The role of leadership mediation in resolving workplace dispute: strategies for effective resolution

This study explores workplace disputes and how they generally harm organisational productivity and its employees. It identifies the causes of workplace conflicts, their havoc-wreaking consequences, and approaches for managing and resolving conflicts. This research also identified some of the causes of disputes in an organisation which include communication problems, competing goals, individual differences, task interdependence, differing common interests and goals, etc., which appear as major conflict roots. On the other hand, it is also observed that cultural differences, such as religious background and ethnic differences, errors and employee turnover, increase clashes. Leadership mediation which involves the intervention of a mediator to intervene in dispute matters to resolve the conflict professionally. Thus, leadership mediation is also explored in this study as the first step of dispute resolution. The method adopted for this study is the qualitative method where secondary data review and analysis was undertaken. The case study adopted for this study is Nestle Company. To proffer solutions to these numerous conflicting issues in the workplace, the Alternative Dispute Resolution model is adopted. It advises that its models are to be embraced by a mediator (leadership mediation) to resolve conflicts. Very briefly, the social exchange theory is also adopted to tease out the realities of social interactions among employees at Nestle. It finds that leadership mediation is more effective in dispute resolution. The study recommends that leadership mediation is significant in resolving issues in the workplace.