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Trust in problem-solving
How organisations manage change is a critical activity. Key to this is how employees and their representatives get their voices heard. In...
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Jan 222 min read


Line managers role in collective employment relations
The unionised organisations that I work with want to have constructive relationships with their unions and often refer to this in their...
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Nov 21, 20242 min read


Collective Employment relations network
Over the last few years, I have enjoyed regularly hosting a group of UK-based HRDs and employment relations leaders in large, unionised...
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Oct 29, 20242 min read


The recurring collective ER theme of 2024
I have noticed a recurring theme in 2024 amongst the organisations I work with - how to develop effective methods for collective employee...
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Sep 25, 20243 min read


A breath of fresh air in Employment Relations
The new UK Government seems determined to resolve the long standing pay disputes. For the first time in a long time, we have heard...
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Aug 21, 20243 min read


Moving towards "grown up" industrial relations
Since the UK election, there have been positive comments made about the first meetings between the Government and unions on some of the...
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Jul 12, 20242 min read


Building Employment Relations capability - version 2
Recognising the lack of learning opportunities for HR and Employment Relations specialists working in unionised organisations, Joe and I...
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Jun 12, 20242 min read


Re-defining employment relations
Many HR directors who I talk to, who work in unionised workplaces, struggle to recruit into employment relations roles. I have been told...
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Apr 11, 20242 min read


A continuous improvement approach to employment relations
Over the years (decades even….) I have undertaken numerous collective employment relations audits or reviews. One was requested by an HRD...
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Feb 21, 20242 min read


Identifying & addressing the causes of conflict is necessary to enable new ways of working to emerge
Conflict and breakdowns in relationships between union representatives and employers are a common occurrence. They are also financially...
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Nov 27, 20233 min read


Feedback is a gift
In 2022, Joe and I launched our employee relations and engagement development programme and so far, nearly 50 delegates from 9 of the...
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Oct 24, 20232 min read


An investment firms view of unions
For a very interesting project with my colleagues @ Joe Perry and @ Richard Saundry, I have read more about collective employment...
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Oct 4, 20233 min read


We need to talk about work
This week Joseph Perry and I have run our strategic employment relations network and begun preparing for our third development programme...
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Sep 8, 20233 min read


The not so lonely world of employment relations
Our second Employment Relations and Engagement development programme finished last week. We ask the delegates to tell us what they are...
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Jun 13, 20232 min read


Keeping your eyes on the common ground
· If you don’t understand the business, will you make the right decisions? Find the solution to the actual problem, not the one presented...
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Apr 27, 20232 min read


Joint training is one answer to IR problems but there may be better ones
I often advocate joint training for union reps and managers. It can help build relationships - essential when you are working on real...
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Apr 11, 20232 min read


Ensuring disputes don’t become a way of life
Progress seems to have been made in some of the industrial disputes in the UK, although we still don’t know if offers put to employees...
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Mar 21, 20232 min read


The role of the line manager in industrial relations
A quarter of the delegates on our current ER and Engagement development programme are line managers. With hefty responsibilities in...
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Feb 6, 20234 min read


Developing an employee relations strategy to fit your organisational culture and values
Choosing how to engage your employees – with unions or without or a mixed model – is a strategic issue which requires some thought....
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Jan 27, 20233 min read


Don't believe everything you read in the papers
If you believe what you read in the paper, it’s hard to imagine sometimes that any organisation in the UK is actually managing to...
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Dec 19, 20222 min read
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