This week's top HR stories in brief

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New research on workplace change reveals the methods most (and least) likely to result in success, with some surprising results. The most successful methods deliver results by 'getting out of people's way', says Change Lab co-founder Michelle Etheve.

An employer has failed to overturn reinstatement orders for an employee who claimed he tested positive to illicit drugs as a result of touching rather than ingesting them, in a case highlighting the "problematic" nature of interpreting test results.

Amid priority areas for IR reform highlighted in the Coalition Government's review proposals are some big opportunities for reducing red tape and "reintroducing simplicity" to Fair Work processes, says Herbert Smith Freehills partner Natalie Gaspar. She says there's a "generational opportunity to advance a case for a modified system which is underpinned by the objective of making workplaces more productive and less combative".

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It may seem counterintuitive, but workplace conflict can become a resource to organisations when harnessed constructively, says Catherine Davidson Mediation Services founder Catherine Davidson. "There are organisations who view it only as a problem, but the smarter organisations are creating an environment where people feel safe to play in what I call the space between healthy difference and conflict before dispute."

A sacked CEO has been awarded more than $2.2 million in damages after it was found he didn't engage in misleading and deceptive conduct as alleged.

A Commissioner's "hesitant" decision to reinstate an employee has been overturned after a full bench found a worker with his long tenure had no excuse for breaching established procedures.

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