New CIPD guide to help managers prevent conflict at work

Organisations should take the increasing challenge of conflict at work seriously in light of new employment legislation and the planned abolition of the dispute procedure, which will ease burdens for business and employees by abolishing rigid processes.

The CIPD today publishes the Managing Conflict Guide For Line Managers. The guide welcomes the evolving legal framework as a means of promoting fair treatment and equality at work, while also helping business develop a stronger employer brand and the ability to attract and retain talent.

Ben Willmott, the CIPD’S employee relations adviser, said: “Line managers play a critical role in dealing with tensions in the office. With the appropriate skills, knowedge and confidence they are able to intervene at an early stage to nip disputes in the bud before they escalate.

“Managers often shy away from tackling conflict in case they do or say something that might be held against them during any formal proceedings. This approach is counterproductive as by the time a dispute has escalated to the point where a formal grievance is lodged, opinions are often hardened, confrontational and very hard to change.”

Managing Conflict Guide For Line Managers is a practical guide to help with the difficult task of changing behaviours at work. It is intended to act as an essential tool to help organisations develop clear policies, using real case studies to identify behaviours and skills such as dealing with conflict head on, intervening quickly, and removing disruptive team members to help line managers deal with conflict at work.

The Managing Conflict Guide for Line Managers is available to download from www.cipd.co.uk/guides. The guide is based on interviews of 369 managers and employees in the healthcare, financial, education and local and central government sectors.

From the BILD with love

On 14th February last year, the British Learning Association became the British Institute for Learning and Development (BILD). Valentines Day 2008 therefore marks the end of a very hectic first year for the organisation – it has completely re-branded, relocated and re-aligned its membership structure.

The introduction of individual membership categories mapped against qualifications and experience now offers a professional recognition path for individuals working within L&D at all levels. Detailed criteria for eligibility are at www.thebild.org.

The same BILD membership options are now also available to qualifying applicants who work for employers previously represented solely as organisations.

Sarah Wills, business manager, said: ”Looking back, we have achieved a huge amount in the last year. The months have simply flown by!

“The new membership categories have sparked significant interest from the L&D community and the BILD has begun to see a significant growth in its individual membership. We are now working towards our long-term aim of becoming the UK’s leading individual membership organisation, representing the interests of all L&D professionals.”

This year BILD will run and participate in six member events, two international events, its annual conference and two overseas events.

Internet presence a must for independent trainers, reveals survey

The internet is a key channel for purchasers looking for new training suppliers, according to the latest research by TrainerBase.

Last year, TrainerBase, the Association for Learning Practitioners, conducted a 12-month marketing research campaign to find out about the purchasing habits of businesses’
learning and development departments.

About 400 organisations took part in the survey. More than 30 per cent of them use the internet in some way to find training suppliers, with Google the most popular named site, while only 12 per cent relied on word of mouth.

TrainerBase concludes that trainers and learning practitioners without a credible web presence may be losing out on a “lucrative channel to market”.

Chief executive and founder Peter Mayes said: “The campaign has provided us with some useful information, not least confirmation of the fact that the internet is a popular channel for purchasers of training to find new suppliers.

“It’s interesting that I have heard anecdotal evidence from trainers whose only, or primary, source of new contacts is through networking and recommendations.”

The survey also revealed that purchasers prefer to use suppliers they already know – more than 50 per cent of respondents regularly returned to suppliers who were known to them.

Added Mayes: “Analysis of the data collected during 2007 is ongoing and what will no doubt also be of interest to freelance, independent learning practitioners is the result: what are the common requirements that purchasers are looking for?”

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