THE CHALLENGE

Following a decline in the ER climate which had led to a formal dispute, this organisation and its unions wanted to understand the factors affecting the decline.

They sought help to undertake a diagnosis of the current situation and set out a joint ER vision in order to address the underlying problems.

THE APPROACH - Combined ER vision

With Debbie Sanders as facilitator, both parties agreed to work together to set out a vision for a new approach to ER, based on addressing the underlying problems identified by the diagnosis activity.

This joint ER vision was structured as follows:

Overall objective

Highly effective industrial relations in the organisation.

What will highly effective IR look like?

Managers will consult and engage trade union reps genuinely and in a timely way
Trade union reps will engage in consultation genuinely and in a timely way
There will be a shared responsibility for resolving issues
Managers and TU reps will have the right skills and capabilities to deliver highly effective IR
Managers and TU reps will know where to go to find up-to-date information to help them do their jobs
Local problem solving will be the norm
Managers and TU reps will communicate jointly where appropriate
Managers and TU reps will learn good practice from other parts of the business
Everyone will be clear about their role and responsibilities in delivering highly effective industrial relations.

THE OUTCOME

The establishment of a common ER vision, signed up to by both parties, heralded a new way of working throughout the organisation.

Both parties jointly designed a programme of work to enable the vision to become the new way of working.

This programme of work was in place over a number of years and included:

Building capabilities of TU reps and managers
Large scale communication events
Problem-solving teams
Joint steering group

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