The Influence of Conflict Management Training in Organizations on the Conflict Handling Styles of Employees and the Organization

We examine the effect of a mediation training program in organizations on employees and on the organization itself. The influence of the training was examined by measures regarding conflict management styles, empathy, empowerment and self-felt pressure. The subjects included 123 employees who completed questionnaires before and after the program. Additionally, subjects were interviewed regarding the perceived influence of the training program on their own skills and, more generally, on the conflict management culture of the organization. As hypothesized, the employees undergoing the program reduced their preference for non-cooperative styles of conflict management (competition, accommodation, avoidance) and increased the use of cooperation (compromise, collaboration). In addition, empathy increased and self-felt pressure decreased but there was no change, as expected, in empowerment. The interviews indicated that employees felt that they had undergone change regarding their conflict management skills but that there was no difference in the overall organizational culture.