CIPD People Management Awards 2009: Change management through HR impact category

A small number of formal workplace disputes are inevitable in an organisation the size of East Sussex County Council, which has 17,000 employees. However, with 44 disputes in 2006-07 and 59 in 2007-08, and an average time spent on each dispute of 32 days, the issue was becoming a real problem. In order to identify alternative resolution methods, HR-led discussions were held with recognised trade unions and mediation was seen as the effective solution.