Mediation's Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress: A New Perspective

• Date: 01 July 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21121
• Published date: 01 July 2015

C R Q, vol. 32, no. 4, Summer 2015 361

© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Confl ict Resolution

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/crq.21121

ARTICLES

Mediation’s Potential to Reduce Occupational Stress:

A New Perspective

Timea Tallodi

 is article is a response to several factors: the emergence of occupational

stress as a main theme in a qualitative study involving parties to work-

place mediation; the recognition that mediation, being underpinned by

psychological stress models, can reduce occupational stress; and a lack

of studies investigating mediation’s potential to alleviate occupational

stress. Linking mediation’s main qualities to interactional and transac-

tional models of stress, the article provides a new angle on mediation’s

dynamics. Findings are illustrated by extracts from interviews. Sugges-

tions are made as to ways in which workplace mediation might be used

more proactively in relation to stress.

The benefi ts of workplace mediation can be far-reaching, since it often

leads to positive changes in working relationships, immediate renewal

of performance, and improvement of morale (Dolder 2004; Doherty and

Guyler 2008). Additionally, at the organizational level, mediation can help

create a problem-solving culture and improve the emotional health of the

organization (Doherty and Guyler 2008; Bollen and Euwema 2013).  is

appears to be achieved in part by reducing occupational stress, an advan-

tage of the process that is unexplored in the literature.

Acknowledging the importance of fi lling in this gap, this article exam-

ines mediation’s stress-alleviating potential and links the processes tak-

ing place in mediation to psychological models of stress. By establishing

this previously unexplained connection, the article examines the dynam-

ics of mediation from a new perspective. It argues that mediation can

intervene at the root of the stress process and prompt signifi cant positive

changes, potentially with long-term stress-reducing eff ect at the level of the

individual and the organization.

362 TALLODI

C R Q • DOI: 10.1002/crq

Psychological knowledge of stress and its links to mediation can enhance

the ways in which mediators and organizations might best use this tool to

achieve wide-ranging benefi ts. Importantly, it is not argued that mediation

can or should substitute for counseling, a frequently applied organizational

stress management intervention (O’Driscoll and Cooper 2002; Kinman

and Jones, 2005) or other forms of individual interventions if they are nec-

essary or more appropriate. Rather, the claim is that mediation can serve

as an additional instrument to keep occupational stress at bay and have a

more signifi cant place in the system of stress management interventions.

Occupational Stress and Mediation

Occupational stress places signifi cant burdens on organizational func-

tioning and individual well-being. Numerous employees face working

environments that, for one reason or another, pose what may feel like

insurmountable challenges or diffi culties, placing them in untenable posi-

tions often leading to physical symptoms (Nixon et al. 2011).  e Ameri-

can Institute of Stress (n.d.) reports that the estimated cost of occupational

stress to the US economy is over $300 billion annually, the result of vari-

ous consequences of stress, for example, absenteeism, employee turnover,

lowered productivity, or salary. Similarly, in Great Britain, stress has con-

sistently been one of the most common types of work-related illnesses (UK

Health and Safety Executive 2013). Stress being the prevalent condition in

40 percent of 1,073,000 cases for all work-related illnesses, occupational

stress caused workers in Great Britain to lose 10.4 million working days in

2011 to 2012 (UK Health and Safety Executive 2013). As demonstrated

in numerous studies, stress at work is common in most countries (World

Health Organization n.d.; Zellars et al. 2008).

Agencies off ering alternative dispute resolution services also address

issues of occupational stress. In the United States, the Federal Mediation

and Conciliation Service (FMCS n.d.) off ers training in confl ict resolution,

which is promoted as leading to less stress, more harmony, and heightened

performance.  is service also off ers workshops that are explicitly targeted

at creating a healthy workplace (FMCS 2011). Likewise, in the United

Kingdom, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (n.d.) has

developed training programs for organizations, such as “Managing Stress

in the Workplace” and “Toxic Workplace Cultures: How to Tackle  em.”

In Australia, the Fair Work Commission (2014), the national workplace

relations tribunal, can issue orders to stop bullying behavior, a distinct risk