With new statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures coming into effect from April 2009, this event was well timed. Senior HR managers from a range of organisations and companies came to find out more about the changes to the Employment Act 2008 and how mediation can help nip the causes of workplace conflict in the bud without the need for costly grievance procedures.

Michael Gibbons provided insight to the 'Gibbon's Report' - an independent review of dispute resolution regulations commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry's independent advisor. He gave clear information about what the changes will mean to employers.

TCM's David Liddle talked about why the most successful companies use mediation and why it makes financial sense. He explained how to recognise the dynamics of stress and conflict and how managers can be trained to avoid grievance and dispute situations arising in the first place. He showed how developing a workplace scheme can not only dramatically reduce both the direct and indirect costs of conflict, but it can also drive cultural change within an organisation. Mediation was brought to life with a live mediation - using actors to give a flavour of the effectiveness of mediation in practice.

Conference highlights included a fascinating case-study by BT's Carole Russell, who shared her experience of working with TCM's expert trainers to set up an in-house mediation scheme. She spoke with real passion about the effectiveness of mediation and the changes it has brought about within BT. Impressively, since setting up the scheme in June 2008, BT has seen a 100% success-rate: all cases referred to mediation have been resolved in just 1 day and avoided going to tribunal.

If your organisation would like to find out more about how it can reap the benefits of mediation, please call our expert mediators on 0800 294 9787.