New City and Guilds NVQ

Compensation claims against employers for failing to sufficiently protect their staff in the workplace are on the increase warns Maybo, conflict management specialists. To help employers arrest this trend Maybo and City & Guilds are launching a new qualification that will arm staff with the skills they need to defuse potentially difficult and dangerous situations.

Compensation claims against employers for failing to sufficiently protect their staff in the workplace are on the increase warns Maybo, conflict management specialists. To help employers arrest this trend Maybo and City & Guilds are launching a new qualification that will arm staff with the skills they need to defuse potentially difficult and dangerous situations.

According to Bill Fox, chairman of Maybo, who has been advising organisations that have recently fallen foul of litigation, many potential claims could be minimised through improved conflict prevention strategies.

The City & Guilds NVQ Certificate in Conflict Management, the first of its kind, aims to provide customer-facing staff with the confidence and practical skills they need to protect themselves and their organisation. Available from February 2005, the qualification has been approved by the Qualifications Curriculum Authority, the regulatory body for awards, and will be showcased at the CIPD exhibition in Harrogate ( October 27-29 2004 ).

“Conflict management has become a vital skill in many sectors including healthcare, retail, local authority, security and teaching,” says Bill Fox. “Employers are now realising the value of conflict management, not only in human terms, but also in financial terms, when six figure court claims are increasing. Companies large and small are rolling out programmes that train their staff in this essential life skill, as well as a potentially life-saving work skill.”

Conflict in all areas of life is on the increase. Of the many reasons for this are increased time pressures, unmet higher expectations and less tolerance. This leads to people being more impatient and less aware of the effect of their behaviour on others.

“It is essential that standards are set across the business and public sectors. Industry and society as a whole will see the benefits develop over time. As staff improve their communication skills and in turn their confidence; and more people develop the skills necessary for avoiding and diffusing verbal and physical abuse, working environments and customer care will improve,” says Fox.

Rob Rosevere, general manager for Security Services at City & Guilds says: “It is important that people feel safe at work and that they are empowered with the right skills to be able to do their jobs. We are setting standards and enabling skilled employees to increase their value in the workplace.

“Training in conflict management can give employees confidence which in turn will allow them to do their job more effectively, benefiting the employer, themselves, their colleagues and the customer, ” added Rosevere.

City & Guilds and Maybo will be at CIPD on 27-29 October, Harrogate , where employers and HR and training directors can come and do a free basic violence risk assessment of their organisation and find out more about conflict management.