The aim of our Employee Relations network is to share good practice, build the capability of the employee relations profession while building stronger talent pipelines. These are big ambitions and we are making progress.
In a year, our network has grown in membership and we have heard from union General Secretaries who gave us their views on the industrial relations challenges we are facing. Understanding their perspectives and building these relationships is critical, especially in today’s climate. We have heard from one of the world’s leading online retailers about their style of ER which is often in the news and from Organise about the power of employee activism in changing employer practices. At today’s meeting, we looked at worker engagement from the perspective of a non-executive director in a heavily unionised industry.
Our plan for 2023 is exciting with speakers from all walks of life in employee relations, as well as further sharing of what is going on in the leading unionised organisations in the UK. Constructive dialogue with people with differing perspectives – but often shared goals - is one of our ongoing aims.
As well as facilitating this Employee Relations network, we have begun to address the challenge of building ER capability – capability which is needed today more than ever. Today we heard first hand from those organisations who have put teams on our Employee Relations programme, launched in April and due to complete in December. They are starting to see real benefits for their organisations as their delegates feel more confident, have access to more support and are thinking differently about how to solve problems. We believe we have developed something special here.
This work feels timely and is exciting. We are discussing different approaches to today’s ER challenges, developing networks within and across organisations, while building skills, capability and confidence in ER. And, let’s be honest, employee relations is the best bit of HR (in our opinion!).
Get in touch if you want to know more about the network and/or the development programme or you are interested in how we can support your organisation in all aspects of employee relations.
Comments