Mediation in organisations

A two-day course leading to a Certificate in Mediation in Organisations Skills.

"An excellent introduction into the use of mediation and mediation skills in employment related matters."
An employment law Legal Director at the DTI

"Mediation is a key tool for the resolution of conflict at many levels, we should identify more opportunities to apply this approach."
HR Director, Steria Ltd

Organisations are rapidly adopting mediation as an effective way of preventing conflict, resolving internal and external disputes. Employment mediation has doubled in the last year alone and this trend is set to continue with the emphasis of the Employment Act 2002, Part 3 Dispute Resolution (enacted 1 October 2004) being on effective internal dispute resolution. The CIPD survey Managing conflict at work (27 October 2004) stating "Awareness needs to be raised about how mediation can make a difference to managing workplace disputes. It needs to be part of the process from the start of the problem, not used as a sticking plaster once relationships have already broken down."

Building on the success and methodology of CEDR’s mediator skills training programme, a new programme has been developed , specifically focussed on the use of mediation skills to deal with employment issues in the business environment. The programme provides a foundation for anyone seeking to understand mediation and how to apply those conflict resolution skills within their organisations.

Programme content
The programme trains participants in skills to deal with conflict and employment disputes within the business or organisational context. It covers a wide range of issues giving a broad perspective on conflict management in organisations and introduces participants to mediation and to the use of mediation strategies and approaches within organisations. Specifically, it focuses on the mediation skill set and how participants can use these as ‘everyday skills’ within their own roles to deal with challenging and difficult people issues more effectively.

It includes:

• an introduction to effective dispute resolution (EDR) and mediation
• training and practice sessions using the mediation skill set
• dealing with challenging people issues including highly sensitive and emotional cases such as redundancies
• learning the necessary communications skills to establish trust and facilitate conflict resolution
• understanding how mediation skills and approaches can facilitate legal compliance.

The programme follows CEDR's tried and tested methodology of case studies and highly interactive role-plays.

Day one
The programme starts by developing an appreciation of the uses of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and specifically mediation, and its current growth in the employment marketplace. A video based on an actual mediation will illustrate what a formal mediation looks like and will be followed by participants examining the ways in which they currently handle disputes and conflict. Time is then spent learning and practising relationship building and effective questionsing essential to conflict management.

Day two
Day two begins with further skills training together with exercises on their practical application to issues that can arise from employment law. Having learnt about advanced ways of effective communication, working with heightened emotion and the role of language in situations of conflict, the day ends with a role-play for participants to practise these skills.

Commitment
There is a total of 6-8 hours pre-course reading and preparatory work required which is sent out a month in advance. There are no prerequisites other than for participants to be fully involved and enjoy the experience, with uninterrupted attendance throughout the three days.

What you will learn
This challenging and intensive two-day programme, available either publicly or on an in-house basis, offers individuals the opportunity to learn about mediation and acquire best practice skills for conflict prevention, management and resolution. At the completion of the programme participants will be able to:

• distinguish the stages used in the formal mediation framework, and adapt these for use in their own organisation
• use conflict resolution skills effectively to settle a variety of internal disputes
• facilitate agreement on sensitive business issues and influence positive change in working culture
• promote conflict prevention and resolution within their organisation’s employment framework
• understand the considerations needed in order to establish 'internal' mediation schemes and conflict resolution practices
• recognise, source and incorporate neutral intervention and external mediation services as appropriate.

Participants will learn through a series of interactive exercises and case studies that are based on up to date human resource and people management issues.

Who should attend?
The course has been developed for individuals with strategic and / or operational management responsibilities from all sectors and professions. The skills form part of an essential management tool-kit for:

• Business Directors and those in leadership positions
• Human Resources Directors and senior managers
• Change Directors and senior managers
• Trade Union leaders and officers
• In-house employment lawyers
• Professionals dealing with difficult and sensitive people issues

The focus of this programme is to provide participants with a mediation skill set within their organisation to enable early intervention to prevent, manage and resolve conflict before situations become exacerbated, and costly.

Please note this training is not suitable for those who are already CEDR Accredited mediators or whose primary interest is seeking to train and practise as commercial mediators.

The trainers
The teaching faculty will be composed of members of CEDR’s Mediator Skills Training faculty all of whom are CEDR Accredited Mediators.

Cost
The cost of this course is £1200 + VAT per person for a minimum group of six delegates for two days.

Certificate in Mediation in Organisations Skills
Participants completing the course will receive a certificate in Mediation in Organisations.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Law Society - 11 hours
Bar Council - 14 hours
This course can also be submitted towards CIPD CPD.

In-company and individually tailored programmes
The two-day course is only offered on an in-company basis subject to a minimum group of six people. Alternatively, CEDR also works with organisations to co-design and deliver bespoke training programmes.

Back to top