Derek Luckhurst

Derek leads on the design and delivery of IPA’s training services.

Derek has worked with organisations from all sectors and of all sizes, helping them improve employee relations and engagement, including the development of robust mechanisms for hearing employee voice and providing training and mentoring for employee representatives and managers.  

Derek introduced the option-based consultation model for the effective involvement of the representatives of employees - union or non-union - in identifying opinions and influencing the decision making process at a strategic level within organisations. Described by Keith Sisson, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Relations at Warwick Business School as a ‘landmark in UK industrial relations’.

Derek leads the IPA’s influential IPA Representatives' Hub and, with them, developed the “15 Strategic Questions” that have proved an essential tool for representatives and senior managers alike. He is also the author of The 5 Key Steps to Employee Engagement,  which explores the unique role employee representatives can play in developing an engaged workforce.

Derek also works with organisations to support the development of closer working relations between management and trade unions including the facilitation of partnership agreements. He has designed and delivered workshops and tools for managers and trade union representatives. He is a regular speaker for Business Forums International where he presents a Negotiation Skills Masterclass.

He is the author of “Partnership Working: a practioner's guide” 

Previously a trade union national secretary, Derek was instrumental in the establishment of a breakthrough partnership agreement at Legal & General. He was a key player in developing a framework for flexible working in Legal & General and was responsible for the training of both managers and union representatives in how the concept should work in practice.  A new anti-harassment and bullying procedure was established during his term of office together with improved grievance and disciplinary processes.

Contact Derek at: [email protected]