with concrete recommendations.

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02

Mediation and dispute resolution

Mediation is not a last resort, it is strategic support. By creating a space where emotions can be expressed and heard without judgment, it allows the parties to co-create their own solutions.

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03

Climate analysis

Deeply understanding what teams experience to inform decisions, guide fair actions and sustainably strengthen workplace climate.

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04

Harassment and psychosocial risk prevention

Providing organizations with clear and reassuring benchmarks to prevent psychological harassment and truly protect individuals.

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05

Labour relations and sensitive situation management

Strategically supporting managers in their sensitive decisions and helping them communicate with clarity, consistency and respect.

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06

Strategic consulting in human issues

Helping organizations see clearly through their human challenges, make structuring decisions and take actions that truly transform their culture.

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What my clients
often ask me

Before starting a process, it's natural to want to understand how it works, what it involves and what it delivers. Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions to help you make an informed decision.

I conduct an independent and impartial process aimed at establishing the facts with rigour. My role is to listen to each person with respect, analyze information objectively and present clear conclusions that enable the organization to make informed decisions.

Mediation is a confidential, structured and reassuring space where individuals can finally express what they are experiencing, without fear of judgment. My role is to help each person clarify their needs, understand the real issues behind the conflict and find common ground. Through a guided, respectful and solution-focused process, mediation restores authentic dialogue, reduces tensions and helps co-create lasting agreements. It is a humane, fast and effective approach to preventing escalation and preserving working relationships.

An investigation aims to establish the facts and determine whether a situation constitutes harassment under the law. Mediation is a voluntary process that allows the parties to co-create a lasting solution in a confidential, non-judgmental space. Both approaches address different needs and can be complementary.

A climate analysis helps understand what teams are truly experiencing: tensions, strengths, irritants and relational dynamics. It provides a clear picture that helps the organization act wisely and make lasting improvements to the workplace.

Neutrality rests on a constant posture of fairness, non-judgmental listening and transparency. I clarify the steps, boundaries and protections from the outset, so that each person knows they are treated with the same consideration. Furthermore, independence is at the core of my professional obligations.

Yes. I review the existing policy, ensure its compliance with legal obligations and rewrite it so it is clear, accessible and consistent with your internal practices. I can also support its implementation with your teams.

I help them clarify the issues, assess risks, choose appropriate actions and communicate with consistency and respect. My role is to offer them a safe space to reflect and make decisions with confidence.

My approach combines extensive experience in diverse unionized environments, public, parapublic and private, with a deeply human and rigorous posture. I place central importance on authentic listening, active neutrality and clarity in communications. Every engagement is conducted with sensitivity, transparency and method, in order to offer realistic, consistent and lasting solutions that respect both people and organizations.

Confidentiality is at the heart of my practice. I specify from the outset what can be shared, with whom and for what purpose, so that each person understands the protections in place. The information gathered is handled with caution and transparency, in strict compliance with legal obligations and agreed-upon boundaries.

Costs vary depending on the type of mandate, the number of people involved and the complexity of the situation. We always provide a clear estimate before the mandate begins, including the planned steps, deliverables and terms. Our goal: to offer you a rigorous, transparent approach proportionate to your needs.

Insights and resources

Impartiality in Investigations: Why It's Difficult — and How to Achieve It
Investigation · Rigour

Impartiality in Investigations: Why It's Difficult — and How to Achieve It

Impartiality is the foundation of any credible investigation. Without

6 min read
What Your Harassment Policies Aren't Telling You
Prevention · Legislation

What Your Harassment Policies Aren't Telling You

Most organizations have a harassment policy. It's in the employee handbook. It's been approved by a lawyer. And yet — the complaints keep coming.

4 min read
Psychological Safety: The Invisible Foundation of a High-Performing Team
Climate · Prevention

Psychological Safety: The Invisible Foundation of a High-Performing Team

We measure team performance with numbers. But what allows a team to perform sustainably rests on something less visible: psychological safety.

5 min read

Act before the situation escalates

Workplace tensions don't resolve themselves. Let's talk in complete confidentiality, before positions become entrenched.

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Impartiality in Investigations: Why It's Difficult — and How to Achieve It

Impartiality in Investigations: Why It's Difficult — and How to Achieve It

Impartiality is the foundation of any credible investigation. Without it, conclusions are contestable, recommendations are ignored, and the trust of all parties — and the organization — is lost. Yet maintaining genuine impartiality is one of the most difficult challenges in workplace investigations.

