Some Perspectives
Managing a Unionised Workforce
Managers need to embrace the fact they have influence and accountability for good industrial relations in the workplace regardless of union presence and membership level/activity
Workplace Context
There's no doubt that unionised workforces attract some level of additional management burden and require additional management smarts.
At first blush, this can be seen in clearer segmentation between workers v. management (in many cases, management roles are not covered by the award or considered part of the collective). It can also be seen in the collective mindsets or beliefs that "we're in this together", "strength in numbers", etc and in the independent (and legally protected) representation by one or more unions that will look to maintain (and improve) their members' entitlements, grow their membership based on union activity (membership/recruitment drives), and at times simply offer a competing voice to management.
Leadership Response
Be Informed & Accountable
Being informed and accountable starts with recognising that unions will value different things to what employers/managers might value; including valuing equity and fairness (more than productivity), democratic decision-making (more than individual autonomy) and unity and brotherhood (more than merit)
It continues by recognising unions exist to advance the interests of their membership base; not simply members at a single enterprise, so we're reconfirming the fact that many unions prefer to build and exercise their rights and power, tend to be suspicious of management agendas, and fear of being accused of being co-opted by managers.
Acknowledge also that union representatives often work in a highly politicised environments where elected leadership can be motivated by ideals and career opportunities, mobilizing members remains a challenge, and vocal minorities can be disproportionately influential due to low turn-out in overall numbers.
Focus on Aligning Interests
Despite these constraints, managers should look to establish a working relationship with our union counterparts that is beneficial to the needs of our particular enterprise, and in all cases, act in a professional and ethical manner when dealing with unions and encourage them to do the same.
It is here that Managers come to understand the importance of discovering interests. Essentially, as leaders they should pursue an approach to engagement that surfaces and explores the underlying objectives, fears, and concerns all stakeholders have and consciously pursue outcomes that optimize results and serve as many interests of as many parties as possible.
For those not familiar with it, the interest-based methodology is most notably introduced by Fisher and Ury of Harvard University in their 1981 book Getting to Yes. Since then, interest-based processes have emerged as a proven approach for ensuring stakeholders can come together to conduct their dealings effectively and deal with a range of conflicts. In these cases, the underpinning philosophy is one of stakeholder inclusiveness in the way in which an organization goes about its business; whether that be with customers, suppliers, communities, regulators, and/or employees.
Within the workplace, interest-based processes have for the most part been promoted as a more effective alternative to the typically adversarial methods used in traditional labour-management bargaining efforts. Their broader potential as part of the “leadership mindset” necessary to maintain high levels of engagement is not as well understood, but should not come as a surprise when it is recognized that interest-based techniques:
- can be customised to the people, circumstances, and various types of engagement
- enable parties/persons to deal with the data that is too often missing from the picture (ie the underlying factors that cause people to see the issues the way they do; how & why they might have resistance. In most cases, people tend to guard their underlying interests and/or may not readily identify with their own real interests and how the relate to each other)
- enable people to feel, at a minimum, that their interests have been acknowledged; which is critical if the objective is to maintain a key person’s/party’s engagement in the relationship
- are applicable for all types of contexts and conflicts (eg from daily collaboration across work areas/groups and within reporting hierarchies, through to collective bargaining and strategic change agendas).
Develop the Core Capability Set
The practical implications that emerge for leaders to be truly effective are clear and comprise a core capability set that includes:
- the need for excellent active listening skills; not simply to clarify and confirm information was received as it was intended, but also that the interests held in relation to that information are understood, and able to be interpreted in terms of commitment to action
- recognition that consultation is more than information sharing and requires meetings and agendas to capture interests & concerns, to explore options that advance those interests and concerns, and to explain the extent to which final outcomes or decisions have/have not been informed by those the interests and concerns
- the ability to establish and lead representative groups, and deploy an inclusive structured problem solving process that clearly defines the issue/problem to be solved, assesses major interests as part of the evaluative work, challenges assumptions and is creative, uses agreed criteria to assist in identifying solutions, and builds commitment to implementation
- recognition that conflict is normal and is often the springboard to creative problem-solving and building trust and cohesion among individuals and groups. They are able to identify and focus on the underlying issues (not just symptoms), act quickly, and manage resistance.