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Blog
Change Management in Unionized Environments
| Posted on January 21, 2013 at 3:17 AM |
Even in the best of
circumstances and with the strongest of leaderships, Change Management remains
a very challenging endeavor. But in unionized environments, this challenge
increases many folds, because:
* Most of the agents
(i.e. employees) expected to carry out the change are under the
influence of and take direction from unions which most often are not cooperating, * Union rules often
favour and strive to enforce status quo and seniority preference, both of which
are direct obstacles to Change, * To win unions over, a
long painstaking courtship and lobbying is often required. Indeed, unions'
decision making process is very democratic, and requires widespread
member consultation and even voting, * Unions are often
disliked (or at the very least viewed with suspicion) by Management. Too
obvious efforts to placate them and win them over is therefore likely to
antagonize Management.
So what should the
program/initiative manager do?
- Ignore Unions and try
to run them over using the power and authority of the chain of command
(Management hierarchy)? This
would certainly seal the fate of the change initiative and guarantee its
failure, as Resistance to Change will harden, fueled and organized by unions.
. - Invite unions in and
give them a permanent seat at the steering committee? Not only would Management not like
it, but unions themselves could make the program 's governance unworkable by
insisting on the values of seniority preeminence and status quo preservation.
Over the years, I have
found the following principles and practices to work best:
1- Never ignore unions,
and never attempt to isolate them or "railroad" them using the power
of the chain of command (Management hierarchy)
2- involve unions as
early as possible and consider them part of the overall leadership. But they
must be made to have some "skin in the game" and not left to retreat
on the sidelines, in a dogmatic and confrontational attitude towards
Management.
To achieve this, It is
very effective to include some union leaders in the program/initiative's
leadership team with responsibility for managing stakeholders, and working out
compromises and solutions to conflicting requirements. They also prove to be
very effective in communicating with and explaining the program's decisions and
choices to the rest of the organization. Finally, they are very good at
gathering feedback from the organization, as they always have their finger on
its pulse, are very aware of the prevailing mood among workers and sense very
early on what the real issues are and where Resistance is starting to
develop.
To conclude, unions need
not be feared and considered from the onset impediments to change. When
involved properly in the process, they are a very valuable asset to any change
initiative. Their intimate knowledge of the front line (or the shop floor in
a manufacturing environment), combined with their close
"proximity" to average workers (i.e. the regular "Joe"
in the organization) can be a major contributing factor to the initiative's
success. |
Categories: Change Management
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