Managing Workplace Conflict

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. Critically review theories about the nature of conflict in the workplace as they relate to specific industries/sectors as applied to local, national or global organisations;
2. Critique the current debates about mediation and formal processes of Conciliation in Fair Work Australia;
3. Deconstruct the causes of interpersonal conflict in the workplace and the applicability of different types of mediation processes available to resolve such conflict to illustrate the dynamics of workplace communities and individual’s responsibilities within these;
4. Decode the issues of neutrality with regard to choice of mediator and of the handling of potential power imbalances between the parties to interpersonal conflict;
5. Reflectively commentate upon the formal processes at workplace and tribunal level in handling disputes arising from Enterprise Bargaining Agreements and relevant discrimination and Occupational Health and Safety legislation; and
6. Conceptually map the role of HR departments and unions in formal dispute resolution processes.