When I wrote my piece in the UK Mediation Journal in June 2017 about the “manifesto” of the CMC’s Workplace & Employment group, we had some big ideas but not much actually happening. This is to let you know just how far things have changed since then in the promotion of workplace mediation and the CMC generally.

On the conference front, we have just completed the last of our national Save Time, Save Money, Save Stress events with Cardiff and Newcastle this year following on the heels of London and Solihull in 2017. Those conferences focused on how HR and line managers could overcome the obstacles they might face in seeking to introduce mediation in the workplace, and have received consistently very positive feedback.

On the membership front, we have taken steps to boost numbers by absorbing the former PMA and its membership. We have also welcomed the Civil Service and other new organisational members in the last year. To broaden our appeal to prospective members the CMC is introducing a new category of membership whereby internal workplace mediators and their current and future employers can obtain validation by the CMC of their mediation experience and capabilities, and those mediators can access the resources and benefits which the CMC offers. Details are on the CMC’s website.

W&E group members spoke at the CMC’s All-Mediation conference in May this year about mediating disputes involving employees with mental health issues. We also ran a packed and controversial session in London in June on how far it is possible or appropriate to use mediation to resolve sexual harassment complaints. Our speakers have included senior figures from both sides of industry, plus ACAS, the Civil Service, the Fawcett Society and the CIPD. I am grateful to all of them and to the kind sponsors, partners and hosts of our conferences.

We have also been busy on the writing front, not just in the UK Mediation Journal but also in submissions to the Fawcett Society and representations direct to Parliament in connection with the development of Westminster’s much-publicised new code of conduct after serial bullying and harassment stories had reached the media. More work still to be done on that front, I suspect! We are contributing to academic research on conflict, and W&E group members regularly publish their own articles and posts on the many benefits of mediation in workplace disputes.

So a busy couple of years since the first conference in February 2017, but there is still more to be done. In 2019, the workplace and employment group will look to strengthen its presence through regional groups to allow a wider reach and more focus on local mediation issues, whether that is prospective new members, new employer converts to workplace mediation or the best interests of local mediation providers, and in addition to our own conferences from time to time, in a move to boost the profile of the CMC and mediation itself, to supply suitable speakers to bigger commercial conferences with greater marketing muscle and more extensive corporate databases.

I am always interested to hear what CMC members think, especially on the W&E front. You can reach us at workplace@civilmediation.org. If you would like to get involved in any of these initiatives, I do very much hope that you will be in touch.

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