Inside the mediation room - efficiency, voice and equity in workplace mediation

Saundry, Richard; Bennett, Tony; Wibberley, Gemma

doi:10.1080/09585192.2016.1180314

Cited by 10 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Some research suggests that mediation can even have a transformative effect on employment relations inside organizations by acting as a catalyst for informal conflict resolution and new forms of trust being formed between managers and employees and their representatives (Bingham ; Saundry et al . ) However, these favourable assessments beg the question: if mediation brings such positive benefits, why is it adopted only by a minority of organizations? One plausible explanation is that managers are tied to tried‐and‐tested methods for solving disputes and, as a result, shy away from adopting new conflict management practices.…”

Section: Improvisers and Workplace Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

Currie

Gormley

Roche

et al. 2016

Int J Management Reviews

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SummaryThis paper reviews the HRM literature on the management of workplace conflict. It suggests that workplace conflict is commonly viewed as a symptom of management failure in this literature: the notion that conflict may be intrinsic to the nature of work due to employees and managers having hard-to-reconcile competing interests is given short-shrift. At the same time, the paper identifies important differences in the literature, which we call pathways, about the best methods to management problems at the workplace. It is argued that four contrasting pathways can be detected in the literature with regard to how organizations approach innovating conflict management practices. Each pathway is examined fully and their respective strengths and weaknesses assessed fully.

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Section: Improvisers and Workplace Conflictmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

Currie

Gormley

Roche

et al. 2016

Int J Management Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One of mediation's commonly identified benefits is the improvement of communication quality between parties (e.g., Saundry, Bennett, and Wibberley ). Parties who are in mediation will generally not have been and are not communicating well, since they are often under the influence of powerful negative emotions (Bennett and Hughes ).…”

Section: Understanding the Potential Of Workplace Mediation As A Strementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, it is plausible that parties gain understanding of the conflict as being centered on perceptions of organizational injustice or issues related to organizational change. When any of these stressors surface, they can be articulated by the mediator and submitted to facilitated in‐depth exploration, which may not be possible without a safe space, a main characteristic and benefit of mediation (Schreier ; Saundry et al ).…”

Section: Understanding the Potential Of Workplace Mediation As A Strementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This goal is a particular feature of workplace mediation, since in this context, parties tend to be involved in an ongoing relationship (Mareschal ). Although in an ACAS research paper, Saundry et al () reported that achieving resolution in workplace mediation did not always involve or result in significant behavioral and relationship change, relationship improvement not only as an aim but as a major benefit of the process is frequently cited by organizations and parties to mediation (UK Chartered Institute of Policy Development ; Craig ; Bennett ). These statements are vital when mediation's stress‐alleviating potentials are investigated, since interpersonal conflict is experienced by individuals in various occupations and at different organizational levels as the most potent stressor at work (Folberg and Taylor ; Bolger et al ; Dijkstra et al )…”

Section: Understanding the Potential Of Workplace Mediation As A Strementioning

confidence: 99%

“…When in conflict, employees frequently report concerns that taking action, including initiating negotiations, mediation, or adversarial intervention, “would do more harm than good” (Jameson , 181). In addition, parties’ concern that going to a third party will cause them to be labeled as weak is widely referred to in the literature (Jameson ; Saundry et al ). Hence, altering the perceptions of engagement in mediation from being symptomatic of vulnerability to being associated with control or being proactive is necessary if mediation's stress‐alleviating potential is to be fully realized.…”

Section: Implications For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Mediation's Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress: A New Perspective

Tallodi

2015

Conflict Resolution Qtrly

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Mediation's Potential to ReduceThe benefits of workplace mediation can be far-reaching, since it often leads to positive changes in working relationships, immediate renewal of performance, and improvement of morale (Dolder, 2004; Doherty and Guyler, 2008). Additionally, at the organizational level mediation can help create a problemsolving culture and improve the emotional health of the organization (Doherty and Guyler, 2008; Bollen and Euwema, 2013). This appears to be achieved inpart by reducing occupational stress, an advantage of the process that is unexplored in the literature.Acknowledging the importance of filling in this gap, the present article examines mediation's stress alleviating potential and links the processes taking place in mediation to psychological models of stress. By establishing this previously unexplained connection, the article examines mediation's dynamics from a new perspective. It argues that mediation can intervene at the root of the stress process and prompt significant positive changes, potentially with long term stress-reducing effect at the level of the individual and the organization.Psychological knowledge of stress and its links to mediation can enhance the ways in which mediators and organizations might best use this tool to achieve wide-ranging benefits. Importantly, it is not argued that mediation can or should substitute for counseling, a frequently applied organizational stress management intervention (O'Driscoll and Cooper, 2002; Kinman and Jones, 2005), or other forms of individual interventions if they are necessary or more appropriate. Rather, it is claimed that mediation could serve as an additional This is a prepint of an article accepted for publication in Conflict Resolution Quarterly Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company, and the Association for Conflict Resolution Author: Dr Timea Tallodi, University of Essex School of Law Contact: t.tallodi@essex.ac.uk 3 instrument to keep occupational stress at bay and have a more significant place in the system of stress management interventions. Occupational stress and mediationOccupational stress places significant burdens on organizational functioning and individual well-being. Numerous employees face working environments that, for Agencies offering alternative dispute resolution services also address issues of occupational stress. In the US, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service offers training in conflict resolution, which is promoted as leading to less stress, more harmony and heightened performance (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, n.d.). This service also offers workshops that are explicitly targeted at creating a healthy workplace (Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, 2011). Likewise, in the UK, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) has developed training programs for organizations such as "Managing stress in the workplace" and "Toxic workplace cultures-how to tackle them" (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, n.d.). In Australia, t...

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The pragmatic side of workplace heroics: a self-interest perspective on responding to mistreatment in work teams

Boekhorst

Frawley

2022

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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Inside the mediation room - efficiency, voice and equity in workplace mediation

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

Mediation's Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress: A New Perspective

The pragmatic side of workplace heroics: a self-interest perspective on responding to mistreatment in work teams

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Inside the mediation room - efficiency, voice and equity in workplace mediation

Cited by 10 publications

References 29 publications

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

The Management of Workplace Conflict: Contrasting Pathways in the HRM Literature

Mediation's Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress: A New Perspective

The pragmatic side of workplace heroics: a ­self-interest perspective on responding to mistreatment in work teams

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

The pragmatic side of workplace heroics: a self-interest perspective on responding to mistreatment in work teams