John Crawley
Articles and Video:In-house mediation services are growing in number and the successful ones build on firm foundations. CMP Resolutions has developed a comprehensive Guide (Linked at the bottom of the page) to help you think through the essential questions to ensure your mediation service is set up for success. We know that Organisations that have addressed these questions in advance become those where mediation is widely used, has the highest agreement rate and a continuing impact on employee engagement and fewer grievances and discipliniaries. 1 Comment Review of the New Dispute Resolution Report from BIS In an effort to reduce the burden on the Employment Tribunal (ET) System the Government consulted widely in 2011 to come up with some proposals for pre-empting claims and resolving grievances before they escalate. In November last year BIS responded to the consultation with their proposals. New Research Explains Why Some Complaints Escalate to Conflicts The Department for Business Innovation and Skills recently published a research[1] report of great value to organisations and conflict management practitioners. Because this is a useful, practical piece of research with many learning points, I have taken the unusual step of letting the words of the researchers speak for themselves in these key extracts. Trouble Brewing? Get Ready to Close Difficult Claims Do you have a clearly mapped out grievance investigation process including key ground rules, rights and responsibilities and terms of reference? Coalition Blues I woke up this morning – got the coalition blues! It only took twelve months - For win/win - To become win / lose! Just about a year ago the unthinkable in British politics occurred – two opposing parties signed up to a five year coalition. A Flood of Workplace Conflict: Don’t Panic – Get SMART-ER CMP Resolutions is committed to making SMART-ER the default approach to dispute resolution at work. It works best when organisations commit their strategy, staff, unions and managers, but can also have an impact in individual cases and interactions. Changing Conflict-Negative Culture To finish my series on applying ‘nudge’ thinking to mediation and effective dispute resolution at work I want to focus on creating a more productive conflict culture in your workplaces. New Year’s Resolution CMP are resolving to get even better at communicating with you about dispute resolution. On that theme here are some additional ideas for how to promote mediation, continuing from December’s 2010 blog and white paper. From Grievance To Resolution Using The Nudge Principle In Mediation The ‘Nudge’ principle recently embodied in the Coalition Government’s Nudge Unit was first developed by Richard Thaler and Carl Sunstein. Thaler and Sunstein argue persuasively that we each have the potential to be ‘choice architects’ and evidence the effectiveness of ‘libertarian paternalism’. This involves ‘nudges’ – ‘any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options… Nudges are not mandates.’ Changing The ‘Choice Architecture’ Around Mediation Is The Key In a recent book ‘Nudge’, Thaler and Sunstein argue persuasively that we are all potentially ‘choice architects’ – ‘we have responsibility for organising the context in which people take decisions’. Like more traditional forms of architecture there is no such thing as ‘neutral’ design. What we do, particularly if we are in a position of influence, will influence the choices people make. Mediating With Dalek’s: Crossing The Divide On a visit to BBC Studios in London earlier this year I came across a Dalek. (For those of you who don’t know they are sworn enemies of Doctor Who – a fictitious BBC character who has survived scary situations across time and space dimensions since the 1960s). My children invited me to ‘mediate it!’ As you can see I was not very successful – striking a quite hostile parental posture. A Dalek is just not made for open body language and empathic engagement. Its favourite word is ‘Exterminate’ and both its arms are weapons. Mediation Guides Are Fine But Let’s Have A Resolution Revolution I’ve put two books about mediation in the marketplace and countless articles, and there are many passionate and evangelical advocates for mediation. But as long as grievance policies dominate the workplace dispute resolution architecture of UK workplaces mediation will remain an ‘informal’ and consequently inferior process to formal grievance settlement. Mishandling Bullying And Harassment Will Hijack The Diversity And Inclusion Agenda A crisis is brewing as two reports predict a potential surge in bullying and harassment grievances at work, and a lack of confidence in the ability of management (particularly in the public sector) to handle bullying and harassment, conflict and relationship issues[1]. Bad practice on bullying and harassment and relationship issues will undermine employees’ and customers’ confidence in diversity and inclusion initiatives[2]. The cost of mishandling these will also divert time and money away from building relationships and engagement through diverse workforces. I Am Racist But From the CMP Resolution Blog of John Crawley, Lesley Allport and Katherine Graham.
1 Comment
 |
