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Subject: Conflict Management E-Newsletter #30 |
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Conflict Management E-Newsletter
July 2002 #30
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Contents:
1. Articles
2. Workplace Dispute Resolution Bibliography
3. Jury Awards $30.6 Million In Sexual Harassment Case
4. Training Announcements
5. MIT Ombuds Office
6. Just Labour: A Canadian Journal Of Work & Society
7. Quotes
8. New Book: Making Mergers Work
9. 21 % Of Women Report Having Been Sexually Harassed
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1. Articles
How to be an Effective Advocate for Your Agency During Mediation
By John Ford and James MacPherson
This article provides an overview of the mediation process, in
particular EEO mediations. We also share a checklist of items
to think about that will prepare you for your mediation session
along with some tips that will improve your effectiveness
as an advocate for your agency during the actual mediation process.
Intergroup Conflict in the Workplace
By Tony Belak
Some conflict, called functional conflict, is considered positive,
because it enhances performance and identifies weaknesses.
Dysfunctional conflict, however, is confrontation or interaction
between groups that harms the organization or hinders
attainment of goals or objectives.
Federal Employee Anti-discrimination and Rehabilitation Act of 2002
(NO FEAR) Public law 107-174
In short, the act is designed to: 1) require that federal agencies be
accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and
whistleblower protection laws and 2) require that each federal agency
post quarterly on its public web site, certain
statistical data relating to its EEO complaint filings.
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2. Workplace Dispute Resolution Bibliography
Compiled (May 2002)
by David Klegerman and Cinnie Noble
A selected bibliography of over 200 books and articles on topics
relating to workplace dispute resolution has been compiled
by two practitioners. This bibliography will be of interest to
mediators, ADR consultants, academics, human resource
professionals, union representatives and students of relevant
disciplines. The bibliography contains a list of general
articles and books on workplace dispute resolution, as well as
subheadings with specific references to systems design,
ombuds, harassment/discrimination and so on. Several related
resources are also included at the end of the bibliography.
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3. Jury Awards $30.6 Million In Sexual Harassment Case
A jury recently awarded $30.6 million to six current and former
female employees of Ralph's Supermarket stores in San Diego
County. The award went to four cashiers, one bookkeeper, and a bakery
department manager. Each woman was awarded $5 million
in punitive damages plus a total of $550,000 for pain and suffering.
This appears to be the largest damage award ever handed
down in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The women alleged that a former store director engaged in a pattern
of harassment including both verbal insults and violent
behavior. They further alleged Ralph's covered up the incidents
because the store director was a successful business builder.
Instead of dealing with the complaints (such as investigating the
allegations and taking swift corrective action), Ralph's
transferred the women to different stores. According to the Los
Angeles Times, the jury foreman attributed the size of the
award to the fact that the company could have stopped the conduct at
any time but chose to ignore it. While the lawsuit was originally
filed over four years ago, the accused store director continued to
work for the company until he resigned two years ago. An earlier jury
had awarded the women $3.8 million, but the judgment was thrown out
because of jury misconduct.
Source: California Chamber of Commerce
FMCS to Create Roster of Credentialed Employment Mediators
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4. Training Announcements
Marketing and Managing Your Mediation Practice
With Eileen Barker and John Ford
Now in its fourth year, this popular course is a must
for anyone seriously interested in starting or expanding
his/her work in the field of conflict resolution. It is the only
course that includes powerful self-assessment steps
essential to ensure the ultimate effectiveness of your
marketing efforts. Plus, each student will have the
opportunity to identify long and short-term goals and
develop his/her own business and marketing plan.
July 12 & 13, 2002
Friday, noon to 7pm;
Saturday, 9am to 5pm
Sonoma State Campus
$175, 14 hours MCLE credit
Call Eileen Barker at (415) 925-0900
or John Ford at (510) 658-5524
POWERFUL NON-DEFENSIVE COMMUNICATION
Workshops with Mady Shumofsky
If you are looking for effective tools to use when co-workers,
clients, friends or family are attacking / blaming / withdrawing /
entrapping / justifying / surrendering / sabotaging or when YOU
are! this workshop was designed for you.
Develop your skills in asking non-threatening questions, stating your
views clearly without escalating power struggle, and
setting limits that work for you.
Summer 2002 Workshop Dates:
Thursday, July 11, 2002 -- 9:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.
Thursday, August 29, 2002 -- 9:30 a.m. 4:30 p.m.
Location: Robinson Classroom B, 1204 Preservation Park Way
(near 12th Street BART Station, in Oakland)
Cost: $85.00 (partial scholarships available)
For more information: madyshum@earthlink.net or (510) 531-8200.
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5.MIT Ombuds Office
MIT's Ombudspersons are a neutral, independent, and confidential
resource for faculty, staff, and students within the MIT
community. We help to surface work and school related issues and
conflicts, and will try to help to see they are fairly
resolved. The Ombudspersons can also help to effect positive change,
when they have appropriate permission, by providing upward feedback
on patterns of problems and complaints to appropriate senior
officers.
