Training for representatives

The IPA has developed a range of participative training programmes for employee representatives, and for trade union representatives, designed to enhance the contribution collective employee voice can make to organisational success.

"... thank you for the training you did for us yesterday – I am getting great feedback from the reps who really enjoyed it and got a huge amount out of it. They are all fired up to get started now and look like they will be a great group of reps. I am sure this will help us get the best result for the business" HR Manager, Three

Stage 1 training

The Stage 1 training is the foundational course for employee representatives, designed to move employee forums and works councils away from a focus on basic "tea and toilets" issues towards a meaningful system of strategic consultation in which both employees and managers are fully invested. It will equip representatives to understand a strategic agenda and ask the questions necessary to make organisational decision-making more transparent. Read more

Stage 2 training

The Stage 2 training for representatives builds on the learning from Stage 1 and is designed to increase the skills and awareness to enable those representatives to contribute more effectively to the decision-making process. It includes a refresher of the key tools and techniques and detailed discussions how these are being or can be used to solve problems that the representatives have encountered. Read more

How to negotiate effectively

Where employee representatives are required to negotiate with management, this training from IPA provides guidance on how to approach negotiations based on mutual trust and where honest disagreements can be aired and resolved with confidence. Read more

Workshops for Managers and Trade Union Representatives

Personal relationships between the managers and the trade unions are often good but this does not always translate into effective working when discussions relate to pay, policy and re-structures. This joint approach is designed to improve working between managers and trade union representatives, create efficiency and develop shared commitment, understanding and trust at a strategic level. Read more

Coaching for senior representatives

The focus of this one-to-one or group coaching programme is to develop the skills of the individual trade union representatives and how they, in turn, can support the less experienced representatives they are responsible for. Read more

Advanced training for senior representatives

This training programme is designed for senior trade union representatives. It recognises the challenges facing UK organisations today, and the important role representatives have in supporting employers to meet these challenges whilst mitigating any detrimental impact on employees. Read more

Latest

Does the IPA have a role Post Covid 19? Reflections from a former Director

Bryan Stevens, Director of the IPA in the 1990s, sets out his reflections on how the world of work has changed over the two decades since his retirement. He looks at how the IPA's purpose remains relevant today compared with the 1990s, how it may be shaped by the current COVID crisis and what role the IPA can play into the future.

Employment and rewards after the pandemic: investment or austerity, compassion or carnage?

Dr Duncan Brown writes about the revelations of poor employment practices in the Leicester garment industry, which are thought to have contributed to the spread of coronavirus in the city, and what lessons we can learn from this episode. He points to the importance of protections for casual workers and the need to continue to push the Good Work agenda started by Matthew Taylor forwards rather than see a return to the pre-COVID orthodoxy.

Confirmation bias and consultation

Jasmine Gartner discusses the problem that confirmation bias can pose for both managers and reps during workforce consultation, if both sides go into a consultation with preconceived assumptions about the beliefs and intentions of the other side. She points out the importance of ensuring the focus of consultation remains on the strategic narrative and the use of key questions to ask during consultation in order to challenge these biases.

Corporate support for Black Lives Matter needs to be more than just lip service

IPA's Lorraine Modeste examines the response of major UK organisations to the Black Lives Matter movement and the attention it has brought to racial unfairness in the UK and abroad. She makes clear that organisations wanting to demonstrate they are on the right side of these issues need to reflect seriously on their own efforts to improve racial inequalities in recruitment, retention and representation of staff at all levels and, crucially, sustaining these efforts over the long term.

Employee voice

Employee voice exists, whether you recognise it or not. The only question is – "are you listening?" The benefits of employee voice for organisations are explained and alternative forms of voice structures explored in this article, which also includes a look at what makes a system of employee voice effective.

Who are IPA?

The IPA is the UK's leading organisation delivering new ways of working based on employee participation, collaboration and trust.

Nita Clarke OBE

IPA Director

Working Well: Perspectives on Good Work and why it matters

To coincide with the government's response to the Taylor Review, the IPA have produced a report which draws together 16 expert perspectives on what Good Work means in modern Britain, why it is important and how to bring it about.

Employee engagement

This training programme focuses around how to use the four key enablers of employee engagement - a strong strategic narrative, engaging managers, employee voice and integrity - to move from a purely transactional approach to engagement to a genuinely transformational one.

Overview of services

Every workplace is different, so every project we undertake is individually developed by our professional and experienced team, and delivered based on the needs and circumstances of the client.

Engagement

Employee engagement is seen by a growing number of organisations as a key issue in measuring employee attitudes, managing the behaviours of management, developing operational and human resource policies, and establishing a strong employer brand. Find out more about what engagement is, the four enablers of engagement, the work of Engage for Success and what the IPA can do to help your organisation boost the engagement of its employees.

Mind over Machines: New technology and employment relations

This report examines the relationship between the introduction of new technology into the workplace and employee wellbeing, autonomy, voice and engagement. IPA for Acas, 2017.

Working Well: preview of IPA publication on good work

On 8th February, IPA will be launching our report on Good Work, to coincide with the government's response to the Taylor Review. This publication draws together 16 expert perspectives on what good work means, why it matters and how to bring it about.

The real impact of the EU on UK employment law

The UK is set to have a referendum on 23 June on whether or not to remain a member of the European Union. In this article, Rachel Suff, Public Policy Advisor at CIPD discusses how ‘the world of work might be affected’ if the UK voted not to remain in the EU. She highlights that a large part of the UK employment law is derived from the EU and that a vote to leave the EU could allow the review or repeal of legislation that came out of EU directives.