Why it's so difficult

We all have biases. Past experiences that colour how we read situations. Patterns we recognize too quickly. First impressions that impose themselves before we even realize it. In an investigation, these biases can distort fact-gathering, the assessment of witness credibility, and the final conclusions.

Add to that organizational pressure. The internal investigator knows the parties. They have hierarchical ties. They know what the organization hopes to find. These factors create real — or perceived — conflicts of interest that compromise the integrity of the process.

Impartiality isn't the absence of opinion. It's the discipline of setting your opinions aside and letting the facts speak.

The principles of an impartial investigation

* Independence — the investigator must have no significant hierarchical or personal ties to the parties * Factual rigour — conclusions rest on established facts, not impressions or probabilities * Transparency of reasoning

— every conclusion is substantiated, explainable, and defensible before a third party

Why engage an external investigator

In most sensitive situations, an external investigation isn't a luxury — it's a necessity. Not only because it guarantees independence, but because it protects the organization itself. A rigorous external investigation report is defensible. It withstands challenge. It gives the organization a solid foundation for action.

What Your Harassment Policies Aren't Telling You

What Your Harassment Policies Aren't Telling You

Most organizations have a harassment policy. It's in the employee handbook. It's been approved by a lawyer. It defines prohibited behaviours. It outlines the available recourses. And yet — the complaints keep coming. Tensions persist. People suffer in silence.

The problem with policies

A policy is a document. It doesn't change behaviours. It doesn't create a climate. It doesn't give managers the tools to detect tensions before they become formal complaints.

In most harassment cases I've had to handle, the policy existed. The problem wasn't the absence of rules — it was the absence of skills to apply them consistently, fairly, and humanely.

A well-drafted policy is worthless in the hands of a manager who lacks the skills to create a safe climate.

What must accompany the policy

  • Real training for managers — not a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation, but training that actually changes behaviours
  • Reporting mechanisms that are accessible, confidential, and credible
  • Visible commitment from leadership to the principles, not just the documents
  • Consistent management practices that make the policy real, not symbolic

Prevention is a system

Preventing harassment isn't about checking a box. It's about building a system where expected behaviours are clear, applied consistently, and where people know they will be heard if they report a problem. The policy is the starting point — not the destination.

Psychological Safety: The Invisible Foundation of a High-Performing Team

Psychological Safety: The Invisible Foundation of a High-Performing Team

We measure team performance with numbers. But what allows a team to perform sustainably — to innovate, to make mistakes and correct course, to say what really needs to be said — rests on something less visible: psychological safety.

What it is — and what it isn't

Psychological safety is the shared belief that team members can speak up, ask questions, flag a problem, or admit a mistake without risk of being punished, ridiculed, or excluded. It's not niceness. It's not the absence of conflict. It's an environment where truth can flow.

Why it's strategic

Without psychological safety, problems go unspoken. Mistakes accumulate in silence. Top performers leave — or burn out quietly. Conflicts seem to emerge from nowhere, because tensions were never allowed to surface early.

A psychologically safe climate isn't a luxury — it's the baseline condition for an organization to learn and improve.

The four levels

  • Inclusion safety — feeling accepted as you are, without a mask
  • Learner safety — being able to ask questions and make mistakes
  • Contributor safety — daring to propose different ideas
  • Challenger safety — being able to question the status quo

Most organizations operate at level 1 or 2. Reaching levels 3 and 4 requires deliberate effort from leadership — and it starts with the manager's behaviours, not with policies.

Inconsistent Decisions, Real Impact: Preventing Arbitrary Management

Inconsistent Decisions, Real Impact: Preventing Arbitrary Management

Arbitrary management is when decisions rest on preferences, moods, or impressions rather than clear, documented criteria. It's often invisible to the person doing it. But it's never invisible to those on the receiving end.

Three criteria to recognize it

  • Lack of objective criteria — decisions cannot be explained or justified by standards known in advance
  • Inconsistency — rules are applied differently depending on the person or context, with no transparent rationale
  • Unpredictability — employees don't know what to expect, forcing them to constantly adjust their behaviour based on the mood of the day

Why it's dangerous

Arbitrary management erodes trust — not all at once, but gradually. An employee who doesn't understand why their colleague was promoted and they weren't. A sanction that seems disproportionate compared to similar behaviour ignored in someone else. A favour never explained.

Each inconsistent decision chips away a little more at the fabric of the working relationship. And once trust is lost, it's very difficult to rebuild without outside intervention.

You can't ask your teams to trust a system they don't understand.