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6. Just Labour: A Canadian Journal Of Work & Society
York University's Centre for Research on Work & Society is
pleased to
offer trade-unionists, community activists, researchers, policy
makers and students the first volume of Just Labour: A Canadian
Journal Of Work & Society.
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7. Quotes
"No one can hurt you without your consent."
Eleanor Roosevelt
"They cannot take away our self respect if we do
not give it to them."
Mahatma Gandhi
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8. New Book
Making Mergers Work
(Alexandria, VA October 22, 2001) Why do so many mergers
and
acquisitions fail? More importantly, can anything be done about it?
Those are the questions addressed by a new book,
"Making Mergers Work: The Strategic Importance of People", just
published by Towers Perrin and the Society for Human Resource
Management (SHRM) Foundation.
Data from several surveys, including one conducted for the book, show
that most mergers and acquisitions (M&As) fail for people-related
reasons such as loss of key talent, incompatible cultures or
disagreement among senior management about the new company's
direction.
According to Louis Forbringer, Past President of the SHRM Foundation
and one of the project leaders, "Our research shows that the
difference between successful and unsuccessful M&As is often whether
HR is actively involved early in the process, and the level of
strategic competencies of the HR leadership."
According to the Towers Perrin/SHRM Foundation research, companies
look for several important synergies in a merger or acquisition,
including growth in market share, leadership in industry
consolidation, enhanced brand strength and reputation, and reduction
in overhead and operating costs. But when respondents were asked how
successful the mergers and acquisitions were at realizing these
synergies, sizable gaps were found between expectations and actual
achievement.
For example:
* Grow market share - 82% expectation versus 49% actual achievement,
a
33% gap
* Be a leader in industry consolidation - 68% expectation versus 47%
actual achievement, a 21% gap
* Enhance brand strength - 55% expectation versus 32% actual
achievement,
a 23% gap
* Enter a new industry or expand a product or marketing portfolio -
46%
expectation versus 27% actual achievement, an 18% gap
"While the research is compelling, the real question is how
corporate
leadership can address these issues," said Jeffrey A. Schmidt,
the
book's editor and Towers Perrin's Managing Director for
Innovation. "Companies need to realize they spend too little
attention on people-related issues and fail to adequately address
these issues early enough in the merger process. However, once the
deal is struck, everything else pales in importance to getting the
people issues right."
"Making Mergers Work: The Strategic Importance of People"
(2001: Towers Perrin/SHRM, ISBN # 1-58644-008-X)
is available for purchase for $49.95 at
http://www.shrm.org/shrmstore or 1-800-444-5006, option #1.
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9. 21 Percent Of Women Report Having Been Sexually Harassed
A national survey on the state of sexual harassment in the American
workplace by the Employment Law Alliance, the world's largest network
of employment and labor lawyers, reveals that 21 percent of the women
polled say they've been sexually harassed at work.
Stephen J. Hirschfeld, CEO of the ELA and a partner in the California
based law firm of Curiale, Dellaverson, Hirschfeld, Kraemer, and
Sloan, said given the amount of litigation and the volume of claims
filed with federal and state government agencies, many observers will
be surprised that the percentage of those saying they've been
sexually harassed isn't higher.
The poll results confirm that while sexual harassment is still very
much a fact of life in the American workplace, most employees are
confident in their ability to be self-policing when it comes to
sexual harassment, they want their employers to stay out of their
personal lives and will only resort to litigation as a last resort,
said Hirschfeld.
"While we would agree that one case is one case too many, it's very
significant that 85 percent of the 1,000 American adults polled said
they've not been sexually harassed at work." He said 21 percent of
women polled said they have encountered sexual harassment, compared
to 7 percent of the men surveyed. Hirschfeld noted that between 1992
and 2000, the percentage of men filing sexual harassment complaints
with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased from 9
percent to 13 percent. Overall claims with the agency soared more
than 40 percent during that period.
Other key findings in the ELA "America At Work" survey looking at
sexual harassment and romantic relationships in the workplace were:
* 20 percent said they know of a romantic relationship between a
supervisor and a subordinate at work
* 66 percent said romantic relationships at work cause favoritism and
poor morale
* 54 percent said employees were likely to face retaliation if they
rejected romantic relationships with their supervisors
* 66 percent of those surveyed believe romantic relationships at work
are personal and private and should not be regulated by employers
Jude Biggs, Chair of the Labor and Employment Practice Group at the
ELA Colorado affiliate, Holland and Hart, said the findings
underscore the need for workplace education of managers and all
employees. She said that today's workplace is increasingly
susceptible to sexual harassment, largely due to the worldwide web
and typically unrestricted, often sexually suggestive e-mail
communications. Employers should realize that the office intranet can
easily be used as a tool for sexual harassment, and they have a duty
to make sure that does not happen, Biggs added.
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