This six-day training course is accredited by the Open College Network.  Mediation at Work is an approved training centre with the OCN.

The programme is suitable for people who wish to become in-house workplace mediators and for organisations who wish to set up their own in-house workplace mediation service. It is also run from time to time as an open programme.

We will work with you to ensure that the course is tailored to your specific needs. In most cases, this results in a number of trained internal mediators to call on to resolve disputes quickly as they arise.

Two trainers who are practising mediators work with the group throughout the programme to ensure maximum attention to individual needs and the provision of feedback.  The learning group is limited to 12 participants.

Successful participants can achieve up to 6 OCN credits and receive Mediation at Work's Certificate in Workplace Mediation Skills.

Key themes running through the programme include:

Empowerment and ownership: encouraging disputants to make their own informed choices, rather than the mediator problem solving for them – a facilitative mediation model rather than evaluative.

Impartiality: supporting both parties rather than complainant / complainee, or perpetrator / victim thinking

Valuing emotions: using emotional expression as indicators of significant issues and pointers towards resolution.

Flexibility: creatively adapting the mediator role to the needs of clients.

Win/win negotiation: using the principle of interest based negotiation, rather than positional bargaining.