Psychological safety at stake

When the rules of the game aren't clear or aren't applied fairly, people stop investing themselves. They do the bare minimum. They protect themselves by avoiding initiative. Creativity, loyalty, and engagement decline gradually — often long before the situation reaches the stage of a formal complaint.

What can be done concretely

  • Document and communicate the criteria used for important decisions (promotions, evaluations, disciplinary measures)
  • Apply rules consistently, regardless of the individual or personal affinities
  • Allow employees to understand the decisions that affect them, even when the answer isn't the one they hoped for
  • Train managers to recognize their own biases in decision-making

Preventing arbitrary management is one of the most concrete and lasting forms of harassment prevention. Because a fair and predictable environment leaves no room for escalation.

When Rationality Fails: Why Conflict Management Starts with Managing Emotions

When Rationality Fails: Why Conflict Management Starts with Managing Emotions

In a conflict, presenting rational arguments isn't enough. Often, it makes things worse. Not because the arguments are wrong — but because the other person isn't in analysis mode. They're in protection mode.

What actually happens in a conflict

When someone feels attacked, unfairly treated, or ignored, their brain doesn't function the same way it does under normal conditions. It interprets, generalizes, reacts. It looks for evidence that validates the feeling. Rationality simply doesn't have access to the mental space it needs to prevail.

That's why conflicts resist logical arguments. You can be right — completely, objectively right — and still not move an inch forward. Because logic cannot dislodge an unnamed emotion.

You don't resolve a conflict with arguments. You resolve it by creating the conditions where people can truly hear each other again.

The role of emotions in mediation

Mediation creates a space where emotions can be expressed, named, and heard without judgment. It's not therapy. It's a structured space, with clear rules, that allows each party to feel genuinely heard — before solutions are even discussed.

Only once that space has been created can people reflect, listen, and co-build their own solutions. Solutions that last, because they come from the people themselves.

Three concrete steps

  • Acknowledge the emotional state at play — without judging it, without trying to fix it
  • Create a safe space for expression: structure, confidentiality, neutrality
  • Only then introduce the facts, the needs, and potential solutions

This sequence feels counterintuitive to many managers trained to solve problems. But in a conflict situation, it's the only approach that produces lasting results.

Emotional Literacy: The Key Skill for Leaders Who Want to Prevent Conflict

Emotional Literacy: The Key Skill for Leaders Who Want to Prevent Conflict

We talk a lot about leadership. But the skill that would prevent the most conflicts in organizations is neither technical nor legal. It's emotional. And yet, it's often the least developed competency among managers.

What it really is

Emotional literacy is the ability to identify, name, and understand emotions — your own and those of others. It's not naive empathy. It's not psychology. It's a rigorous, observable skill that can be learned and practiced. And in a management context, it changes everything.

Why it matters in management

Workplace conflicts follow an emotional logic that few leaders know how to read. An employee who's been silent for three weeks. A meeting where everyone nods but nobody truly speaks. A decision that "doesn't land" without anyone understanding why. These signals almost always precede escalation — and a leader who can decode them can intervene long before the situation spirals.

Spotting tensions early doesn't require being a psychologist. It requires being present — and knowing what to look for.

The management training paradox

We value certifications, technical skills, and processes. We train managers in performance management, HR policies, and legal obligations. All important things. But the skill that truly maintains a healthy work environment — the ability to read the emotional state of a team — is often missing from management training programs.

What it changes in practice

A manager who understands the emotional dynamics at play within their team can:

  • Intervene before tension becomes an open conflict
  • Make decisions perceived as fairer and more consistent
  • Maintain a psychologically safe climate without imposing additional rules
  • Retain the trust of their team, even in difficult moments

Emotional literacy is not a luxury reserved for "sensitive" leaders. It's a strategic skill for any manager who wants to build a strong team and prevent situations that are costly — both in human and organizational terms.

Insights & Resources

All articles

Investigation · Rigour

Impartiality in Investigations: Why It's Difficult — and How to Achieve It

March 15, 2024 · 6 min read
Prevention · Legislation

What Your Harassment Policies Aren't Telling You

March 1, 2024 · 4 min read
Climate · Prevention

Psychological Safety: The Invisible Foundation of a High-Performing Team

February 15, 2024 · 5 min read
Management · Work Climate

Inconsistent Decisions, Real Impact: Preventing Arbitrary Management

February 1, 2024 · 4 min read
Mediation · Emotions

When Rationality Fails: Why Conflict Management Starts with Managing Emotions

January 22, 2024 · 6 min read
Leadership · Prevention

Emotional Literacy: The Key Skill for Leaders Who Want to Prevent Conflict

January 15, 2024 · 5 min read