The Client
One of Michigan’s largest nonprofit residential and community-based treatment agency for abused and neglected girls.
The Challenge
An employee organizing attempt triggered, in part, by a lack of communication surrounding a change in the executive management team.
Background
When the organization’s president and CEO joined the company in December 1997, he knew he was taking on a challenge. Unfocused leadership had led to numerous struggles within the organization for years and he had been advised there was staff discontent that would need prompt attention. What he didn’t expect, however, was to be handed a Representation (RC) Petition within hours of walking through the front door.
After careful consideration and due diligence, the CEO and his executive team contacted IRI. “I knew IRI was the right choice to help us manage our employee relations’ issues. IRI wasn’t interested in being front and center within the organization. From the beginning, it was clear that they were here to help me and my team build stronger relationships with our employees.”
The Solution
Coming into an emotionally charged environment fraught with skepticism and distrust, IRI recognized that its first task was to open communication channels between management and staff. “IRI was of tremendous value in this regard,” notes the CEO. “The communications plan that IRI put together to help us connect with and educate our employees was a perfect fit with my bottom-up management style.
It played a key role in the decision of our employees not to join the union.”
Following the election, the organization implemented a number of new systems. In addition to compensation adjustments and quality management initiatives, new programs were implemented that enabled employees to become more involved in workplace planning and decision-making. Coupled with periodic staff surveys, skill training and enhancement programs, and proactive communications, the company thought it was meeting the needs of employees. Much to management’s surprise, however, they found themselves in the midst of a second organizing drive in 2005.
In the years following the first organizing effort, the facility had undergone a significant amount of change. In addition to internal reorganization, it was adjusting to new state-mandated educational, training, and licensing requirements that had created tension between the “old” and “new” employees. These changes coincided with a resurgence of organizing activity among many unions following a decline in
union membership, particularly in Detroit.
“We had to dig deeper,” says the CEO. “We had been so focused on surviving, and on the cost of surviving, that we didn’t increase our investment on the ‘people side’ as much as we needed to.
The IRI team was recalled, and this time its involvement would be deeper and more comprehensive. The executive management team was committed to creating a transparent organization – one in which employees were empowered to represent themselves and one another without third-party intervention. The goal was to rebuild the trust and respect of employees and their involvement in and ownership of the organizations.
This organizational development “intervention” included a number of key initiatives:
The Results
Fortunately, the company prevailed again in the second union election in 2005. Since that time, they have remained vigilant about proactive communications and best practices. The results, according to their CEO, are invaluable. Not only has employee turnover been cut in half, but the organization is now thriving. This has meant increased compensation and job security for employees. Most importantly, is the sense of community that has developed throughout the company, “Our employees know that they can come to me or any other member of management and have their voices heard,” says their CEO. “This type of direct relationship has made us a much stronger organization.”
The Client
A Michigan-based, eight-hospital system that operates more than 100 ambulatory sites and employs more than 18,500 staff members and 3,000 physicians.
The Situation
Mergers and acquisitions led to new executive leadership, including a new president and CEO, at the 160 year-old health system.
The Challenge
To create more effective leadership at the individual and team levels by blending new talent with the longer-serving executives, then getting everyone on common ground.
The Solution
With so few executives spread across so many sites, it was imperative that early efforts at cohesion focused on key senior leaders. The IRI Consultants Executive Team Development program was designed to:
Leaders at the health system were assessed on 13 core competencies, with each leader undergoing a 360-degree evaluation. The core competencies focus on personal and professional development, communication skills, technology, and a commitment to quality. The executive also completed a talent inventory listing strengths, growth opportunities, background, career goals, other business interests, and key goals and achievements in their current roles.
An annual development dialogue session is conducted outside the presence of the employee. The group consists of the executive’s boss and four other leaders who discuss how the employee can be more effective on the job, goals, and possible career moves. The feedback is then shared with the executive in the annual performance meeting.
The Results
The vision of the healthcare system focuses on a handful of system-wide critical success factors that include clinical networks, customer-service, physician relationships, and operational performance such as adoption of continuous improvement processes to heighten efficiency.
The outcome of the Executive Team Development program included:
Leadership development is one of the keys to enable the system’s success. Dialogue among leaders takes place often, including at team meetings where one executive will share personal insights that spawns reflection, discussion, and sharing, and that encourages executives to share personal beliefs and values.
The leadership team also spends a time off-site dealing with those critical issues and long-term planning. Learning sessions focused on Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award criteria help executives find new and improved ways to work together as a team.
Lessons Learned
Although the primary focus is on executives, the aim is for this select group’s business acumen and insights to filter through the organization, impacting every level of patient care and employee interaction.
The Client
An Ohio-based brewing facility employing self-directed, cross-functional teams responsible for managing aspects of production, quality, cost, safety, and employee relations.
The Situation
The plant’s labor contract states that the brewery is “built on the premise that employees are capable of making decisions affecting them when given the proper training and resources. Employees working in teams are, therefore, expected to resolve the issues that impact them.” The corporate slogan is “Great People, Great Company, Great Beer!”
At the Ohio plant, a series of diversity training sessions and other organizational initiatives had been established, but weren’t achieving intended objectives. The resulting environment created tension that reduced employee morale, productivity and quality.
