Partner | Managers and Unions together

Client

A major Energy Supplier with whom we have worked for many years.

Focus of the work

Partnership working was established 10 years ago in the company through investment in a joint behavioural skills programme. The company also undertakes a bi-annual health check with the local consultative committees. This case study records the outcomes of one of the 2008 site review meetings.

Formulation

There had been recent changes in the structure of the company resulting in very different consultative arrangements both centrally and locally. On this site there were a number of issues:

• The three trade unions were expected to collaborate more than previously e.g. on pay negotiations
• The local group had lost sight of its purpose passing more decisions to the centre
• Part of the restructuring in the company had involved linking pay and grade progression to an individual review system
• There was evidence of behaviour on both management and union sides becoming more adversarial in nature

Intervention

Three day long workshops were conducted on the site and within the standard working day (8.00 am to 4.00 pm). The facilitator initially worked separately with the senior management group and union groups. They were then brought together. At the separate sessions the facilitator worked with both groups on:

• Identification of what was working well and what was not
• Understanding individual roles and personal responsibilities on the issues raised
• Making sense of how issues had arisen by refreshing the behavioural skills learning
• Gaining insights into and rehearsing what behaviour would achieve a win/win
• Agreeing what key messages to take to the joint workshop and how these would be addressed

At the joint workshop the process was designed to facilitate managers and unions talking openly about their aspirations and concerns for how they worked together. Individuals were encouraged to talk about the personal impact the company changes had on them and what support they needed.

Outcomes

The joint consultative group evaluated that they made considerable progress on:

• Pay negotiations – the time to reach agreement was considerable shorter in 2009 than 2008
• They had worked jointly with the workforce to put in building blocks to support the company changes in a way that everyone could move forward
• New terms of reference had been agreed for the joint committee – a clear purpose was identified
• They developed an audit tool of partnership behaviours to review behaviours at committee meetings
• Behaviours had improved – even when discussing potentially contentious issues
• They had been on a joint ‘night out’ to celebrate their progress and had some fun together