What we do
The IPA can help your organisation to establish an employee forum,
elect representatives, and train representatives to ensure that you are getting the most out of your consultation arrangements.
The IPA is one of the UK's leaders in information and consultation practice, and hosts the only UK network of employee forum representatives.
Stage 1 training for representatives
In many cases, organisations seem to be starting their information and
consultation journey at the wrong place. Here, the agenda is often focused on “hygiene” matters, such as “tea
and toilets” and meetings are dominated by trivial issues which would be
better raised with line managers who are better equipped to deal with
them. As a result, senior managers do not see the value of the process
and quickly become disenchanted with it.
To have a more positive and
strategically-minded employee voice, it is necessary to start the
journey from the opposite position; a strategic agenda based on the major changes that are affecting the
workplace. In conjunction with this, the process needs representatives with good business acumen
who will ask those questions that the employees will not think of
asking, rather than simply collecting views, and relay high quality information back to the workforce.
Some of the challenges faced by organisations that have set up information and consultation arrangements include:
• Why is our agenda full of the basic “tea & toilets” issues?
• Why do representatives bring us a wish list of requests from employees?
• Why do so few people stand for election?
• Why are employees disengaged from the process?
• Why are managers unwilling to participate fully?
• Why do we not see improved results from employee satisfaction surveys when they have been given a “voice”?
The IPA has developed at Stage 1 training for new representatives and managers to ensure these problems do not occur. The one-day training includes:
· An brief contextual overview of the Information & Consultation Regulations 2005
· The specific link between an I&C Forum and employee engagement
· What consultation is and what it is not
· Option-based consultation - what best practice looks like
· The skills and behaviours that support the process
· Communication strategies
· How to build a business case
· How to use the 15 Strategic Questions
· Action planning
Stage 2 training for representatives
One of the criticisms levelled at representatives by senior managers is the lack of business acumen displayed by representatives when discussing strategic issues. This is rightly seen as a significant barrier to best practice consultation and can severely limit the effectiveness of the process. Naturally, this can have a direct result on the staff who may not receive the high quality communication they should be entitled to. It is, however, also a source of great frustration to managers who might have put in considerable time and effort to present their strategic thinking only to be met by silence or questions too related to the detail rather than the strategy. At that stage of the consultation, many of those questions – quite rightly - cannot be answered which makes these meetings unproductive for all parties.
To raise the skill levels of representatives, the IPA has developed a training programme run, ideally, over two days. It is aimed at all representatives but can be adapted to a one-day course or as two days spread over a period of time. The training course includes:
· An examination of the UK industrial relations landscape
· Developing an understanding of different leadership styles
· Developing strategic planning skills
· An examination of the different stages of strategic decision-making
· Developing an understanding of the impact of communication
· Developing an understanding of why consultation is sometimes forgotten or takes places once a decision has been made
· An examination of phrases that should be avoided and why
· Action planning
This training programme can also include how to deal with individual cases, such as grievance and disciplinary, if appropriate.
To find out how the IPA can help your organisation put in place effective information and consultation arrangements contact Derek Luckhurst
derek.luckhurst@ipa-involve.com or Sarah Dawson
sarah.dawson@ipa-involve.com
See what we do
Read about how the IPA helped develop and train the employee forum at
Standard Life in this mini case study
Find out more
You can dind out more about
information and consultation here, including
ICE regulation FAQs, and more on our unique
option-based consultation.
