Human Resource

Management

Workplace Social Partnership

Modernism and Trade Unionism

 Pluralistic form of membership

participation
 Identification

 Loyalty

 Delegation
Post Modernism & Trade
Unionism (Zoll, 1995)

 Rationalisation

 Individualisation
 Post Modernism & Trade
Unionism (Zoll, 1995

 Differentiation (Group diversity)

 Fragmentation (Beliefs and Ideologies)

 Trade Union Response

 Re-focus on core objectives

 Adopt new industrial/employee relations

Principles

 New realism and Social Partnership

Origins of Social Partnership

 USA (High Performance Organisation)

 EUROPEAN UNION (Social Chapter)

 UK (Sicio-political climate)
 What is Workplace Social
Partnership
 Active relationship based on common
interests and responsibilities
 Employee commitment to
competitiveness, quality and
effectiveness
 Employer acceptance of employees
rights and interests when taking major
decisions
 What is Workplace Social
Partnership

 Direct involvement of employees/

representatives

 Common ownership of problems/

solutions

 Investment in training and development

 Aims of Workplace Social
Partnership

 sustain the prosperity and success of

the enterprise and all its stakeholders

 adopt principles, aims structures and

processes for direct employee
involvement
 Aims of Workplace Social
Partnership

 engage everyone’s commitment, ideas

and abilities

 enhance the quality of the workplace

experience
 Core Elements of Workplace
Social Partnership
 Clear evidence of leadership
commitment
 consistent written statements of policies,
objectives processes and practices
 integration of partnership strategy with
business and HR strategies
 Core Elements of Workplace
Social Partnership

 integration of partnership strategy with

business and HR strategies

 Evidence of employee influence in the

management process

 Monitoring, measurement, evaluation

and reporting processes
 Partnership Development
Processes

 Awareness seminars - partnership

concepts and opportunities

 Diagnostic and Design Workshops

-feasibility, approach, objectives, new
structures
 Partnership Development
Processes

 Project teams and benchmarking -best

practice, potential and plans

 Team and personnel skills development

- project management, conflict
resolution and effective meetings
 Partnership Development
Processes

 Business/ Partnership and Financial

Training - business awareness, financial
skills, partnership reward and
recognition
 business re- engineering -process
redesign, new work organisation, quality
of working life, new management
structures, career structures
Common Partnership Topics

 Modernisation of services

 Training and development

 Health and safety

 Sharing the gains

Common Partnership Topics

 Equality of opportunities
 Management of change
 Problem solving
 Adaptability and flexibility
 New work organisation
 Partnership Checklist

 Training and Continuous Learning

 Information Sharing

 Employee Participation

 Organisational structures
 Partnership Practices

 Compensation Linked to Performance

and Skills

 Employment Security

 Supportive Work Environment

 Mutual Gains Enterprise

 Define the terms of the contract clearly

 Change the whole, not just the parts

 Design structures that have staying

power
 Mutual Gains Enterprise

 Committed leadership is important

 Strengthen and reposition the role of

human resources

 Look for potential solutions that lie

outside of the organization
Advantages of Workplace
Partnerships for Employers

 High commitment workforce

 low conflict levels
 Higher performance levels
 Oil wheels of change
 Greater workforce flexibility
 Advantages of Workplace
Partnerships for Trade Unions

 Input into decision making

 New role/status

 New members

 Job security
Disadvantages of Workplace
Partnership for Employers

 Slow down pace of change

 Creates conflict in decision making

 Loss of managerial prerogative

 Blurs ownership rights

 Disadvantages of Workplace
Partnership for Trade Unions

 Too close to employers/managers

 Implicated in negative decision making

 Lose right of industrial action

 Blurs logic of traditional trade unionism

Problems with Social partnership

 Interpretation

 Ownership

 Evaluation & Review