ORG Blog

Building Harmonious Union-Management Relationships Through Collaboration

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN UNIONS AND MANAGEMENT CAN BE COMPLICATED, BUT LEARNING TO WORK TOGETHER EFFECTIVELY CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Management and unions both want the best for those they represent. This is not an easy task since each party has its own interests to protect and defend regarding issues such as wages, working conditions, and benefits. Representatives need to learn how to work together to negotiate effectively and agree upon the best possible solution for both parties. 

Topics: Labor Management

Why Engagement Efforts Sometimes Fail and What You Can Do About It — Part II

ORG_Blog-Image_Why-Employee-Engagement-Sometimes-Fail_Part-2_2017-04-07.jpg

Part I explored the origins of employee engagement efforts, and identified some pioneering companies that enjoyed early successes. However, some early adopters of engagement practices have since shrunk or disappeared entirely. The first part identified three major causes of employee engagement failures at the organization-wide level – bad strategy, poor integration, and the inability to transfer learning. In Part II, we look at three fundamental sources of employee engagement failure at the work team level and suggest some remedies.

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership

Giving Muscle Memory a One-Two Punch

ORG_Blog-Image_Giving-Muscle-Memory-a-One-Two-Punch_2016-04-10.jpg

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management

Don't Let Honest Mistakes Kill Good Labor Management Relationships

AVIODING THE DEATH OF A 1,000 "OOPS" 

Two stories out of a thousand…

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership Sustainable Change

Civil Rights Movement Reveals Key to Sustainable Change

Recently, I had the pleasure of being a guest lecturer at the New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service for a graduate study course on Labor Management Cooperation. My host was Arthur Matthews, an accomplished mediator, arbitrator and adjunct professor at NYU, Cornell and the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas. A colleague of Howard’s, Kathy Drew-King also served as a guest lecturer for the course. Kathy is a Regional Attorney for the NLRB office serving the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island in the City of New York, and Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership Sustainable Change

Best & Worst of Labor Management Relations 2014-Where Are They Now?

At the end of last year, Overland Resource Group announced its annual Best & Worst of Labor Management Relations, highlighting what we felt were 2015’s “best” examples (UAW & Big Three Automakers), “worst” examples (Railway Labor Act), and gave Special Recognition to Salesforce for taking bold action to assure equal compensation for women and men. The 2015 list took a more macro-tack than previous years. We thought it interesting to revisit those named in our 2014 Best & Worst list to see what has changed in just over one year. Here are some highlights:

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management

Part 6: Leaders Born or Made? Relevance for Employee Engagement & Labor-Management Cooperation?

This is the sixth installment of a blog series, “Collaboration and Employee Engagement; Ideas Whose Time Has Come, Again.” Earlier, we explored the beginnings of labor-management cooperation in the 1960s, the formation of the National Quality of Work Center (NQWC) that conceptualized collaboration between labor unions and management for shared benefit, and the early experiments that moved cooperation to become the new normal. Here in the last installment, we consider the significant evolution in leadership, management, and organizational thinking since the 60’s, the relevance for employee engagement and Labor management cooperation, and where labor and management cooperation fit in that context.

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership

Part 5: The Current State of Employee Engagement in America

Part 5: The current state of employee engagement in America

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership

Part 4: Working Together Adopted as the 'New Normal' for the Workplace

Working Together adopted as the ‘new normal’ for the workplace

This is the fourth installment in a blog series “Collaboration and Employee Engagement; Ideas Whose Time Has Come, Again.” Earlier, we explored the beginnings of labor-management cooperation in the 1960s, the formation of the National Quality of Work Center (NQWC) that conceptualized collaboration between labor unions and management for shared benefit, and experiments that showed benefits of new levels of cooperation. Now, we see experiments becoming the new normal in many organizations.

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership

Part 3: Early NQWC experiments succeed in at major U.S. employers

Early NQWC experiments succeed in bringing labor and management together at major U.S. employers

Topics: Collaboration Labor Management Leadership Overland Resource Group