Nov 212 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...

Oct 292 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...

Sep 253 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...

Aug 213 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...

Jul 122 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...

Jun 122 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...

Apr 112 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...

Feb 212 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...

Nov 27, 20233 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...

Oct 24, 20232 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...

Oct 4, 20233 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...

Sep 8, 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...

Jun 13, 20232 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...

Apr 27, 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...

Apr 11, 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...

Mar 21, 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...

Feb 6, 20234 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...

Jan 27, 20233 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....

Dec 19, 20222 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...

Dec 12, 20222 min read

Building a positive mindset against the gloom

While industrial relations continues to make increasingly depressing headlines in the UK, we completed our first Employee Relations and...

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