Partnership Working – A Practitioner’s Guide 2004

Establishing and sustaining partnerships

A partnership may initially be conceived as a relationship between the trade union or employee forum and the employer, but in order to be sustainable and to deliver the benefits described in this guide, it needs to be more than this. It needs to have as much impact on the way line managers engage with employees and representatives as senior manager and trade union officials.

Therefore, by providing information and practical advice on how effective partnerships might be achieved, this guide describes how partnership can help an organisation achieve widespread cultural change. It includes many case studies and details of real-life problems experienced and overcome.

The solutions and ideas presented should not be seen as a ‘one-size fits all’ problem solving model. Rather, the guide presents a series of options which organisations may decide to adopt, amend or fine tune, as they wish. Certain policies may be applied to organisations at different stages in the partnership process, or may apply more directly to larger rather than smaller organisations.

With this guide, organisations will now have access to the sort of detailed information which will help them navigate the employment relations maze. It presents information on establishing and sustaining partnerships, to help managers, union and employee representatives who want to embark on the partnership journey, or who are already working in a partnership way and want to improve their practice.