"Workplace mediation is high on the British policy agenda. To date, however, despite growing awareness, organisational experience in Britain remains limited and the evidence base accordingly underdeveloped. This paper contributes to the debate by undertaking secondary quantitative analysis of an Acas Omnibus Poll of 500 SMEs. Two substantive issues are explored: the characteristics associated with previous experience of mediation in resolving workplace conflict; and the extent to which prior knowledge and experience of mediation in this context impact on a range of attitudinal variables. In respect of the former we find firm size to be important, while for the latter the data suggest attitudes are typically more positive among experienced firms. This is most notably true in relation to the perceived cost of mediation and (subject to a qualification) to its suitability for smaller firms, both of which are crucial drivers of the uptake of mediation among smaller organisations."

Support: Paper