The Challenge
Management discovered that it takes a unique set of skills to educate employees about diversity and respecting differences – and is especially difficult if trainers, management in this case, bring their own “baggage” to the situation.
The Solution
Initially, the Ohio plant created a multidisciplinary team to address these issues. Members included union representatives, management and human resources. The group sought to find an outside consultant to help them with the problems they were unable to resolve themselves.
IRI Consultants was selected because “they challenged the group to confront the real issues and commit to necessary change before work began. That’s what made them stand out.”
As the process continued, it involved more than simply training people about diversity. IRI helped the organization through serious issues. Communication strategizing and planning were key elements so that employees were able to understand their roles and how they contribute to the organization’s success.
IRI also helped to enlist individuals who were trusted by employees to communicate with them. Union representatives and other key people were asked to work on the project, address any “diversity” issues they may have, and only then would communications begin with employees.
The Results
Following an organization-wide assessment, issues were identified and a training and education program was developed to create awareness and address diversity issues on an ongoing basis.
Since it was first introduced, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) has been a lightening rod. Labor loved it, business hated it, and there was little middle ground.
“Card check” was the main battle site; both sides knew that replacing secret ballot elections with card signing would be a game changer, giving unions an unparalleled advantage in organizing. But even with a supposedly filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate, labor couldn’t get it done.
It’s not over yet, though. The spirit, if not the exact content, of EFCA is still alive, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) seems the likeliest place for unions to finally win the day. The NLRB is stacked in favor of organized labor. Craig Becker, an SEIU and AFL-CIO attorney, in April 2010 became the second union attorney on the Board, joining Chair Wilma B. Liebman, who is a former lawyer for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, and for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The effects of two union attorneys on the Board could be immense. As Stewart Acuff of the Utility Workers Union of America explained, “If we aren’t able to pass the Employee Free Choice Act [in Congress], we will work with President Obama and Vice President Biden and their appointees on the NLRB to change the rules governing forming a union through administrative action.”
Could the Board really do that? Legal experts say it has broad discretionary power to issue rules implementing provisions similar to EFCA. With Liebman and Becker leading the way, the NLRB could circumvent the need for Congressional action on EFCA and issue rules on card check, shortened election periods, and employer involvement in unit determination.
The new Board also may reverse a number of important pro-business rulings issued earlier in the decade by the Bush Board. Liebman wrote strongly worded dissents to these and many other decisions, and as Board chair, her previous disagreements could become the roadmap for reversing them. Important issues up for grabs include:
What is a “supervisor?” In its 2006 Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., decision, the Bush Board clarified and expanded the definition to the great chagrin of unions. Not only is the new Board likely to reverse this ruling, Congress is expected to revive consideration of the Re-Empowerment of Skilled and Professional Employees and Construction Tradeworkers (RESPECT) Act, which also would overturn it.
Can an employer lawfully maintain a policy barring non-business use of its e-mail system? For example, could an employer permit e-mail solicitation for Girl Scouts but bar solicitation for union activities? Old Board said “yes.”
Do employees in non-union workplaces have a right to have a representative of their choosing at disciplinary meetings? Old Board said “no.”
In Harborside Healthcare, Inc., the Board in 2004 ruled that pro-union activity of a supervisor warrants overturning a representation election if it “tended to have such a coercive effect on the employees that it was likely to impair their freedom of choice in the election.” In her dissent at the time, Liebman wrote, “The majority’s approach threatens to deprive unions of their natural leaders in the workplace.”
Can union salts (union employees who seek employment at companies the union is targeting) always be considered employees within the meaning of the NLRA? The Bush Board said “no.”
Besides these measures, how far could the NLRB go in changing union election rules? Apparently, the Ethernet’s the limit. The Board is exploring electronic-voting methods for unionization elections. In early June 2010, it issued a request for information to contractors who can provide "secure electronic voting systems" for remote and on-site elections. The board also asked for information about safeguards to ensure "that votes cast remotely were free from distractions or other interferences, including undue intimidation or coercion."
What’s wrong with e-elections? Employer advocates fear they could be used to circumvent the current secret-ballot process and favor unions. Some attorneys are interpreting the request for information as a step toward Internet or telephone balloting, which they argue could favor unions.
Currently, unionization votes overseen by the NLRB at private-sector employers are typically cast in person via secret ballots on company property. With e-elections, there's nothing to stop unions from inviting employees to a bar or party to vote together “to show our solidarity," which could lead to peer pressure and intimidation.
Any of the changes discussed here will make it harder for employers to maintain a direct working relationship with employees. It can be done, though, with the right preparation. The essentials are to:
Determine the vulnerability of your organization to a card check campaign
Educate your management, including your board of directors, so that they understand the mechanisms and consequences of EFCA
Reduce the perceived need to join a union by fully engaging employees in the critical elements of your organization.
Train all management to recognize and effectively deal with the first signs of a union card organizing campaign
Optimize the credibility and accessibility of your corporate communications processes and media
IRI Consultants has the resources that can help prepare businesses for these monumental changes in American labor law. Click on any item below for more information.
Corporate Campaign Vulnerability Assessment
Rapid Response Teams
Readiness Manual/System
Labor News and Views is a bi-weekly, electronic labor and employee relations news brief published by IRI Consultants.
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