CIPD HR People Pod – Ep 39: Rewriting the rules on workplace conflict - with David Liddle
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Dec 17, 2025 
David Liddle, founder of The TCM Group and author on conflict resolution and culture, offers a fresh take on workplace justice. He challenges punitive grievance systems and advocates people-centred, performance-focused approaches. He outlines practical tools like the Resolution Index and shares examples of informal resolution, culture change, and reducing HR burnout.
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People, Culture And Leadership Are One System
- Legacy grievance and disciplinary systems create adversarial, retributive outcomes that harm culture and productivity.
- Reimagining people, culture and leadership together unlocks strategic value and higher performance.
Audit Policies With Green And Red Pens
- Do a green-pen/red-pen audit of your policies and mark punitive versus people-centred language.
- Keep both compliance and compassion, but aim for an equal balance of formal rules and dialogue-led approaches.
The Mirage Of Procedural Justice
- Traditional processes deliver a 'mirage of justice' by prioritising procedural and retributive justice over human and distributive justice.
- That mirage protects administrators more than people affected by conflict.
