Newsletter
February 2005
Spotlight: The State of Our Unions 2005
What is the biggest labour-management issue today? Is the union movement in Canada getting stronger or weaker? Can public sector union-management relations get any worse? Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Director of Queen's Master of Industrial Relations program, takes out the crystal ball for 2005. ...more
This Issue:
Save on program fees: The $300 early registration discount deadline for Negotiations Skills is February 10. ...more
Alumni voices: Daryl Nauman uses visioning to move his team forward. ...more
Change talk: Bob Harris has advice on how to communicate to employees during a change initiative. ...more
Looking after the future: Pradeep Kumar on why pension policies are today's hot labour relations issues. ...more |
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Discount Deadline Over Yonder
One of our most popular programs, Negotiation Skills, is filling up quickly for the April 10 to 15 edition. There are a few days remaining to not only reserve your spot but to enjoy a $300 discount on the program fee. In this program, you will learn to: prepare effectively for negotiations; cost the collective agreement; develop strategic mandates and identify interests; negotiate helpful pre-agreements; reach agreement on difficult issues; manage impasses; and use forcing and fostering effectively.
Book and pay by February 10 to take advantage of this $300 offer.
For information on Negotiation Skills, go to: http://www.industrialrelationscentre.com/negotiation-skills/
Alumni Voices: Envisioning Success
Daryl Nauman, Residence Life Coordinator for Queen's University Residences, attended our Building Smart Teams program this past fall.
I have been working with Residence Life staff members to review our community impact and service learning programs within residences as they relates to our curriculum and overall structure. At the start of our project, I lead a mind map activity. We identified factors and trends that affected the future success and viability of community impact /service-learning within Queen 's University Residences. The follow-up to this activity included developing a vivid description of the end results of our work. I framed this activity by asking team members to envision what a journal article in a professional housing officer or student affairs journal would say about our program if it was highlighted as success story. This went well. I am in the process of typing up our notes and then moving us toward identifying our key goals and developing a strategy. At times others may view this as a slower process than they would like, because they want to jump right in and solve the problem. But I think in the long run this will be beneficial in our final product.
How to Talk People Through Change
Queen's IRC faculty member Bob Harris is a communications consultant based in Toronto. In the following piece, he offers advice on how to communicate with staff members through a change initiative.
+ Resistance to change is natural – managers and staff alike go through the following four stages of transition in response to change (although the intensity and duration of transition will vary among individuals):
- Denial – minimizing, ignoring, carrying on as before
- Resistance – anger, fear, anxiety, withdrawal, confusion, sadness
- Exploration – energized but unfocused, enthusiasm
- Commitment – making decisions, taking action, clarity, follow through
+ People have different needs when they are in the different stages of transition. Actively try to identify which stages your staff members are in, and consider what they need and don't need when they are in each stage. People in Denial needed compelling evidence to help them focus on reality. People in Resistance (which is most people) need a safe climate to express themselves and know that they have been heard. They also need more specific and relevant information. People in Exploration need involvement, action, and results. People in Commitment need very little, other than positive reinforcement.
+ Plan and deliver your staff communications using the Strategic Communications Model:
Draw a grid with four quadrants, using a box to work through each of the following:
Box 1 . Convey a heightened sense of urgency and a compelling need for change (first from their perspective and then from the corporate perspective).
Box 2 . Describe the future state, the benefits of the future state (from both their perspective and the corporate perspective), and generally how we will get there.
Box 3 . Articulate what you perceive to be the employee's concerns and discuss how you will help minimize or offset those concerns.
Box 4 . Point out what is staying the same and preserve things that are valued.
+ When using the Strategic Communications Model:
- Don't underdo Box 1. Staff must see and feel the need for change.
- Don't overdo Box 2. Communicate a compelling vision, but once you've shared your vision quickly move on to discuss the impact on staff.
- Spend lots of time on Box 3. Take time to understand and address staff issues and concerns.
- Remember the “10 minute” formula – As a guideline (which can be adjusted accordingly depending on your time allotment), spend 3 minutes in Box 1, 30 seconds in Box 2, 5 minutes in Box 3, and 1.5 minutes in Box 4. In other words, spend 80 percent of your time in boxes 1 and 3.
+ When speaking about vision, be careful not to “cheerlead.” People will either think that you “don't get it” or will think that you can't be trusted to give them the truth, and they'll seek out that “truth” elsewhere.
+ Don't speak from the tower; rather speak from the ground. Don't superficially gloss over the personal implications to others or use management jargon. Instead, ensure that what you are saying is relevant, tangible, and meaningful to your staff. Honesty and “keeping it real” builds trust and credibility. It is okay to say, “I don't know, but I'll find out.” It's also okay to say, “I share that concern” because this demonstrates that change impacts us all and that this change is about “us” not “them.”
+ Listen before you “fix it.” What people most need during change is the opportunity to be truly heard. The very act of listening has a therapeutic effect on people, especially those in resistance. The key is to Listen for Understanding – you must demonstrate understanding and empathy (even if you don't agree, you can still show understanding). Let the other person do most of the talking, and show them you are focused on their needs by paraphrasing, reframing, or asking open questions. Finally, when listening, don't be patronizing or give false assurance. Being “real” is being helpful.
Spotlight: Critical Issues in Labour-Management Relations
In Conversation with Dr. Pradeep Kumar
Dr. Pradeep Kumar of Queen's University School of Policy Studies is an expert in unionism, collective bargaining, and workplace change in North America. Dr. Kumar, Director of the Masters of Industrial Relations program, spoke with us recently about union-management relations, and what is likely to develop in 2005 and beyond.
What are today's most crucial labour-management issues?
I'd say the biggest immediate labour-management issue for the public and private sector is pensions, and this will be true into 2005. We have seen many private sector cases like Stelco and Air Canada where pensions have been the main issue: not just the pension entitlement of the employee, but the ability of the employer to pay the retiree's pension. Often retirees outnumber current employees in older private sector companies. Therefore the pension liabilities are far greater in relation to employees who have already retired. Companies have significant unfunded pension liabilities in the millions of dollars - in some cases, billions. This, obviously, is a huge issue.
Another force causing change is the aging of the workforce. One-third of the workforce in the public and private sectors will be retiring in five to 10 years. A lot of employers see it as an opportunity to lower their costs on a permanent basis. We are already seeing a two-tier system: one pay level for current employees; another, lower one, for new hires. This is becoming common in the auto sector and with airlines, and we'll be seeing more of that.
What developments would you most like to see in 2005 and beyond in labour-management relations?
I would like to see public policy changes to provide more rights of consultation and information to workers and their unions. I think one of the main causes of tense relationships and the reason unions get a bad name is mistrust between workers and management - which is really rooted in lack of information and consultation. I'm not saying give veto power to the union, but if you could somehow mandate consultation, I as an academic would be happy and so would many others, because this would put labour relations on a more stable footing.
One area where the right of information and consultation would help most is in workloads. We have to find a way to stabilize workloads so that there are no health and safety risks. We are spending millions of dollars in public health costs relating to increasing workloads.
We really have to find a way. Many organizations are aware of the issues and the consequences of not dealing with it. General Motors, for example, is spending a lot more on health and safety and ergonomics. Last time they gave $36 million to the union to undertake training, and an additional $15 million or so specifically for health and safety training. Management must realize that if companies want more productivity, with fewer people, there is bound to be higher workloads and greater health and safety costs. Without supportive policies, productivity gains will not be sustainable.
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