Innovative Workplace Conflict Management by TCM

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Innovative Workplace
Conflict Management .
A practitioners perspective.
David Liddle
Chief Executive, The TCM Group

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“We now face a crisis that is the
economic equivalent of
war…this is not a time for
business as usual.”
Rt Hon Vince Cable MP,
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011

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Community inclusion and engagement
o Community engagement and race relations
o Social and economic regeneration hindered by
high levels of violence and low levels of inclusion.
Established one of first mediation schemes in UK.
o Mediation in community/neighbourhood disputes.
o Peer mediation in schools – CRISP.
o Restorative justice.
Set up The TCM Group in 2001.
o Mediating in workplace/ business disputes.
o Civil, commercial and consumer mediation
services.
o Conflict management training and consultancy.
o Establishing integrated mediation schemes for
organisations.
o Engage for Success and PMA
My journey

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Who do you think you are?

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The
spiral
of
conflict

7.  They are reactive.
 Inherently adversarial = polarising.
 Ignore the ‘psychological contract’.
 Rarely identify root cause of conflict.
 Individual or business needs ignored.
 They impede creativity.
 They create a ‘grievance,
entitlement or litigation culture’.
The existing dispute resolution systems are failing:
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“The most intense conflicts, if overcome,
leave behind a sense of security and calm
that is not easily disturbed. It is just these
intense conflicts and their conflagration
which are needed to produce valuable
and lasting results.”
- Carl Jung (1875-1961)

9. What is
mediation?
“Mediation is a non-adversarial way of resolving difficult
situations. It is used as an alternative, or an adjunct, to
formal or legal processes.
The mediator is impartial. They facilitate an open and honest
dialogue with the aim of identifying a mutually acceptable
outcome. A win/win outcome. Mediation is different
because it is about collaborating rather than blaming.
Any agreement in mediation comes from those effected by
the situation, not from the mediator. The mediator is not
there to judge, to say one person is right and the other
wrong, or to tell those involved what they should do.
Mediation is both voluntary and confidential” Liddle, David 2013
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10. The tripartite
definition of
mediation.
Liddle, David 2013
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Framework
MindsetCompetence

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The FAIR Framework™
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XYZ Foundation NHS trust manages hospital, community
health and adult social care services . With an annual
budget of around £420 million, it provides care to over
half a million people and employs nearly 9,000 staff.
The situation
• XYZ Approached TCM in 2006 to set up an integrated mediation
scheme
• High levels of stress, formal grievance and time
• 24 mediators trained
• Cost of conflict at that time was £1800 (underestimate)
• Cost of mediation was £520
The XYZ Experience

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1. Undertook extensive stakeholder engagement.
2. Designed a dispute resolution strategy with 3
year plan and KPIs.
3. Set up integrate governance structure (scheme
ownership and scheme co-ordination).
4. Embedded an online dispute resolution system
using
5. Embedded mediation into relevant policies and
designed mediation handbooks.
6. Recruited and trained a multi-disciplinary team
of 12 in-house mediators using the FAIR
Framework.
7. Extended use of mediation into patient
complaints (2013).
“Rome wasn’t built in
a day – but I wasn’t
on that particular
job!”
Brian Clough
Setting up an
integrated
mediation
scheme within
XYZ

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The TCM
Integrated
Mediation
Scheme™
Mediation
Workplace
and
employment
disputes
Consumer
disputes
Employee
health and
wellbeing
Leadership
Employee
Engagement
Managing
Change

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The XYZ Experience: Outcomes
“Mediation offers many benefits: it offers a viable alternative to costly
dispute resolution procedures which are costly, time consuming and
stressful” Senior manager within the trust
• Ca15 mediations per annum.
• Over 90% success rate
• Low mediator attrition.
• Mediation competencies underpin compassionate management
and leadership practices
• Mediation being used to resolve patient complaints.
• Mediation being used to support management of change and
performance management.

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The ABC Experience
ABC are a major global retailer employing 75,000 employees.
The situation
• Initially, ABC implemented a small scale mediation function.
• Concerns were raised about lack of systemised approach to CM
• Nine of the ER team qualified as mediators
• Subsequently ABC commissioned TCM to train a further 12
mediators
• Requested support with integration of mediation and embedding
a more progressive CM system into their HR and ER systems and
procedures.
• Wanted to make mediation more widely available to all
employees.

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The ABC Experience The outcomes
• Mediation written into internal grievance procedure
• Mix of internal and external mediation
• Mediation embedded into management development
programme
• Adopted PMA code of conduct and practice standards
• Mediation used in 25% of all grievances
• Over 90% of cases mediated reach a successful conclusion
• Reduction from six months to less than one month for
resolution.

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Formal, adversarial,
judgement, blame,
punitive, defensive,
draconian,
combative, divisive,
win-lose, sanction,
argument, win-lose.
Informal, safe, talk,
listen, empathy,
dialogue, resolve, non
adversarial,
collaborative,
openness, values,
consensus, mediate,
win-win.
Developing a
‘resolution
culture’ in
ABC
organisation.

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The return on investment for ABC and XYZ
Bottom line costs Human benefits
Management and HR time Productivity and performance
Time spent preparing and
handling grievances
Good will and team working
Investigations (internal and
external)
Managerial confidence and
leadership
Legal costs, compromise
agreements and ET costs
Individual and team resilience.
Employee voice
Absence Customer experience??

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The TCM
Model
Resolution
Policy and
toolkit.
Resolution First™
Resolution policy:
• Combines grievance, bullying and harassment
• Link to values and vision
• New name – new focus
• Better triage of cases – (Early Evaluation)
• Emphasis on mediation and early resolution
• Mediation Information Awareness Sessions (MIAMs)
• Mediation remains voluntary
• Compliant with the Acas code
• Does offer opportunities to escalate to investigation in
rights based cases.
Toolkit:
• Resolution support for HR
• Resolution support for managers
• Resolution support for employees

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 Our current systems for resolving
disputes are not working
 Mediation is the most effective form of
dispute resolution available.
 Businesses need to adopt a holistic and
strategic approach to conflict
management.
 Mediation delivers human and financial
returns on investment.
In conclusion...
Mediation
works!

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Thank you for listening
and participating
david.liddle@thetcmgroup.com
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