Welcome. My name is Nicola Hartfield. I am a dispute resolution consultant.
Disputes are hard to resolve. They may arise from unintentional misunderstandings, long standing frustrations or as a result of organisational restructure. Whatever the circumstance, they cause us high levels of stress and anxiety.
Rarely do I see a dispute resolve without some sort of intervention. Sadly, this intervention often happens too late and when ending the employment is seen as the only option left.
I have a passion for the early intervention of disputes in the workplace and for the past 19 years have been providing facilitated meetings, mediation, and executive/employee coaching to workplaces throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
I lead the teaching in the Arbitrators’ & Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) 5-day mediator’s Skills Course and provide bespoke trainings across many professional fields.
I began my professional life as a health based social worker, specialising in child health and palliative care. This led me into the world of family, community and workplace relationships, dispute resolution and reconciliation. After completing a Post Graduate Diploma in Dispute Resolution, I gained my Fellowships in mediation, for both Resolution Institute and the Arbitrators’ & Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ) and am accredited with an Australian National Accreditation (AMDRAS). I was awarded the Anne Edge memorial prize for excellence in the AMINZ Mediation Fellowship exams and was named in the top ten family mediators by the National Business Review. In 2022, I was acknowledged by AMINZ with a Distinguished Service Award.
I am known for being professional, creative, hard- working and a safe pair of hands. I shift the obstacles that get in the way of agreements being reached.
While I am based in Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand, I travel nationally and internationally and provide online services as required.
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I am a founding member of World Mediators Alliance on Climate change (WoMACC). This means that I try to conduct my practice as close to carbon neutral as possible without it diminishing my effectiveness as a mediator, coach and teacher of dispute resolution.
