Reflections and Emerging Themes from Seminar 3

Paul LatreilleRichard Saundry

Innovation and mediation

• Innovation in conflict management in the UK centred on mediation

• Direct benefits – business case for mediation• Broader impact

– ‘mediation has the potential to lead to a major and dramatic shift in the culture of employment relations’ (BIS, 2011:13)

• Extent of mediation use in UK – mixed picture– Generally limited to larger, public sector organisations– WERS 2011 – mediation used in 7% of workplaces in the

previous 12 months– Rhetorical volume outweighing uptake

Evidence

• Organisations claim high rates of success and satisfaction– Less evidence of sustainability of outcomes– ‘Success’ in mediation difficult to define– Positive outcomes possible even where resolutions not reached

• Evidence of broader impacts– Positive effect on attitudes and skills of mediators and participants– Less evidence of wider organisational effects – Success appear to be context specific and dependent on involvement

of key actors• Growing consensus that mediation more cost efficient than

conventional procedures – Lack of robust evidence

Challenges and barriers

• Mediation – ‘just another tool in the box’• Mediation perceived by many as a formal

process of last resort • Managerial resistance to mediation• Deficit in managerial capability and confidence• Wider organisational perception of conflict as

a transactional as opposed to a strategic issue• Lack of authoritative evidence

Key questions

• Is there evidence of organisations developing innovative responses to workplace conflict?

• What is the role of mediation and ADR within such approaches?

• To what extent is conflict a strategic issue for organisations?

• What are the prospects for more integrated approaches to conflict management?

• What can policy-makers and organisational stakeholders do to improve workplace conflict management?